Making the Connection

EAST met west at a gypsy carnival in Candleriggs on Saturday night when the Old Fruitmarket hosted Balkanarama.

Billtopping Besh o droM flew in from Budapest to headline this special show for Celtic Connections.

But a dozen young musicians who earlier opened the standing-room-only jam session hailed from the near east – Edinburgh.

The Black Cat Balkan Band's spirited playing of tunes unfamiliar to most of the rest of us but exuding dervish-like intensity and some wondrous time signatures, naturally inspired impromptu dancing.

If you could keep your feet still while all this wild-eyed musicianship was going into joyous overdrive, any paramedics present clearly wouldn't find a pulse.

Soloists – on violin, clarinet and trumpet among them – weaved in and out of the ensemble playing, which was underpinned by relentless drumming, an accordion and old-style string bass.

And so, from fiery to wistful by turns, Eastern Europe was conjured up in swirling melodies echoing Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and various points north and south including the Klezmer tradition with its Yiddish origins. Transylvania, here we come!

Black-gowned Saska Haramina took 90 minutes before she showed her hand, then her vocal talents, and was revealed as architect of this multi-sensory club night with a rousing difference.

Hence flawless acapella Macedonian love songs (in Serbo-Croat, of course) performed with a couple of the female Black Cats (kittens?).

Then six topless (male) drummers set a loud and frenzied beat to abet the graceful moves of a petite oriental belly dancer.

All that militates against more music lovers remaining to enjoy such delights as these is the curse of last-bus syndrome for out- of-town attendees.

Why set a 9pm start with only a sparse opening crowd when this could all have been happily underway an hour (or two) earlier?

Meanwhile writer Elaine Liddle saw Karan Casey and John Doyle in the Concert Hall.

FORMER Solas bandmates Karan Casey and John Doyle have an ease on stage that could only come from years of performing side by side.

And it's just as well – because, as they freely admit at their Celtic Connections show on Monday (January 18), they haven't actually had time to play together since recording their duo album over a year ago.

Karan explained: "We got together and wrote the songs, and then headed out to Nashville to record, swam in a great swimming pool, and ate lots of food.

"Since then we've not actually had time to meet up – so what you're watching is the debut... or, technically, the practice".

Any resultant slip-ups are forgiveable from such an enjoyable set.

The pair – who both have extremely impressive backgrounds outwith traditional group Solas, which they were founding members of back in 1994 – have created songs which are somewhat less raucous than their previous work but no less engaging.

They mix together traditional numbers, Irish folk ballads, and newly-produced tracks.

The album, Exiles Return - available via Proper in the UK - is stripped-back in style and Casey shared a love for the title track, written by Doyle.

"I think it's a beautiful piece and that's the first time I've been able to sing it without crying", she revealed.

Her voice easily stands up with only Doyle's guitar for instrumentation – and at one point, she gets the audience to create her accompaniment by filling in the gaps to Nina Simone's Feeling Good.

Faced with her good humour, it's difficult to disagree, and soon the whole room is chiming in "Bam, ba-da, ba-da, ba-da, da-da-da da...".

As the pair leave the stage, the audience is left thoroughly charmed; should the exiles choose to return again, they'd be made very welcome here.