| Author | Message | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 2091 Registered: 10-2002 |
I was over in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall last night fo rthe finale of the Celtic Connections festival - Transatlantic sessions. This concert brings together the cream of traditional musicians from (as the name suggests) both sides of the pond. From Scotland, we had stars like Aly bain, Phil Cunningham, Eddi reader, Julie Fowlis and John McKusker. From the states we had a stellar line up including Nanci Griffith, Kathy Mattea, Jerry Douglas, Dan Tymninski and Tim o'brien. The whole night was a brilliant showcase of the talent to be found outside the mainstream rock and pop genres with music from scotland, england, the appalachians and louisiana. At one point we even had jerry Douglas, Tim o'brien, Aly bain and Jerry's Bass player Todd Parks giving a rendition of Hendrix's Hey Joe in the style of hayseed Dixie. Early in the first half, Kathy Mattea gave a very moving tribute to John Martyn who took part in the earliest transatlantic sessions some 15 years ago. Jerry Douglas closed off the first half with an astounding Dobro solo while Dan Tyminski made my wife's night leading the entire band in Man of Constant Sorrow (her favorite). All the ladies gave stunning vocal performances, Julie Fowlis singing a couple of beautiful Gaelic ballads and Nanci Griffith showing just how good she is, and for the encore, Tim O'brien led the ensemble in a rendition of Randy Newman's Sail Away just to make sure all musical bases were touched. I'd be interested to know if the transatlantic sessions get much publicity in the US or if it's largely one way traffic. if anyone is interested, the BBC are televising last night's concert on the 15th february. I'll post more details when I have them. You may be able to watch via the internet and if you can, I'd give it a 10 star recommendation. graeme (Message edited by jacko on February 02, 2009) | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7481 Registered: 5-2002 |
Thanks for a great review! Sounds like a wonderful show! |
