Celtic Connections
Chris Stout & Catriona McKay/Sona Jobarteh/Georgia Cecile/Fergus McCreadie
five stars
Keith Bruce
FOR all the diversity in music-making that has been showcased at concerts in Celtic Connections over the years, there can have been few programmes covering as much territory as this online showcase for four very different acts at the top of their game.
In fact the latter two would perhaps sit more obviously in Glasgow Jazz Festival, although the traditional music ingredients in the compositions of pianist Fergus McCreadie are utterly crucial. He was previewing tracks from his upcoming new album Cairn, released at the end of the month. There may be a new minimalism at work here, but when McCreadie introduces a “simple tune”, that signals his intention to take a riff or melodic idea into previously uncharted waters, courtesy of prodigious technique. The exciting variations he explored around the continuous thumbed pulse of Cross Flatlands could be no-one else, while the soaring Cliffside was as picturesque from its opening chords as the new music fiddler Chris Stout (on viola) and harper Catriona McKay had revealed an hour and a half earlier.
Apparently as yet untitled, their 30 minute sequence of languid tunes linked by improvisation came packaged with film by Sorley MacDonald that ranged from snowy hillside, highland streams and birch woodland to cityscapes, petro-chemical industry and power-plants, presented in a way that switched in and out of the performance and from monochrome to colour. It was an undertaking, in the music just as much as the visuals, of considerable complexity, but very much the acceptable face of prog-folk.
A short set from singer and kora player Sona Jobarteh and her immaculately attired-combo featured the delicious rhythmic complexity of a hymn to her homeland, Gambia, before award-winning jazz vocalist Georgia Cecile revelled in the opportunity to play the mainstage of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
Her partnership with the New Focus duo of saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski and pianist Euan Stevenson at the heart of her quartet provides both a front-line foil to her voice and a top-class song-writing partner. Her originals may borrow shamelessly from earlier styles, but with an ear-grabbing lyrical turn-of-phrase, a song like Always Be Right For Me makes the very best of its inspiration.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here