Concert Review
The Potomac Celtic Festival has become one of the premier Celtic music festivals on the East Coast, through a combination of unusual focus and dedication, a splendid site, a vast array of activities to choose from, and (of course) great music. Suppose you want to buy recent Welsh CDs. This is the festival to attend; the North American distributor of Sain records has a booth. You won't see that at most festivals! Or suppose you want Breton language lessons. The International Committee for the Defense of the Breton Language has its North American representative, Lois Kuter, at this event. Most importantly, suppose you want to hear music from the lesser-known Celtic countries, like Wales or Brittany? At most festivals, you're lucky if there's one artist who knows one song from these places. At this festival, it's part of the fabric of life.
The seventh annual festival had living history societies, Scottish Clans and other cultural organizations, and a fabulous array of vendors for those people and families who could tear themselves away from the stage. But for those who couldn't, there was a feast of brilliant music. Each year, the festival committee chooses one country to spotlight; this year it was Brittany's turn. So in addition to beautiful Breton singing by Nolwenn Monjarret (who is a regular guest), this year's event brought over some of the biggest names in Breton music: Alan Stivell and the Bagad de Lann-Bihoué.
The Bagad de Lann-Bihoué is France's official naval pipe band, stationed at a base near Lorient. Composed of Scottish bagpipes, the Breton oboes called bombardes, and drums, the band made a rousing sound as they marched into their Saturday afternoon performance. Their renditions of Breton dances, marches, and airs delighted the audience, as did the spectacle of their uniforms, standards, and flags. For some numbers, they sent one member to play the organ and another to strum a guitar, but mostly the pyrotechnics came from the pipers and drummers, especially the latter, who stirred people into walking and dancing in place. As a finale, the sailors put down their instruments and sang a version of "Trois Matelots," a song about a ship lost at sea for so long that the sailors draw straws to decide who will be eaten! Luckily, these sailors looked quite well-fed and happy, and their music was extraordinary.
In fact, Lann-Bihoué were so good that Alan Stivell, whose band members were kept out of the country by an overzealous INS, asked some of the sailors to be his band. With keyboards, guitars, and pipes provided by the seamen, he was able to concentrate on singing and playing the harp. Stivell is the best-known musician on the Breton scene, by far; he first became famous in the early 1970s, blending traditional music with rock 'n' roll. In his set he performed a variety of old favorites, as well as some newly arranged material; almost all of his program was traditional Breton music. As always, his crisp and nimble harp playing and his mellow, floating vocals were the center of attention. The sailors held up their end quite nicely, so that Stivell was able to put on a fine set.
Unfortunately, there was a conspicuous absence of Bretons in one of the other headline acts: Johnny Cunningham and Kevin Burke with Ged Foley. Cunningham and Burke, with Breton fiddler Christian LeMaitre, are the original Celtic Fiddle Festival, and it would have been nice to see that at this Breton-themed event. Even without their Breton friend, though, the two fiddlers (and their guitarist/singer buddy) put on a lively show of jigs, reels, hornpipes, and airs. In between, Burke's very dry sense of humor and Cunningham's over-the-top wackiness made for very appealing banter.
For me, the rest of Saturday was taken up by balladeers (in the morning) and pan-Celtic bands (in the evening). The former group included Jim Wearne, a Cornish-American singer with a baritone voice and a large repertoire of songs from his ancestral province. As always, he does the Cornish pub song proud, reminding me of old Cyril Tawney records. Ed Miller, from Edinburgh by way of Texas, had songs from both his homelands, including a nice version of "The Rivers of Texas" interspersed with "The Rivers of Lowland Scotland." His warm voice and deft guitar playing were excellent, as usual. Another Scottish performer, Charlie Zahm, chose a more theatrical approach, wearing a kilt and sporran and singing Scottish standards in a big, dramatic voice. His impressive stage presence was augmented by fiddler Tad Marks, who added just the right fluid touch to Zahm's arrangements. The evening ceili/concert featured the robust fiddling of Elke Baker, and two big bands. The first of these, The Poor Clares, put on a delightful set of songs and tunes from Ireland and Scotland. Singer Betsy McGovern is one of the best in the business, and flute/bodhrán whiz Justin Murphy and bouzouki player/singer Beth Patterson provided a wonderful jolt of young energy. The evening was topped off by Highland Sideshow, a pipe, drum and dance ensemble featuring African drumming and Scottish bagpipes, who played with abandon and ended the festival on a high note. — Steve Winick (Philadelphia, PA)
