Sunday
In the short amount of music I heard from Toumani Diabate & Symmetric Orchestra, both at the start of the set and later when I returned to catch the end, it seemed like a very vital sound, rich in depth and texture. It spoke of tradition and felt right. I may not have understood the deeper meaning in the music, but it managed to move me.
Four Men And A Dog were part way through their first number when I arrived. By the time they reached the end of it I was fully in synch.
One of the reasons I was so glad to get back for this is that Four Men And A Dog only form on an ad-hoc basis these days. There’s an album in the pipeline, which I guess will be supported by a tour, but I wouldn’t exactly bet the mortgage on it.
They’ve taken a very Irish approach to their music, basically a little of everything they’ve heard along the way. Throw it into the stewing pot, add a couple of glasses of the black stuff, let it simmer awhile so the flavours can really seep in. Serve with a host of personality and serve it hot.
It’s a philosophy that pays dividends, it gives them a distinctive sound. Still very much Celtic at core, but not pure bred Irish.
I’ve heard plenty of Celtic Music at Cambridge over the years, but I can’t recall enjoying a whole set as much as this. The whole thing seemed to come together in a way that something more thoroughbred can’t.
Four Men And A Dog re-acquainted me with a music that I was in danger of forgetting. The tradition is alive and well in their hands.
Toumani Diabate & Symmetric Orchestra is just finishing off as I get back to the media caravan. Reports from those that stayed suggest a colourful performance, but I’m glad I ducked out.
It’s time for some more Americana next with the folk country/blues of Nanci Griffith. Nanci has been a popular performer at Cambridge. Arguably she’s one of the most enduring country artists that come to our shores.
Nanci is a fantastic writer of songs as well as a performer. I remember a debate with another music fan the last time Nanci came to Cambridge. He originally dismissed Nanci as a covers artist. When I pointed out that she’d written the songs she was supposedly covering, he shut up.
One of the reasons Nanci’s songs work so well is that it doesn’t matter if she’s solo, like tonight or with a full band in tow, the songs stand up on their own.
It’s great to have Nanci herself performing them. She’s also entertaining between songs. There’s a witty review of Eastenders, which when you think about it is becoming more and more like a bad country and western song. “My brother slept with your wife and I’m killing mine for harming my boy.”
There’s something very thoughtful about a Nanci Griffith set, you get the feeling that it’s lovingly assembled in advance, how each song relates to each other carefully considered, then she comes up on stage, looks at the audience and thinks sod it, I’m going to do that one.
She has a very relaxed persona, it puts you at ease when listening to her music and receptive to ideas and themes. She would make a good politician, she sells her ideas in song and it’s a great set for it.
If she’s singing about a concept of love, you believe it attainable, if she says it’s out of reach, it is, great set.