CELTIC Connections, the music festival, might mean many things to many people. It’s not just a festival that links different aspects of Celtic musical culture. It links Celtic musical culture to other musical cultures.
It’s a festival of many, for multifarious age groups, cultures, genres and abilities. And it has multiplied exponentially since its launch in 1994, when it had no shortage of doubters who wondered about its scope and its timing in the cold month after Christmas when few might be thought to have either the money or the inclination to go out.
How wrong the sceptics were. Folk, it seems, are always up for folk and, failing that, for Americana, world, indie, jazz, classical, electronica, blues and fusion. This year’s 25th anniversary festival sees 2,100 artists perform at 300 events at 20 venues in and around Glasgow.
Highlights aren’t hard to find. One must surely be the GRIT Orchestra performing the late Martyn Bennett’s Bothy Culture on a grand scale at the SSE Hydro: 80 folk, jazz and classical musicians coming together in glorious co-operation to salute the greatness of Bennett’s second album 20 years after it was first released.
But that’s a bit later in the month (Saturday, January 27), and we’re getting ahead of ourself here. This week, events get under with an opening gala concert on Thursday, at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, featuring pianist David Milligan, one of the original performers in 1994, as musical director and a line-up including String Sisters, Eddi Reader, Ian McCalman, Gyan Singh and Siobhan Miller.
The following night sees the first of the Danny Kyle Open Stage concerts, in memory of the great performer and supporter of Scottish traditional music. These free events are for emerging musical talent to strut their funky, folky stuff and, from all the performers, six will be chosen to perform in a showcase concert on the final night.
All Open Stage concerts, again at the Royal Concert Hall, are free and in the past have drawn attention to now well-known acts such as Karine Polwart and Rura.
At the turn of the century, one of Scotland’s most popular progressive folk acts, Croft No. 5, introduced us to a whole range of exciting talent and, on Saturday, they play Saint Luke’s in the company of Dosca, victors in TradFest 2017’s inaugural Battle of the Folk Bands. Here be bagpipes fused with jazz and funk.
And that there is pretty much just a small selection of your starters in this, “the largest winter music festival of its kind”. Much for the many to enjoy.
Celtic Connections begins on Thursday and continues until Sunday, February 4.
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