Mary Ann Kennedy live from Glasgow at one of the world’s biggest winter music festivals, with special late-night performances from the CCA, the BBC’s hub on Sauchiehall Street.
On the line-up tonight is one of world music’s classic bands, Taraf de Haidouks, who for 25 years have taken the energy and intensity of Romanian gipsy music to the world; Songhoy Blues, a young desert blues punk band from Timbuktu in Mali; and Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino from southern Italy, one of the country’s oldest folk bands but now in its second generation, refreshing the songs and dances of Puglia’s pizzica and tarantella traditions.
Celtic Connections is held in 20 venues over 18 days with 300 events taking place throughout the whole festival, involving over two thousand musicians from 26 countries. Scots and Irish Celtic music is at the centre of the festival, but it has always embraced the music of the Celtic cultures of the USA, Canada, France and Spain, together with the closely connected cultures of Scandinavia and eastern Europe. In recent years the Festival has also connected with traditions across Africa and Asia. The concerts range from the most traditional to the most experimental, all brought together in the context of one of the world’s liveliest folk cultures, with a never-ending stream of young Scottish musicians who are reinventing their own traditions for their own time.
This is the second of two live late-night sessions from Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts, each featuring some of the best acts from the Festival. It is part of BBC Music’s extensive coverage of Celtic Connections, also featuring on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC2 TV in Scotland, and BBC Music Online.
Tickets available from the BBC Tickets website from Friday 16th January.
