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Transatlantic Sessions

Venue: Bridgewater Hall
Town: Manchester
Date: 07/02/14
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Sessions

The Transatlantic Sessions is now an annual fixture in my calendar and I would not miss it for the world. Where else can you see such a vast array of talent on stage at the same time? This year the TS cast numbered seventeen!

The format is a tried and tested one. Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas assemble a "dream team" of top musicians from both sides of the Atlantic and invite half a dozen of the best singer-songwriters to perform with them. This year the impressive roster of singers consisted of Shawn Colvin, Sarah Jarosz, Darrell Scott, Tim O'Brien [all from the USA] and Julie Fowlis and Kris Drever [both from Scotland]. A formidable array of talent, if ever there was !

The instrumental line-up [ a veritable folk orchestra] was eleven strong, so I would like to use the analogy of a football team. The experienced midfield "generals" were Aly Bain [fiddle], Jerry Douglas [dobro and lap steel] and Phil Cunningham [accordion]. In the forward line [on the American wing] were Bruce Molsky [fiddle and banjo] and Russ Barenberg [guitar]. On the British flank we had local boy Michael McGoldrick [pipes, whistles, flute] and John McCusker [fiddle]. The back four consisted of Donald Shaw [piano, harmonium], Danny Thompson [double bass], John Doyle [guitar] and last,but not least, James MacIntosh on drums. Not even Sir Alex Ferguson could have picked a stronger team when he was manager at nearby Old Trafford.

This was the last night of the tour and there was a certain end-of-term atmosphere, as though the performers wanted to make the very most of the evening. The show lasted nearly three hours so I will try to select some edited highlights.

Firstly,I was really looking forward to seeing Sarah Jarosz as her recent album "Build Me Up From Bones" is a real favourite of mine. From that album, the elfin Sarah sang the title track, with backing vocals from Julie Fowlis. Sarah also sang a great version of Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells" from "Oh Mercy",which featured a splendid whistle solo from Mike McGoldrick.

Sarah also demonstrated her instrumental prowess when she picked up her banjo to join Bruce Molsky for a wonderful old-time string band arrangement of "Shady Grove", which also featured Kris Drever, Russ Barenberg and Tim O'Brien. Not a bad little band, that. Russ is a superb guitarist and for his solo spot he played a sublime version of his lovely composition "Our Time".

Last year Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott released an excellent duo album called "Memories and Moments". From that album, Tim and Darrell performed Tim's "Time To Talk To Joseph" and a honky-tonkin' tribute to George Jones on the late singer's "Just One More". In the true spirit [no pun intended] of the song they both downed a malt whisky, with a toast to the tour. Darrell also dedicated his song "Come Into This Room" to the legendary Danny Thompson.

For the first [and last] time on this tour, Tim and Darrell sang a spellbinding unaccompanied country-gospel version of Hank Williams' "A House Of Gold" ["what good is gold and silver too, if your heart's not good and true ?"].This was a brilliant performance. As Jerry Douglas said "That was great, that was scary".

Speaking of Jerry, his own solo spot was spectacularly good as he improvised a set of tunes on his dobro to stunning effect.A truly remarkable musician.

Julie Fowlis is another favourite singer of mine and her rendition of "Blackbird" in Gaelic was truly delightful. In total contrast, Julie went "a little wild" on a breathtaking puirt a beul [mouth music] number, the title of which I did not decipher. Fellow Scot Kris Drever [from Orkney and Lau] charmed the audience with his lovely song "My Shining Star" on which he was joined by the whole company.

Although Transatlantic Sessions is a most democratic occasion, with everybody getting equal billing, if anyone was the nominal "headliner" it would have to be multiple Grammy award winner Shawn Colvin. Shawn looked genuinely delighted to be playing with such wonderful musicians and entered into the spirit of the tour with great versions of several of her best-known songs namely - "All Fall Down", "That Don't Worry Me Now", "These Four Walls" and "Diamond In The Rough".

Naturally, the audience demanded an encore and were given a set of tunes, including a couple from Aly's home in Shetland. This set seemed to sum up the spirit of the Transatlantic Sessions and long may they continue. The good news is that they will be doing it all again next year. When do tickets go on sale?

Peter Cowley