Galician quartet Marful alone suggested a musical united nations, brilliantly arranging guitar, button accordion and bass clarinet behind the truly characterful singer, Ugia Pedreira, in a style that intimated a meeting point between flamenco and French chanson, with bossa, tango and rhumba rhythms, as well as waltzes, carrying Pedreira’s mysterious but evidently dramatic storylines.
Manx Gaelic, despite the Isle of Man’s relative proximity, is a less familiar dialect than Galician at Celtic Connections but Greg Joughin strongly conveyed the song’s spirit as he guested with the zestful King Chiaullee. A meeting of Welsh accordion and Scott Skinner’s notably demanding The Hurricane didn’t quite succeed and the Manx dance tunes didn’t convey any particularly idiosyncratic features, but it was an enjoyable set.
Pennou Skoulm don’t have a singer but they are unmistakably Breton in character and when they play the air to a song, be it an expression of affection or a tale of falling out, their instruments take on the appropriate roles almost like actors. Theirs is a big, rich sound, with fiddlers Jacky Molard and Christian MeMaitre, flautist Jean-Michel Veillon and uilleann piper Ronan Le Bars dovetailing expertly and guitarist Nicolas Quemener providing a real engine room of rhythm.
Sponsored by Scottish Power.
Star rating: ****
