20th Anniversary Event – Kanda Bongo Man, Gasper Nali and Michael Mountain
Kanda Bongo Man
Soukous, the dance music of Zaire, was updated by Paris-based vocalist and bandleader Konda Bongo Man. With his high tenor vocals alternating between lyrics in Lingala andFrench, Bongo Man and his band, which has included influential guitarists Diblo Dibala in the 1980s and Rigo Star in the 1990s, has sparked dancing in audiences around the globe.
The New York Times wrote, "Zairean soukous is a lilting, rippling, dance groove that seems to smile from every register, with melody and rhythm inseparable.
Kanda Bongo Man will be joined by a six piece band and two dancers on his visit to the Peel Centenary Centre.
Gasper Nali
Gasper Nali is a Malawian one-man-band. An old video of him playing his 3 metre longone-string bass guitar has been watched over 18 million times online in the last 12 months. Gasper’s incredible instrument – a Babatoni – is all homemade, and is played with a beer bottle and a stick while he’s singing and stomping a locally fashioned kick-pedal on his cow
skin bass drum. His music is bouncy and catchy, Malawi Roots to the core, and very danceable. Songlines Magazine summed it up very well in their 4-star review of his album: “…simple but joyous, and totally infectious”.
Gasper, 35, lives a quite modest life in the small town of Nkhata Bay on the shores ofnorthern Lake Malawi. In his younger years, he and his brothers would travel a bit with a family band in order to make money, but these days he lives alone in a small house inNkhata Bay, mainly supporting himself by playing regular shows at venues in town,
Michael Mountain
Michael Mountain, the composer and singer, is a multifaceted man. He is a small-scaletobacco and maize farmer, a community organiser, a reflective thinker, a prolificsongwriter and a charismatic artist. On one hand he is deeply rooted in the spirituality ofthe Rastafari movement, on the other, immersed in the local politics of being chief of asmall village.
Raised and educated in Zambia, Michael now lives the humble lifestyle common to mostpeople in rural Malawi with his wife and two young children. The front porch of their small house is his favourite place. From there he can clearly see life from a different point of view and put these reflections into song.
His debut album “Nowhere Else To Go” was mainly recorded in a studio on the shores of Lake Malawi, where Michael’s soulful voice was backed up by a crew of fantastic musicians from the Nkhata-Bay area. A few overdubs, some finishing touches and themixing was done in Sweden and the result of this collaboration is something quite special.
Its an old school, low-key kind of reggae, where Michael’s singing takes centre stage infront of a band that produces an organic and sometimes almost fragile vibe.
Dervish concert – part of Yn Chruinnaght Celtic Gathering 2023
Legendary Irish folk music band Dervish, are one of Ireland’s best known traditional bands and are described by the BBC as “an icon of Irish music”.
Dervish received a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the BBC in 2019, a fitting tribute to the band after over 30 years of recording and performing all over the world, playing at festivals from Rio to Glastonbury.
Dervish have a line-up which includes some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians, fronted by one of the country’s best-known singers, Cathy Jordan. Regarded by many as the most distinctive voice and finest front-woman in Irish traditional music today – the instrumental line-up of fiddle, flute, bouzouki, mandola, bodhran and accordion draw from seemingly limitless depths of talent, finesse, subtlety and fiery energy. Exceptional musicianship, breath-taking vocals, vibrant sets of tunes and instantly compelling songs all come together to make Dervish as complete a band as are to be found anywhere in the tradition.
Dervish are regular visitors to the US, performing sell out shows from coast to coast. However, their fan base stretches across several continents, including Europe, Asia, and South America. They were the first Irish band to play the world’s biggest music festival, Rock in Rio, performing to an estimated 250,000 people. Over the years they’ve been on the same bill as artists such as James Brown, Neil Young, Sting and even Iron Maiden!
An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) film – part of Yn Chruinnaght Celtic Gathering 2023
Nominated for the 95th Academy Awards in the ‘International Feature Film’ category of the Oscars.
Even before its release, Colm Bairéad’s debut feature became one of the most lauded and garlanded Irish films of recent years. Adapted from Foster, a short story by Claire Keegan, it centres on nine-year-old Cáit, a shy and withdrawn child who receives scant attention or affection from a family ruled by an uncaring patriarch. When she is sent to spend the summer with her aunt Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) and her husband Seán (Andrew Bennett), she comes out of her shell, blossoming in their care, especially when Seán’s initial aloofness fades. At the end of the summer, difficult decisions and realities must be faced. This is a work of small moments and details, anchored by Catherine Clinch’s remarkable performance as the titular quiet girl, that make for a film of pure artistry, as uplifting as it is heartbreaking.
Even before its release, Colm Bairéad’s debut feature became one of the most lauded and garlanded Irish films of recent years. Adapted from Foster, a short story by Claire Keegan, it centres on nine-year-old Cáit, a shy and withdrawn child who receives scant attention or affection from a family ruled by an uncaring patriarch. When she is sent to spend the summer with her aunt Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) and her husband Seán (Andrew Bennett), she comes out of her shell, blossoming in their care, especially when Seán’s initial aloofness fades. At the end of the summer, difficult decisions and realities must be faced. This is a work of small moments and details, anchored by Catherine Clinch’s remarkable performance as the titular quiet girl, that make for a film of pure artistry, as uplifting as it is heartbreaking.
Subtitled
http://www.celticgathering.im
Karine Polwart and Dave Milligan concert – part of Yn Chruinnaght Celtic Gathering 2023
Seven-time winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including 2018 Folk Singer of The Year, Karine Polwart’s latest project is a collaboration with renowned jazz/folk pianist Dave Milligan.
Piano and voice isn’t a combination that you hear often in the folk idiom, and yet it can be just as potent, if not more so, than a full band, and the duo’s new album is just this – an intimate, stripped-back collection of songs performed entirely with voice and grand piano. Deceptively simple, yet devastatingly powerful. ‘Still As Your Sleeping’ (Oct ’21) is threaded through with images of stillness and flux, leaving and returning, and pivots of change and includes the timeless and poignant ‘The Parting Glass’ as requested by Margaret Atwood for her specially curated BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
https://www.karinepolwart.com/
TRIP concert – part of Yn Chruinnaght Celtic Gathering 2023
TRIP are a Glasgow based six-piece band whose music unites the kindred Celtic traditions of Scotland, Ireland, Northumbria and the Isle of Man; a reflection of where each band member hails from.
The impressive line-up features Newcastle accordionist Michael Biggins (BBC Young Traditional Musician of the year 2021), Sligo flautist Tiernan Courell (All-Ireland champion) and Manx fiddler Isla Callister with fellow Scots Alasdair MacKenzie (guitar and voice), Rory Matheson (piano) and Craig Baxter (bodhran).
Having performed all over the UK, including internationally acclaimed festivals such as Celtic Connections, Orkney Folk Festival and HebCelt, TRIP have been successful in taking their music to a global audience (Sligo Live, Viljandi Folk Festival and Festival Interceltiquede Lorient). In 2018, they were also semi-finalists in the BBC2 Young Folk Awards.Don’t miss them at Yn Chruinnaght 2023!https://trip-music.com/http://www.celticgathering.im
