What a feast for a first Celtic Connections 2020 gig. That Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley, Zoë Conway and John Mc Intyre are on a bill alongside Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn says a lot about the riches that this ‘be there if you can’ winter Festival has to offer: as Julie Fowlis noted at the start of evening, “where else would we go in January?”
Fowlis (and) Doorley, Conway and Mc Intyre played most of Allt, the 2018 album they came together to make (reviewed here on Folk Radio), itself the culmination of a composition project inspired by old and new Gaelic poetry from Scotland and Ireland. The rarity of these songs and tunes being performed live was belied by Julie Fowlis being unsure in her introduction whether or not they were, as a band, also called Allt. As we witness again and again with musicians of this calibre, any lack of opportunities to rehearse ahead of the gig was no barrier whatsoever to turning up and giving the audience an enchanting, fresh, lively experience.
Whether primarily singers or instrumentalists, everyone sings and plays at least one instrument and the four are perfectly matched in every combination. Julie’s vocal on the opener Port Dannsaidh was as captivating as we have come to expect from her, coupled with Deora Dé, a sparkling tune in an unusual time signature. Zoë Conway showed us that she is not just a top fiddle player but also has a great voice when she leads on Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa (I Will Find Solace), a lovely, haunting song. Julie and Zoe shared vocals on
Piuthrag Nam Piuth’r (Sister, My Sister), sounding for all the world like, well singing sisters. Éamon told us that allt translates (from Scottish Gaelic) as “river or flowing water” and Allt na Cearaich/Fiona Rosie’s, a set of tunes, one composed by Éamon and one by Zoë, showcases the collective instrumental prowess of the quartet. On that set and throughout, when she wasn’t singing, we were a reminded that Julie Fowlis is also a delightful whistle player. Éamon – on bouzouki (and a bit of fiddle) – and John – on guitar – are not just masters of their chosen instrument but also both lend a more than capable hand with vocal backing on several songs, nowhere more effectively than on the a cappella An tEarrach Thiar (Spring in the West). An evocative, almost hymn-like song that was their final number, it exemplified the sheer musicality, collectivity and deftness of touch that this wonderful quartet treated an appreciative audience to.
If we’d all gone home then I’m sure most of us would have happily taken that joyful, warm feeling that such performances leave us with. But a second main course soon took the stage in the form of Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn who have been described as “the king and queen of the banjo”. Both are highly regarded in their own right: Béla Fleck as a virtuoso, at first as bluegrass player, then with his band The Flecktones and in countless collaborations pushing the boundaries of the forms of music the banjo is played in – jazz, classical and exploring the banjo’s African roots; Abigail Washburn as a member of the band Uncle Earl, a singer-songwriter and combining the banjo with Chinese influences and sounds.
They start with a compelling instrumental, alternating each exploring and stretching the tune and trading off each other’s efforts. The combined sound is at once both rooted in the familiar ‘old’ sound of the banjo and has a thoroughly contemporary edge. At times the effect of the two of them playing together adds up to such a full, unique sound that if you closed your eyes you wouldn’t be certain what instruments were being played. They play in such an effortless, relaxed way and are so obviously enjoying themselves, it’s easy to imagine that this is how they spend time at home (yes, another actual couple), with only their kids for an audience.
Railroad (recorded on their first eponymous album), an old-time song, typifies the sense of fun that imbues much of the way Béla and Abigail play, whatever the song’s subject matter. If I Could Talk To A You was, Abigail told us, written following the birth of their first child six years ago. Sung beautifully, it starts gently and simply, sounding very much like a lullaby, urging the listener to appreciate what coming in life because it all goes by too fast and ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone’. As it progresses, and the exhortation to slow down continues, the accompaniment speeds up in a typically speedy bluegrass Earl Scruggs-like style. They took in turns to do a solo spot. Abigail sang a very powerful version of the traditional hymn Bright Morning Stars, which, she told us, she had learned ‘in a hot-tub in a holler’ having got it from a traditional singer in a remote, secluded mountain valley location, and when she arrived the (woman) singer suggested sharing the song in the hot-tub. Béla’s solo spot was a highly entertaining tune, delivered in an appealingly playful, almost cheeky fashion.
A song written in the 1930’s by Sarah Gunning – Come All You Coal Miners – got one of the biggest cheers of evening when Abigail in her introduction dedicated it miners and their families in East Kentucky who in 2020 are blocking the railway to the mine they work at because the Company hasn’t paid them since mid-December. The composer’s point of view is unambiguous; the song ends with ‘I am a coal miner’s wife, I’m sure l wish you well. Let’s sink this capitalist system in the darkest pits of hell.’ Normally sung a cappella, their version had a fitting, quite dramatic accompaniment arranged by Béla. Abigail sang Song Of The Travelling Daughter, the title track from her 2005 first solo album. The title is a translation of the of the title of a Chinese poem arranged by Abigail and it is fascinating how well the staccato plucking matches the accent in her singing in Mandarin.
My Home’s Across The Blue Ridge Mountains was another commanding, emotional vocal from Abigail, set against a slow, un-bluegrass like, arrangement that brought out the underlying melancholy in the song. Take Me To Harlan provided a fun, upbeat final number, with a brisk walking pace like arrangement, appropriately aided by some step dancing from Abigail (which she said she learnt when she was in Uncle Earl). The couple returned to the stage, two children in tow, and performed an amazing un-miked version of Keys To The Kingdom, with haunting and forceful vocal, understated backing from Bela with full audience participation. A perfect end to a wondrous evening in the charming surroundings of Glasgow City Halls.
In a next day postscript, there were second helpings when Abigail Washburn was among the guests singing with Dervish in an all-round excellent Great Irish Songbook show. She joined in with very fine multiple singer renditions of The Galway Shawl and The Parting Glass (in combinations of Dervish’s fabulous front-woman Cathy Jordan, Peggy Seeger, Brian Kennedy and Heidi Talbot). The highpoint for me though was Abigail and Cathy, two of the very best women singers, singing Molly Malone together. They poured their hearts into a much slowed down version from the way it is usually sung, bringing out the sadness in the lyric and rattling the rafters of the Glasgow Concert hall into the bargain. Dervish proceeded to conduct, purely for the love it, a brilliant session in a nearby bar until 4.30 in the morning. Top-class concerts and musicianship – that what Celtic Connections is all about.
https://www.celticconnections.com/
Press Image Credit: Jim McGuire