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Yesterday was the first of my Celtic Connections evenings, one of the Ceolraid concerts at the Piping Centre. The first set was Jenna Cumming and Mary Ann Kennedy, two Gaelic singers; nice-sounding enough, but not really to my taste since I don't speak Gaelic and without being able to understand the lyrics, I find most folk-song tunes simplistic. And I noticed that one of the songs, written by a woman in New Zealand about her old home in (I think) Staffa, was to the much more widely-recognised tune of a Burns song, 'A Man's A Man'. So filking happens in the folk scene too.
And then... they did a set of 'pusht' (I don't know the proper Gaelic and I intend to find out soon), which are complex rhythmic vocal tunes rather than songs; mouth-music for dancing to. They have words but they are often tongue-twisters because the point of the piece is the tune, not the lyrics. They aren't songs. These things went straight to my inner geek and hit the 'Oooo, Shiny!' switch. I've got to learn some. I love complicated music and interesting rhythms. I'm a big fan of taiko drums and other percussion music, drum fanfares, Stomp!, anything like that. And I'm a good enough singer that although they would stretch me, I could manage them.
The next set, Ewan MacPherson and Seamus Egan, was similarly to my taste with guitar, banjo and bourzouki doing jigs, reels, airs and other tunes in the way that Scottish and Irish music can be played; the basic tune is simple enough but it can be re-stated and re-complicated as far as the skill of the musician will take it. Really skilled musicians can play a fearsomely complicated tune that you can still dance to. These guys were fantastic. Listening to them was a rush.
Then everyone went on stage together, the singers singing a Gaelic air and the musicians taking the tune and improvising on it. Marvellous.
Afterwards I went to the Festival Club, because I had a free ticket to it. The Club is a folk-club format; lots of tables in front of a stage, everyone sits and listens to the acts, lots of acts get up and do a couple of sets each. This was all right, but it looked set to go late and it was a school night, so I left not long after twelve. There's not a lot of potential for socialising, either, because everyone's sitting at their tables listening to the music in dim candle light, and there's little moving around, mixing, chatting.
And then... they did a set of 'pusht' (I don't know the proper Gaelic and I intend to find out soon), which are complex rhythmic vocal tunes rather than songs; mouth-music for dancing to. They have words but they are often tongue-twisters because the point of the piece is the tune, not the lyrics. They aren't songs. These things went straight to my inner geek and hit the 'Oooo, Shiny!' switch. I've got to learn some. I love complicated music and interesting rhythms. I'm a big fan of taiko drums and other percussion music, drum fanfares, Stomp!, anything like that. And I'm a good enough singer that although they would stretch me, I could manage them.
The next set, Ewan MacPherson and Seamus Egan, was similarly to my taste with guitar, banjo and bourzouki doing jigs, reels, airs and other tunes in the way that Scottish and Irish music can be played; the basic tune is simple enough but it can be re-stated and re-complicated as far as the skill of the musician will take it. Really skilled musicians can play a fearsomely complicated tune that you can still dance to. These guys were fantastic. Listening to them was a rush.
Then everyone went on stage together, the singers singing a Gaelic air and the musicians taking the tune and improvising on it. Marvellous.
Afterwards I went to the Festival Club, because I had a free ticket to it. The Club is a folk-club format; lots of tables in front of a stage, everyone sits and listens to the acts, lots of acts get up and do a couple of sets each. This was all right, but it looked set to go late and it was a school night, so I left not long after twelve. There's not a lot of potential for socialising, either, because everyone's sitting at their tables listening to the music in dim candle light, and there's little moving around, mixing, chatting.
