(ILL ilC (LONNE (J'I()‘\.S L’OCCIDENTALE DR FANFARE
Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Tue 30 Jan
Frrst. a credo. 'We have arrrved at the trrrre of Fusron. The era of converrtronal folk rnusrc had to travel through the socral and cultural storms of the 20th century rn order to emerge fully rn the Q 1 st. Some medrex'alrsts clarnr that the middle ages ‘.'.rere rnvaded hy telewsron r rnusrcal expressron. hots/ever. took a generatzon or two longer to shake off rts tradrtronal prejudices. When rt drd. rt hrougltt tne end of musrcal sectarranrsm. "tunnel hearrng". and the declrne of "folklorrsm" rn musrc.' So declarrrrs the French hand l'Occrderrtale de Fanfare on the sleeve of the alhurn Hopopop. lhe gualrtres that mark thrs lh-or-so- strong outfrt from other groups who have successfully rnarrred Ja// and musrcaily unrelated rdro'ns to ancrent r'rstrumental tradrtrons as that they do rt WIH‘ great enjoyment, taste. technrcal skrll. rhythntrc rntensrty and. well . . . panache. lhey ‘.‘.’(}t'(2 orrgrnally named the Brer/h- (Basconha Movrng Company, and led hy Francis Mounrer. arid the rdea was to shrft the long estahlrshed Breton and (Bascon tradrtrons to landscapes new. and now there's no gorng hack. A mnd-hased. tuha h. ss drrven hrg hand yxrth hr; ss. saxes. hagprpes. homhardes. clarrnets. prccolos and accordron. they romp through therr ttrgttly orrgrnal evolvrng soundscapes. at trrnes arry and clelrcate. hut more often rn a fat. compellrngly upon your feet groove that can make even la Bottrne sound fluffy. MlX(3(I rr‘ are reeoy rrnprowsatrorrs rn Gallrc and (Jaelrc. North Afrrcan or Near l. astern tonalrtres. and a sense that the l ords of Mrsrule are lyrrng rn wart. lhrs rs essentally \xrsceral rnusrc that. for all
-t:; subtle :omplexrty. rs nreant to he felt. rather than thought ahout. tasted
rather than watched. they sornetrnres have dancers rn therr show. and even rf they don't dance at Glasgox'x. the hand shares a late nrgltf concert wrfh San l rancrsco's Stanza/(rt. Srsters. who def rrrte‘y/ ‘.‘./:ll. tNorrnan ()halrners.
are;
(:t i no (:oNNl (:troNs CASCADE
Strathclyde Suite, Glasgow, Thu 1 Feb
Cascade rs a new project featurrng a numher of famrlrar names from a diverse range of musrcai hackgrounds. The fr‘.'e prece frrst got together at the l ondon .Jax/ testrx'al itt Novemher. and this '.'.'r|l he their dehut rn Scotland.
The home contrngen‘L of frddler Ardan O'Rourke and concer'trna player Srmon l'houmrre a"e torned l saxophonrst Andy Sheppard. sitar player Sheerna Mukherree and percussronrst Kulrrt Bhamra.
The group '.‘.'rll use a collectrve structure rncorporatrng rrnprox'rsatron to create nev.’ ‘-.'.'ork that pushes heyond estahlrshed genre houndarres. Each rnusrcran Will have the chance to lead a creatrve process that '.'.r:ll result rn a nex‘; work for therr unusual rrtstrurrrentatron. and the resultrng rnusrc '.'.Ir|l respond to the ‘.ll'ttl()f§rt‘,’. traditions and tastes of each rnenrher‘.
As Andy Sheppard explarns. rt rs a learnrng experrence for all of them: ‘Vv’e all hrrng rnusrc to the tahle that comes out of our own experrence. and then we hand rt over to the group and we all rework rt. [“.’er\;,'or‘.(:-'s contrrhutrng and exeryone's learnrng. and that's ‘.'.rhat's so great ahout tlrrs krnd of collahoratron. I love the fact that rt’s a krnd of corrtrnuous work rn pr‘ogr‘ess.'
lhe concert n'xrll open ‘.'.'rth a set from Manchester lrrsh trumpeter Nerl Yates. hut no one need ‘.'./orry that he seems to he thromng hrs trumpet Into the sea rn the photo rncluded rn the programme. Neri has adrnrtted rt was a redundant rnstrument prcked up for 5‘30 hefore the photo shoot that took the soakrng. and not hrs own. tKenny Mathresonr
CELTKZ CONNECTONS JUSTIN CURRIE WITH THE POEMS ABC, Glasgow, Sat 20 Jan
[.‘JUI, ,. Ett’ (/::.=.\/(,":;~,..,' .. IL'Htli'd'V' t:‘."...'.?>.rt,'..:§\2':.f>(.l ."\;'.,;.\1' . "Iml' . .. .)(X;K.lt(). (it'd THE) (1%} f>t1()‘..’(,(tf>rT-()\IH,(3"()(15>..I'(:.»7 ( ’l' :C,()tl[)'(r t). C) :t'. .." \X363IHUSKAII \)(3(,.”,‘at,<n (/\/' \)§J.'l(.‘\l \\> I,‘:,§)'.(,".(}( H 1‘) .'(I'”K (Ifv . I / I/I (r: ‘
trfn'” (ANNE. '(rrr'l f" “(>111 w." (t' .I 013' (In? .(J' J! ':: if, ’ t} . 35:5) '.3t.,'\i:':~ .11: M"‘ .' f A...” r ' tt‘ '2 ' a, M l' ' rH ' ' :2 ‘ ' o' '\ \~/\I,\ {‘11 ,»,~ '\, v, Dlx (~I»,\‘;. r././"\. -..\{;,'I‘ {\I; .‘,y ,y 6 o , ‘,, ., ‘ ' I th/rx/ \JurJ'U, j/\,'<' \] tn; “I a” "\ {,x..\/ I. 'x, {, .."\, f\ 1 l_;|/(x .4 ."r :\,'(‘.(,'\r.'.(} ’ ’ it ’ ‘ l ' I . . . . .- . I" ) .' ' ' 3 if), r' ' ‘ 2 t r
Hem .' : .:~:'.;s .r .r s " ' r w a. ,on
Swami}, \l ' I \/In (I, ' 1 V 1 U f. x)./
AM, I' r:<.<,' 'r' - z ' w' ':,~'s t ' . z r "ea' t'tr":,lf; :"-:.- :3..-f:{7~’: " : ..’.‘.'\: " ‘2, :,-’;" "iift :-":' .z. ':‘-" ' w '\,1.)Ayx(,‘.|u[1. \H 2H,, ‘t' .'\(. i).,{;,‘.‘. (YEN, l\‘ . NH] ,.,.,f h,‘ ‘1‘. , ‘
hchrnd r-rs rot..rr-<,s. r(.(1.tr’:t.tt .1(,(.-' :...urr‘a.<, . skirt-rt: c s ,.at s .
alhurn to date. Young Arr‘t'irvca. l2as 'ar:ked pl) glexxrr‘g press and span/"rem "W,- f'raek
t)<)-(L: I :ZE)'\.'\’.," 'l'iftl'. .. ..;l:‘.:lw "" . ‘Iziflrl'fl ,' .KJ\) Ilzinttxil’ .
/ 't (I ' I I I I‘ ( I \I I I"/" I ‘,/'|' V
(ll i llt) (IUNNf CHUNS FIDDLERS BID INTERNATIONAL Royal Concert Hall, Fri 26 Jan
Fiddlers Bid are already an international phenomenon in folk circles, but the seven-piece Shetland band will step into the unknown when they are joined by a series of special guests for this eagerly awaited concert. I say unknown, but while the band have not worked with their chosen collaborators before, they are all familiar enough to them, as Dundee- born harpist Catriona McKay explains.
‘We’ve never been on a stage with them, but these guys have accompanied us on the sound system of our tour buses for years, and the chance to rehearse and play with them is just a dream for us. We are really excited about it, and it’s great that Celtic Connections can give us that chance, and also provide the time to rehearse it properly. They don’t just throw us together and let us wing it — the chance to prepare this kind of thing is really valuable in getting the most from it.’
The line-up of guests that will be joining the band include Seamus Egan and Winifred Horan from the American-Irish band Solas, Crooked Still’s Rushad Eggleston, Cape Breton maestro JP Cormier, and a Scandinavian contingent (fitting enough, given Shetland’s Nordic connections) in Vasen’s Olav Johansson and Eivor from the Faroe Islands.
The group’s own hi-energy fiddle-driven front line of Chris Stout, Andrew Gifford and Kevin and Maurice Henderson is supported by Catriona’s vibrant keyboards, Fionan de Barra on guitar and electric bassist Jonathan Rich. It promises to be a fiery night. (Kenny Mathieson)
THE LIST 57