Blood and Roses: The songs of Ewan MacColl

Neill and Calum MacColl

Concert for Ewan MacColl Celtic Connections 2015

A joyous celebration of the life and songs of Ewan MacColl and a family affair along with the English folk family the Carthys.  

MacColl was many things, a diamond in the rough - a self taught actor, playwright, author, singer, songwriter, activist, song collector. He is known for his part in the folk revival movements of the 60s. He wrote one of my favourite songs ever, the well loved - 'The First Tie Ever I Saw Your Face.'

He is also best known for his songs and tonight we were enriched by hearing them interpreted in the traditional tried and tested way by some of England’s and Scotland’s finest folk singers - Dick Gaughan, Karine Polwart, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan, American musician Chaim Tannenbaum, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, his sons Neill and Calum MacColl, and four of MacColl's grandchildren.

Neill and Calum MacColl

The event was organized by his two sons (with folk singer Peggy Seeger) Calum and Neill MacColl, and by Kate St John. His second wife Peggy was unable to be there due to illness.  For Peggy he wrote one of the most perfect love songs - The First time Ever I saw Your Face and Neill commented that his parents had a display they called the 'Chamber of Horrors' for some of the dire covers of this now very famous song. 

The band played acoustically and included double bass, accordion and guitars and with stripped back arrangements so the songs were able to shine through. On stage there was a backdrop of black and white images of Ewan and his wife Peggy Seeger.   

 

Dick Gaughan

**Some true gems tonight –

Scottish folk legend Dick Gaughan and Karine Polwart began the concert with a strong interpretation of Ewan's song Ballad of Accounting. Gaughan also sang a dramatic Father's Song. Karine Polwart's truly felt cover of the song Nobody Knew She was There.

I especially enjoyed the Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan’s subtle interpretation of The First Time Ever I Saw your Face which was full of honest depth and heart and with none of those trills or unnecessary overdone vocal gymnastics so common these days on reality shows.

Eliza Carthy, Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy

English folk singer Martin Carthy sang with character Champion at Keeping Em Rolling and Freeborn Man of the Travelling People. Eliza Carthy performed with honesty and verve the MacColl songs Alone, Space Girl and The Fitters Song. Martin and Eliza Cathy were joined by Norma Waterson to sing a moving interpretation of MacColl's The Moving on Song. 

Pulp's Jarvis Cocker sang in his own very unique way the song The Battle is Done With.  

American musician and philosopher Chaim Tannenbaum impressively joined the cast of players. He sang MacColl's Go Down Ye Murderers and My Old Man and the well-known song now in the folk cannon, Shoals of Herring. (For 40 years, folk music’s first family, the Wainwright-McGarrigle clan, has enjoyed Tannerbaum's quiet support.)

MacColl's grandchildren performed some shanties.  Calum MacColl sang the well kent Sweet Thames Flow Softly and Neill MacColl sang the poignant The Joy of Living, before the encore songs for us all to sing along with - Dirty Old Town and Manchester Rambler.  

ChaimTannenbaum

Jarvis cocker

Martin Carthy

Ewan McColl concert PHOTOS - http://pkimage.co.uk/ewanmaccollconcert

MacColl was a fine storyteller with a magic way with words and wrote life-affirming songs. McColl died in 1989 at 74.

His wife, Peggy Seeger, now 80, still tours and records. She is an American classically trained musician and part of another famous folk family - the Seegers (Pete Seeger).  Her father was Charles Seeger, a folklorist and musicologist; her mother was Ruth Porter Crawford, a modernist composer who was one of the first women to receive a Guggenheim fellowship.

They are also known for their folk club, The Singers Club, in London and their Critics Group a "master class" for young singers performing traditional songs or to compose new songs. Seeger and MacColl performed and recorded as a duo and as solo artists;  http://www.peggyseeger.com/ewan-maccoll/journeyman-autobiography

A four disc boxed set of MacColl’s songs to mark the centenary, will be released later this year and will include some of the singers at tonight's show.  MacColl's parents were Scottish

He has released albums twenty solo albums and thirty albums with Peggy.  

http://www.peggyseeger.com/ewan-maccoll/journeyman-autobiography

Alan Kelly Gang Celtic Connections 2015

After which we were treated to the Alan Kelly Gang. Kelly is an innovative Irish piano accordionist and he brought an array of top rated folk musicians with him that included  - Alasdair White (Battlefield band) who was impressive and expressive on fiddle, Manus Lunny on double bass (Capercaillie), guitarist Tony Byrne and flutist and vocalist Steph Geremia. Their music combines Irish, Scottish, Breton and Asturian influences.  

They were joined for one song with Scottish songstress Eddi Reader - who sat near me enjoying their set! Their recent album The Last Bell is well worth checking out. http://alankellygang.com/band/

Alan Kelly Band PHOTOS - http://pkimage.co.uk/alankellygang

The Punch Brothers Celtic Connections 2015

The Punch Bothers were received with warm applause by fans at the Glasgow concert hall on Friday night. They are a hip and modern, suit-and-tie old time bluegrass band with pure-toned melodic harmonies, foot-tapping banjo and melody strumming mandolin rhythms. They describe themselves as acoustic folk/progressive bluegrass.
They consist of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass).They performed tracks from their upcoming release , 27th January 2014 - The Phosphorescent Blues including singles I Blew It Off, Julep,

The band play subtle acoustic song stories, unaccompanied singing, instrumentals, spirituals and sing with strong falsettos and harmony. They kept the tempo up with plenty of variety in tone, dynamics, rhythms, strong harmonies and of style. The celtic crowd clearly enjoyed the boys show and they played a welcome encore. I hope they return soon! Recommend.

The band wrote the song Dark Days for the movie Hunger Games 2012, and also performed on the songs The Last Thing on My Mind (Tom Paxton) and Ewan MacColl's The Shoals of Herring on the Coen Brothers 2013 film Inside LLewyn Davis.

Chris Thile (mandolin) is from California and is known for his work with the acoustic band Nickel Creek, an American Grammy award winning progressive acoustic music trio (2002 Best Contemporary Folk Album)

http://www.punchbrothers.com/ 

Braebach at the Old Fruitmarket Celtic Connections 2015

Quality Celtic concert!

 To begin the night New Zealander Horomana Horo arrived in impressive full Maori gear and with his band Waoira started the show with an entertaining set of Moari traditional songs. Horo is a Maori musician with a powerful presence and expressive voice. Waiora's music blends the tradition and modern along with classical guitarist Joshua Rogers.

He played traditional instruments that were subdued and floating for such a big man!  He told of his songs being about the conversation between the elements. He also treated us to a Haki Moari dance. One song expressed admiration for female virtues, another for manly strengths.

Horo is a leading player of his culture's traditional taonga puro instruments. He spoke of the revitalization of Moari music, language and culture. Highly enjoyable set.  http://www.horomonahoro.com/

 After which we were treated to the Alan Kelly Band. Kelly is an innovative Irish piano accordionist and he brought an array of top rated folk musicians with him that included  - Alasdair White (Battlefield band) who was impressive and expressive on fiddle, Manus Lunny on double bass (Capercaillie), guitarist Tony Byrne and flutist and vocalist Steph Geremia. Their music combines Irish, Scottish, Breton and Asturian.  

They were joined for one song with Scottish songstress Eddi Reader - who sat near me enjoying their set! Their recent album The Last Bell is well worth checking out. http://alankellygang.com/band/

Tonight's headliners were Scottish band Braebach who have won several awards and the band mix traditions with their highly individual inventiveness. All multi talented musicians they consist of Calum MacCrimmon (Pipes and Whistles), Megan Henderson ((Fiddle), Ewan Robertson (Guitar,Cajon) and James Duncan Mackenzie (Pipes and Bazouki) and James Lindsay (Double Bass).

Breabach played fine tunes, ranging from jigs and reels, Gaelic songs and Scottish dancing along with uniquely inspired twin pipes. Keeping to their traditional roots the band also brings an inventiveness to their music. This old worldly venue is one of my Glasgow favourites and provides a perfect back drop for

Bagpipes meet taonga puoro when Horo joined the band on stage for their collaborative music together at the successful and ground-breaking 2014 Womad Boomerang Project,  to explore the links between Celtic, Aboriginal and Maori cultures, through language, contemporary music, and dance. http://womad.org/artists/boomerang-project

The concert marked the tenth anniversary since the band won Celtic Connections Danny Kyle stage. The busy Fruitmarket were truly given a high quality concert tonight and showed their enthusiastic appreciation! 

Songline named the band's album, Urlar, as one of the top ten Scottish albums of 2014. http://breabach.com/