Posts Tagged ‘treacherous orchestra’

Voting is now open for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2013 after the nominees were announced earlier this week. 

This year’s event will be taking place for the first time in Glasgow, at The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on January 30 2013, as part of the Celtic Connections festival. Fiddler Duncan Chisholm (whose album Affric was one of Songlines Best Albums of 2012), Mercury Music Prize nominated Sam Lee and trio Lau have all received two nominations each.

The full list of nominees are…

FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR

Nic Jones
Sam Lee
Jim Moray
Karine Polwart

BEST ALBUM [Public vote with five nominees]*
Broadside – Bellowhead
Ground of Its Own – Sam Lee
Race the Loser – Lau
Skulk – Jim Moray
Traces – Karine Polwart 

BEST DUO
Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts
Hannah James & Sam Sweeney
O’Hooley & Tidow
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman

BEST GROUP
Bellowhead
Lau
Treacherous Orchestra
The Unthanks

HORIZON AWARD
Blair Dunlop
Luke Jackson
Maz O’Connor
Rura

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
Ross Ainslie
Duncan Chisholm
Sam Sweeney
Kathryn Tickell

BBC RADIO 2 YOUNG FOLK AWARD
Luke Jackson
Graham Mackenzie & Ciorstaidh Beaton
Thalla
Grey Russell & Ciaran Algar

BEST TRADITIONAL TRACK
‘Lord Douglas’ – Jim Moray
‘Tha Sneachd‘ air Druim Uachdair’ – Kathleen MacInnes
‘Unknown Air’ – Duncan Chisholm
‘Wild Wood Amber’ – Sam Lee

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
‘Hatchlings’ – Emily Portman
‘King of Birds’ – Karine Polwart
‘Tailor’ – Anaïs Mitchell
‘The Ballad of Andy Jacobs’ – Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman 

*Voting closes at 7pm on November 30 2012

Tags: bbc, bellowhead, blair dunlop, ciaran algar, ciorstaidh beaton, duncan chisholm, graham mackenzie, grey russell, jim moray, karine polwart, lau, luke jackson, radio 2 folk awards, sam lee, sam sweeney, thalla, the unthanks, treacherous orchestra.

Words by Kevin Bourke
Photo of Raghu Dixit by Philip Ryalls/Redferns

One of the many reasons why the Cambridge Folk Festival is the pre-eminent event of its kind in Europe is that for decades the organisers have fearlessly programmed popular veterans alongside up-and-comers and the sort of world music or blues acts that you wouldn’t normally find in any folk club. 

In common with many other big festivals, though, the sheer number of performances and an increasing number of stages, notably the addition of the youth-orientated The Den this year, can lead to clashes. Pretty much as soon as I arrived, I fell foul of a combination of poor timing, parking issues and suddenly finding that I would actually have to walk past BBC Folk Award-winning veteran Steve Tilston on Stage 2 meant missing Songlines favourite Raghu Dixit on Stage One early Friday afternoon. By all accounts, though, he blew the crowd away.

The same could be said for the usually-reliable Irish traditional band Four Men & A Dog, staging one of their occasional reunions on Stage One. But in this case, it was not their impeccable musicianship and the showmanship of bodhrán player Gino Lupari that left an indelible impression but the sheer volume of their set which had people moving.

By the time they were followed on the main stage by another hugely popular reunion, the magnificent June Tabor & Oysterband, the sound had started to settle down for one of the festival’s early highlights. June and the Oysters’ John Jones, the Gram and Emmylou of heart-on-sleeve committed folk-rock, not only kicked proverbial butt on the expected likes of ‘Bonnie Bunch O’Roses’, but also offered some fascinating surprises, confessing a shared admiration of The Velvet Underground, for instance, before playing ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’. They dug out the tragedy underneath the myth on a truly transcendent version of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, too.

By contrast, Irish singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow was the new kid in town, despite his impressive beard. After storming Stage Two last year, he was promoted to the key position of mid-evening on the Main Stage, although that meant going head-to-head with the Opening of the Olympics, screening (silently) on the TV screen in the bar. McMorrow’s songs of heartbreak and desire proved a convincing winner in this particular competition.

At the first Cambridge Folk Festival I ever attended back in 1972, John Prine performed, as did Steve Goodman. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then and Prine has had his own challenges to face. But he celebrated his late friend ‘Stevie’ with a version of ‘Souvenirs’ that was just one of the highlights of a set that fairly bristled with tremendous songs, wryly and winningly delivered by a veteran who by now has a huge and virtually unimpeachable back-catalogue. 

Traditionally, the closing acts are not of the introspective songwriter persuasion, which neither Stage One’s 12-piece Scottish folk big-band Treacherous Orchestra or Stage Two’s even bigger band The Destroyers, with their “gypsy folk music with a Gothic turbo charge,” could reasonably be accused of. Both, it should be said, were considerably livelier than that tedious, supposedly-celebratory Olympic Opening Parade.

Tags: cambridge folk festival, four men & a dog, James Vincent McMorrow, john prine, june tabor, oysterband, raghu dixit, steve tilston, the destroyers, treacherous orchestra.

The April/May 2012 issue of Songlines – on sale March 16 – features a free covermount CD packed full of the best new sounds from around the world, plus 5 tracks selected by Fun Lovin’ Criminals frontman and BBC radio DJ Huey Morgan.

The issue also features the second free CD Sounds of South Asia.

The Top of the World CD includes tracks from English folk pin-up Seth Lakeman; Tunisian chanteuse Emel Mathlouthi; Senegalese veteran Ablaye Ndiaye Thiossane; Scottish folk supergroup Treacherous Orchestra; the live sound of New Yorkers The Klezmatics; and Palestinian oud virtuoso Ahmad Al Khatib & Youssef Hbeisch, among others.

Pick up your copy here on the website, at selected WHSmith’s and at all good record retailers. Feast your ears on these all-new tracks:

* Ablaye Ndiaye Thiossane ‘Thiere Lamboul’ on Discograph/Sterns
* BBB ‘Part of the Glory’ on Crammed Discs
* Emel Mathlouthi ‘Dhalem’ on World Village
* Seth Lakeman ‘Blacksmith’s Prayer’ on Honour Oak Records
* Ahmad Al Khatib & Youssef Hbeisch ‘Wedding’ on Institut du Monde Arabe
* Fidil ‘Tá do Mhargadh Déanta’ on FIDIL
* Duotone ‘Turning Pages Over’ on ECC Records
* Various Artists ‘Raga Lankadahang Sarang’ on Glossa Music
* The Klezmatics ‘NY Psycho Freylekhs’ on Fréa Records
* Treacherous Orchestra ‘Superfly’ on Navigator Records

Plus Huey Morgan’s playlist:

* Opotopo ‘Agboho’ on Soundway
* Manu Dibango ‘Soul Makossa’ on Global Mix
* Quantic & Alice Russell with Combo Bárbaro ‘I’d Cry’ on Tru Thoughts
* El Combo de Los Galleros ‘Soledad’ on World Circuit
* Willie Colón ‘Ché Ché Colé’ on Fania

Tags: ablaye ndiaye, adlaye ndiaye thiossane, ahmad al khatib, emel mathlouthi, fidil, fun lovin' criminals, huey morgan, huey morgan playlist, huey morgan songlines, huey morgan songlines playlist, klezmatics, seth lakeman, sounds of south asia, thiossane, treacherous orchestra, willie colon, youssef hbeisch.

On Wednesday BBC Scotland announced that it would be removing Mary Ann Kennedy’s Tuesday Global Gathering radio show from its scheduling – a shock decision that has been met with mounting anger and protest.

Through various incarnations, including Celtic Connections, the show has been permeating the airwaves with a vast array of world and traditional music for the last 20 years. Promoting folk, roots and world music with a constant underlying Scottish edge, the programme has provided a platform for many artists including Martyn Bennett, Shooglenifty and the Treacherous Orchestra.

Replacing the show with the revamped classical music orientated show Classics Unwrapped, much of the protest centres on BBC Scotland completely misjudging current Scottish culture and public demand. Boss of Glasgow’s biggest music festival Celtic Connections, Donald Shaw proclaimed yesterday:

‘Another window to the world of great living music closes. BBC Radio Scotland is supposed to be developing and supporting culturally distinctive programming.’

As a publicly financed institution, one would assume that producing shows that attempt to promote a wider range of musical styles and cultures must be a primary aim for the BBC. Yet this move can only be construed as a regressive step for eclectic programming and choice. A spokesperson for BBC Scotland defended the move – ‘the station will continue to offer distinctive music across its evening schedule and is committed to promoting new music and Scottish artists within these programmes.’ Does taking one of the leading advocates of these genres off the air in exchange for a classical music programme really justify this statement?

Mary Ann Kennedy, a successful singer, producer and veteran broadcaster in her own right has declined to comment further on BBC’s decision yet stated:

‘It’s a privilege to present a show that sits at the crossroads of Scotland’s inspiring musical creativity and cultural diversity at a time when Scots musicians command respect and admiration from right across the spectrum of global roots music.’

Support for Mary and protecting the ethos of Global Gathering is rapidly gathering pace with the creation of a petition against the choice to remove the show and a Facebook page – Friends of Mary Ann Kennedy’s Global Gathering

Join Songlines in showing your support!

Link to the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/radio-scotland-dont-cancel-mary-ann-kennedys-global-gathering-programme

Tags: bbc scotland, celtic connections, classics unwrapped, donald shaw, global gathering, martyn bennett, mary ann kennedy, petition, shooglenifty, treacherous orchestra.