Moishe's Bagel 10 March 2022

Another much delayed gig which was supposed to include a set by the band and live film accompaniament music they had written for the 1930 documentary 'Salt for Svanetia'. The film was ditched at the last moment as showing a propoganda film from the Soviet era was not considered appropriate any more. They did however play some of the film score in the second half of the gig after a first half of their songs - a few of which I recognised. It has been ten years since I last saw them play but the band seemed pretty much the same. Phil on piano (mostly) and accordion and Greg on fiddle are the two leaders in the band but all contribute with songs and the fusion of styles and rhythms is what makes their gigs a real joy. Mario on bass contributes a Spanish/Brazilian music sensibility illustrated beautifully by a song he wrote that starts off as a solemn Spanish Rumba tune that explodes into a Brazilian Rumba tune half way through. 'Timgad' was a slow paino led piece by Phil and another highlight was of course the Klezmer based tunes they play so well. The band has been playing together for nearly 20 years and they make their hard to categorise but great to listen to music seem effortless. I and the audience enjoyed it immensely.

Tommy Emmanuel and Jerry Douglas - 5 March 2022

I liked what Tommy Emmanuel did at the 2020 Transatlantic Sessions but my main motivation for going to this gig (originally scheduled for 2021) was to see Jerry Douglas. Although he was designated as 'Special Guest' he did play with Tommy for around half an hour as well as having the opening slot as a solo act. His set was of course brilliant, mostly on Dobro but with a couple of tunes on a Lap Steel guitar as well. He just mesmerises with that wonderful Dobro sound. Among the songs he played was a Tom Waits cover '2:19', 'A Peaceful Return', 'Monkey Let the Hogs Out' and a set of four tunes that included 'Little Martha' which is of course an Allman Bros song - it's been a while since I heard that. Tommy Emmanuel came on playing fast guitar with incredible skill but I think the songs I enjoyed most of his were the more melodic ones. Early on he did 'Deep River Blues' which resonated and a song called 'The Mystery' (allegedly written whilst he was in Ebbw Vale) was nice. I was less taken with a Beatles medley but then I don't like medleys and I am not a huge Beatles fan. That was immediately followed by a brilliant version of 'Classical Gas' which I enjoyed a lot. Thereafter he played a couple of old old songs namely 'Secret Love' and 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' which were more of the quieter melodic end of his repertoire. After an hour or so he brought on Jerry Douglas and that upped the level hugely. Fair play to Tommy he let Jerry take the lead part mostly and they did a great version of 'Choctaw Hayride', a great track called 'Half Way Home', a cover of 'I'm on Fire' (which Tommy also did at the Transatlantic Sessions gig) and brilliantly ' Hey Joe' - a song that means a lot to me since I saw Hendrix do it. All in all it's been a long wait to see this gig but with front row seats at St Davids Hall - this was good night out.

Freedom to Roam - 2 March 2022

Sadly synchronous with the Ukrainian conflict and refugee situation this project band was playing the last date of a brief tour. The project involved an album, a film and images to accompany the music all based on the need to respect the planet better than we are doing currently. I spotted this gig because Catrin Finch was part of the band and whilst I hadn't heard of the other musicians they were all outstanding. Eliza Marshall (flutes, whistles, bansuris) seemed to be the band leader; Jackie Shave, (violin, piano) wrote quite a few of the tracks and was an original and dynamic fiddle player, Donal Rogers was on bass and Robert Irvine on Cello, which added greatly to the overall sound. Surprise of the night for me was the astonishing percussion of Kuljit Bhamra whoe sense of rhythm was riveting. The gig started with a half hour long documentary film raised issues with which I am already too familiar! The band then played for an hour - playing 'The Rhythms of Migration' album in full and that was an experience that both flew by and provided loads of great, absorbing passages. Onscreen above the band were images from Amelia Kosminsky blurred and superimposed images that reflected the music, of landscapes, animals and people. A special gig and I'm sure the album will get played here a lot.