Eclectic sounds and top names at festival

News

Friday, May 02, 2008

An ever-ambitious music programme merges jazz, rock, salsa and blues for Belfast's 9th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. By Damien Murray

The 9th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival kicked off in style last night with an impressive musical opening party.

However, this year's equally impressive line-up ensures that this leading annual event will also keep us well entertained over the coming week.

The musical section of this eclectic arts festival alone boasts more highlights than space allows us to mention, but this is our run-down of some of the best on offer.

The award-winning Jazz Jamaica return with their special blend of rock steady, ska, jazz, and pumping reggae grooves to the Festival Marquee tonight, while Salsa Celtica will be fusing fiery, exuberant Latin rhythms with the whirl and skirl of Scottish folk music at the same venue tomorrow night.

Tomorrow afternoon's Cheap Date event at the Black Box includes a triple bill featuring Ben Glover, The Cherries and Pocket Promise, but, sadly, clashes with the amazing Beatlegras at McHugh's Bar (although you can catch Beatlegras in action again at the same venue on Monday night as support to Chatham County Line, who fuse old-time bluegrass with a love for The Band, The Jayhawks and traditional American music).

Expect an impassioned live performance of original, poetic and melodic songs from Luka Bloom at the Black Box on Sunday afternoon (with support by Ruby Colley), and note that America's ace acoustic guitarist, Andy McKee, has now moved his sold-out Monday night show to this larger venue with the later start time of 10pm.

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset is an all-girl Northumbrian quartet who has courted the mainstream without diluting their folk music and can be found at the Black Box on Tuesday night.

Although theatrical more than a music gig, Woody Sez (at the Waterfront Studio on Wednesday and Thursday nights) is very music-based and celebrates the spirit of American folk legend Woody Guthrie, whose music continues to inspire today's finest storytelling songwriters including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg.

David Lutken, who plays the title role, is joined by three multi-talented performers to bring Guthrie's music to life with twin fiddles, guitars, bass, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, dobro and beautiful folk harmonies.

Not surprisingly, one of the first festival events to sell out was next Thursday's appearance by top Irish ballad singer, Liam Clancy, who has recently came out of retirement to record a new album of new songs, folk classics and traditional Irish songs.

We will look at the musical attractions of the festival's final weekend next week, but full details of all events are available at www.cqaf.com.

Non-festival gigs to look out for in Belfast this week include: Christy Moore with Declan Sinnott at the Waterfront on Monday & Tuesday; Californian singer/songwriter, Corinne West, at the Real Music Club in the Errigle Inn on Thursday and the return of the increasingly popular English acoustic folk rocker, Tom Baxter, to the Spring & Airbrake on Thursday (and Londonderry's Nerve Centre on Wednesday).

Other good gigs around the country include: Anthony Toner at Killyleagh's Dufferin Arms tonight and the amazing Texan trio, Beatlegras, at the same venue on Tuesday; The Blind Boys Of Alabama at Derry's Millennium Forum tonight; Brendan Quinn at Coalisland's Craic Theatre tomorrow night and at Derry's Playhouse Theatre on Wednesday; Tommy Fleming at Enniskillen's Ardhowen Theatre tonight and tomorrow; Canadian trio, The Wailin' Jennys at Rathfriland's Bronte Music Club on Thursday; and Deirdre Bonner at Armagh's Market Place Theatre on Thursday.