Glasgow, 24-25 January 2004

WHILE THE LIKES of Bob Geldof, Brittany’s Bagad Kemper and Galicia’s Carlos Nunez filled the main venues over the middle weekend, there was plenty of exciting music from Highlands and Islands musicians scattered across the programme, and in a variety of styles. Programme clashes meant some difficult choices, but in the end I decided to plump for both of the new commissions rather than more familiar fare like Shooglenifty, Cliar, Fiddler’s Bid and the formidable Unusual Suspects (the latter visit Eden Court in February), although not without several pangs of regret at missing out on those pleasures.

Ishbel MacAskill

First up, though, was a fine concert devoted to a half dozen of the best young Gaelic singers on the current scene at The Piping Centre on Saturday afternoon, as part of the festival’s Young Tradition series. If any demonstration of the current health of the Gaelic singing were demanded, this festival would surely have filled the bill, since it has featured a range of the very best, old and young, from the great Flora McNeill and Ishbel MacAskill through to these youthful artists.

The six featured singers – Julie Fowlis (who also hauled Anne Martin on stage to join her in a spinning song), Kathleen Graham, Maeve McKinnon (the Glasgow one), Darren MacLean, James Graham and Greum Lawrie – sang separately and together, accompanied and unaccompanied, and provided a highly enjoyable afternoon. For James Graham, the weekend was soon to get even better – see the separate review of the Young Scots Traditional Musician award concert.

By coincidence, both of this weekend’s new commissions were given to Sutherlands. On Saturday night at The Arches, Thurso-born Jim Sutherland unveiled a new song sequence entitled Cold Weather Dancing (prescient or what?), in which he combined singers Anne Sophie Linge Valdal and Sara Thokozani Kamwendo from Sweden with backing singers and musicians from Scotland. The musical language drew on international pop and hip hop rather than anything very traditional, recalling the composer’s work with The Lanterns rather than his early days in The Easy Club, while visual projections added atmosphere, and worked well in this particular space.

The Sunday lunchtime New Voices commission in the Strathclyde Suite brought former Croft No 5 fiddler Adam Sutherland from Errogie to the fore, aided and abetted by a nine-piece band which included his old band mate John Sommerville on accordion, as well as fiddlers Jenna Reid and Amy Geddes, and Bo Jingham on flute.

Adam stuck more closely to traditional roots in his melodies, albeit often with the kind of contemporary rock and dance inspired rhythmic settings which remain a hallmark of Croft No 5. He used the opportunity to write a set of diverse tunes rather than a suite or long-form work, and emulated his heroes, Led Zeppelin, by performing bare-chested a la Robert Plant (albeit without the musculature to carry it off quite as convincingly). Some excellent music, and good fun all round.

Hamish Moore’s Ni Tri Seudan (The Three Treasures) realised a long cherished project which he introduced as an attempt to restore the long lost interdependence of language, music and dance in Scotland, a symbiotic connection eroded by the cultural fragmentations which began in the second half of the 18th century.

Hamish used music from the pre-Victorian era, and drew on a large cast which included both a solo piper (Allan MacDonald) and a pipe ensemble, singer and clarsach player Mary Ann Kennedy, fiddlers, and the four dancers from Dannsa. The integration of the various elements worked well on the big stage in the Concert Hall’s main auditorium on Sunday afternoon (part of the musical element of the performance will be included in the Gaelic Society of Inverness’s annual gala concert at Eden Court on Friday 30 January).

The early finish of Jim Sutherland’s piece on Saturday meant it was also possible to catch Back of the Moon’s set at the Strathclyde Suite, in a concert which had also included Dochas and the Emily Smith Band. It was part of Scottish Showcase, an event within the festival which brings in promoters and agents from all around the world, and offers a platform for Scottish talent. There was no shortage of that on view this weekend.

© Kenny Mathieson, 2004