Moishes Bagel 19/2/2012

This was my fourth time for Moishes Bagel (although one of the gigs had been a cut down 2 person version called Box and Fiddle)and it is always fun, full of energy and just a great fusion of sounds from around the world delivered by excellent musicians. There's definitely a lot of balkan influences, exemplified by Greg's expressive fiddle playing and the accordions of Phil and Pete. Guy the percussionist had a very particular set of small drums and snares and fitted in superbly to the overall sound. Phil who writes a lot of the stuff spends a lot of his time at the piano and has a gentle melodic style that seems to glue the bands sound together and they have played together for a while so they are seamlessly together the whole gig. Highlight for me was a beautiful african influenced piece led by Phil on piano called 'Timgad' (A town in Algeria)but anytime Greg was joyously playing balkan stuff on the fiddle was also pretty damn good.

Transatlantic Sessions 8/2/2012

After a barren couple of months gigs-wise it was brilliant to sit in the centre of the front row at Symphony Hall at a Transatlantic Sessions show. We missed the 2011 version unfortunately so it was a couple of years since we had seen this particular annual tour and it is pure joy to be at. I am not normally a fan of mixed gigs but the musicians for these gigs are so good and so into the concept of mixing the British Isles and North American streams of gaelic-influenced music that it works like a dream. At the heart of the event are Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, both consumate masters of their respective instruments and they direct the show. Aly Bain anchors the music with a fiddle sound that is completely rooted and strong. Jerry picks away on his dobro adding flourish and infill throughout the show. If that wasn't enough the band is comprised of top musicians; Michael McGoldrick, Donald Shaw, Phil Cunningham, Danny Thompson, Russ Barenberg, Bruce Molsky, Tim O'Brien, John Doyle, James Mackintosh, and so the band sound is superb. And then the vocalists and singer/songwriters come on one by one to perform one or two songs. New to me this time were Ruth Moody a singer/songwriter from Manitoba with a sweet voice, Declan O'Rourke from Ireland who was sparky and original(one of his songs was called 'Lightning Bird Wind River Man')and perhaps best of all, Raul Malo, a cuban american with a voice of pure gold and a belting full throttle delivery to match. Of the old favourites Eddi Reader and the immaculate Karen Matheson also took their turn and perhaps the highlight of the night was delivered early on by Karen singing a lament for a closed South Carolina mill called 'Aragon Mill'. If I have a criticism of the gig it is that Karen only got to solo on two tracks but Aragon Mill was worth the ticket cost alone. Another highlight was the solo by Jerry Douglas where his fingers eventually become a blur dancing across the dobro strings as he melds from one almost recognisable tune to another. The one track featuring Michael McGoldrick on pipes (I'm Asleep) was also stand-out as were the tunes led by Aly Bain. But whatever wasn't particularly stand-out was excellent in any case and it was another cracking Transatlantic Sessions gig. The encore captured the spirit of the evening, Raul Malo belting out 'Hey Good Lookin'' whilst the girls and Declan abandoned backing singing duties to do an impromptu scottish dance at the back of the stage.