Music FOLK
Saturday 14
Glasgow ■ Jonathan Morton Takes Over: Taraf Da Haidouks, Hilliard Ensemble & Pekka Kuusisto The Old Fruitmarket, Candleriggs, 353 8000. 8pm. £15. The celebrated Romani ensemble performs with the Hilliard Ensemble and top Finnish violin star Kuusisto in an evening of genre-bending musical fireworks. Edinburgh ■ The Edinburgh Assembly: A Weekend Dance Workshop Columcille Centre, 2 Newbattle Terrace, 228 1155. 10am. £20. A varied programme of country dances in English Playford or ‘Jane Austen’ style, and American Contra. Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ Northern Streams : Children’s Workshop Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High St, 228 1155. 10.15am & 2pm. £5. 10.15-11.30am: Discover mouth music or ‘diddling’ with Karin Ericsson Back and Maria Misgeld, two of Sweden’s foremost folk singers. Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ Northern Streams Workshops Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High St, 228 1155. 11.30am, 1.30pm & 3.30pm. £7 (£5). 11.30am-1.00pm: Medieval ballads, lullabies and ‘stevs’– 4-lined verses unique to tutor Kim André Rysstad’s Norwegian home area, with fellow singer and hardanger fiddler, Lajla Buer Storli 1.30-3.00pm: Choose either: 1. Harmony in North Sea area songs with Karin Ericsson Back and Maria Misgeld – two of Sweden’s foremost folk singers or 2. Harmony in music with Daniel Reid (saxophone) and fiddler Emma Reid, resident in Sweden. 3.30pm-5.00pm: Song & accompaniment: Danish singer Julie Hjetland and Swedish bouzouki player Jens Ulversand join Norwegian singer Annlaug Borsheim and accordionist Rannveig Djønne. Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ The Edinburgh Assembly: Evening Dance Columcille Centre, 2 Newbattle Terrace, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £6. Informal dance, part of the Assembly Weekend Dance Workshop. Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ Northern Streams Concert: Nu- Nordic Music & Song Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High St, 228 1155. 7.30pm. £10 (£8). Featuring Danish singer, Jullie Hjetland, accompanied by Swedish musician, Jens Ulversand on bouzouki; leading Swedish folk musician on soprano/baritone saxophone – Daniel Reid and Emma Reid, equally rooted in the fiddle traditions of Britain and Sweden; and to round off the evening singer, Annlaug Borsheim and accordionist, Rannveig Djønne from Norway, who will be joined by Anne Sofie Linge Valdal and Ewan Macpherson (who also form part of well- known Nu-Nordic band, Fribo). Part of Ceilidh Culture
Sunday 15
Glasgow FREE The Blokes Slouch, 203–205 Bath St, 221 5518. 9pm. See Sun 1. Edinburgh ■ The Edinburgh Assembly: A Weekend Dance Workshop Columcille Centre, 2 Newbattle Terrace, 228 1155. 10am. £20. See Sat 14. Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ Northern Streams: Presentation & Workshop: Songs and Music of Iceland Edinburgh Folk Club, Cabaret Bar, 60 The Pleasance, 228 1155. 1pm. £7 (£5). FUNI (old Icelandic word meaning fire), who are Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster, have taught across the world and run the first degree level course on Icelandic traditional music at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts. Part of Ceilidh Culture
106 THE LIST 29 Mar–26 Apr 2012
■ Northern Streams: Finale Concert and Singaround Edinburgh Folk Club, Cabaret Bar, 60 The Pleasance, 228 1155. 3pm. £10 (£8). Your final chance to hear performers from the Northern Streams Festival including: FUNI – Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster, covering traditional songs from Iceland and Britain, followed by the opportunity for you to join in as a singaround. Tea, coffee and biscuits too! Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ Canongate Cadjers Ceilidh Band The Merlin, 168-172 Morningside Rd, Southside, 228 1155. 8pm. £10 (£7). Come along and experience an intoxicating night of music, song and dance with Edinburgh’s own Canongate Cadjers Ceilidh Band. Part of Ceilidh Culture ■ Judy Cook Wee Folk Club, Royal Oak, Infirmary St, 228 1155. 8.30pm. £5. Originally from Virginia, Cook has been on the rd since the early 1990s, making her own the songs and ballads of traditional Americana and the British Isles. Part of Ceilidh Culture
Monday 16 Glasgow FREE Michael Simons Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. See Mon 2.
Tuesday 17
Glasgow FREE Stephan Zatkulak Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. Traditional and original material from this Czech songwriter.
Edinburgh ■ Ceilidh Club The Bongo Club, Moray House, 37 Holyrood Rd, 558 7604. 8.30pm. £6. Ceilidh dancing, furious fiddlers and callers to lead you through the steps. Featuring the Hotscotch Ceilidh Band. Wednesday 18
Glasgow ■ Amanda Shires Woodend Tennis & Bowling Club, 10 Chamberlain Rd, 959 1428. 8pm. Good old down and dirty rock’n’roll with Texas singer/fiddler Shires, playing with her regular collaborator, alt.country songwriter Rod Picott. Edinburgh FREE Easy Chair The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers St, 220 4298. 7pm. See Wed 4. ■ Brian Peters Edinburgh Folk Club, Cabaret Bar, 60 The Pleasance, 650 2458. 8pm. £9 (£7; members £6). Singer, guitarist and melodeon player.
BACKWARDS-LOOKING PROGRAMME SE INVERSION – TRAVELLING AGAINST TIME Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 20 Apr; St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow, Sat 21 Apr
Moving back in time is something more usually found in the world of science fiction than classical music performances. Putting its audience into a time machine where the concert hall takes on the role of TARDIS for the night, the Scottish Ensemble present Travelling against time, a back-to-front programme that starts in the late 1960s and goes back almost 300 years to the time of Bach. The Scottish Ensemble, with its artistic director Jonathan Morton (pictured), is becoming increasingly well known for the new perspectives it offers on music, and Morton’s latest programme looks like one of the best yet. ‘We’re again playing around with when a piece was written and how
relevant that is,’ says Morton. ‘This programme is more directional than previously in that it’s going backwards. Indirectly, it’s tackling a big question in the classical music industry. Are we performing museum music if we play repertoire which was written hundreds of years ago?’
While Morton sees where this question is coming from, the answer for him is a resounding no. ‘Although we are going back in time, we may not actually be aware of things getting older and older. Bach sounds completely relevant and not some old thing written centuries ago.’
For SE Inversion, the Ensemble starts with Ligeti. ‘Even almost 50
years after this was written, Ramifications is still an extreme, radical soundscape,’ says Morton. ‘It is, though, the most museum piece we’re playing, as it’s of its own time.’ The programme then winds back in time via Webern, Debussy – ‘the turning point of modernity’, says Morton – then Bruckner and Mendelssohn before settling on Bach’s popular E major violin concerto. ‘Really,’ he says, ‘the idea is that the further we go back in time, the less we’ll actually feel that we’re going back in time.’ (Carol Main)
FREE Matt Norris The Ale House, 18–22 Clerk St, 629 0275. 8pm. See Wed 4. ■ Spanglish Henry’s Cellar Bar, 8-16 Morrison St, 228 9393. 11pm–3am. £4. See Wed 4. Thursday 19
Glasgow FREE Tango Libre La Bodega Tapas Bar, Dance with Attitude Studios, 1120 South St, 581 3401. 7.30pm. See Thu 29. ■ Dick Gaughan and Chloe Matharu St Andrews in the Square, 1 St Andrews Square, 559 5902. 8pm. £10 (£8). Gaughan plays an eclectic mix of styles and stringed instruments, combining his classic orchestration skills with a love of the Scots ballad.
Friday 20
Glasgow ■ Friday Ceilidh Sloans, 62 Argyll Arcade, City Centre, 229 5270. 8.30pm. £9 (£6). See Fri 6. ■ Balkanarama Chambre 69, Stock Exchange House, 69 Nelson Mandela Place, 248 6447. 10.30pm–3am. £8. A night of gypsy/Balkan/klezmer madness, film, visuals and live music featuring gypsy belly dancing, live visuals, free plum brandy and more. With contemporary Balkan fusion outfit The Destroyers. Edinburgh ■ Allan MacDonald The Canon’s Gait, 232 Canongate, 556 4481. 8pm. £5. Twice winner of the Inverness Clasp, renowned for his exploration of the relationship between piobaireachd and Gaelic song. Support comes from Kevin & Ellen Mitchell singing traditional Irish and Scottish song. ■ Heather Heywood The Canon’s Gait, 232 Canongate, 556 4481. 8pm. £5. Scottish ballads from the folk singer. Support from Naomi Harvey.
Saturday 21
Edinburgh ■ Mantra Concert with Satyaa and Pari The Augustine Church, 41–43 George IV Bridge, 220 1677. 7–9.30pm. £12 (£10). Swiss Satyaa and Greek Pari express their love for the Divine using devotional songs and self-composed mantras. Part of The Edinburgh International Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace Festival 2012. Booking essential. ■ The Kilkennys: ‘Fine Girl, Ye Are!’ Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. 7.30pm. £15.25 (£13.25). See Sun 15. ■ Ceilidh in aid of Marie Curie Hospice Corn Exchange, 11 New Market Rd, 477 3500. 8pm. £10. Fundraising ceilidh with live music provided by Ceilidhdonia. ■ Balkanarama Studio 24, 24–26 Calton Rd, 558 3758. 9.30pm–3am. £8 before 10pm; £9 after. See Fri 20..
Sunday 22 Glasgow FREE The Blokes Slouch, 203–205 Bath St, 221 5518. 9pm. See Sun 1.
Monday 23
Glasgow ■ Kevin Welch CCA, 350 Sauchiehall St, 352 4900. 8pm. £12. Kevin Welch returns to Glasgow from his Texan log cabin for this folk gig. FREE Michael Simons Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. See Mon 2.
Tuesday 24 Edinburgh ■ Cafe Ceilidh St Colm’s Parish Church, 158 Dalry Rd, scotsmusic.org 1.15pm. Donation. See Tue 10.
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