Gig review: Brian Finnegan Quartet / John Mulhearn

Published on Sunday 24 January 2010 22:23

CLASSIC GRAND, GLASGOW ****

EASILY the fittest man on the UK folk scene (he goes in for Iron Man marathons when not playing flute and whistle), Armagh's Brian Finnegan formerly flexed his musical muscle in the late lamented Flook, since whose demise he's been working on his debut solo album, due out next month.

His new live four-piece – now christened Kan, after a magical Mayan seed that flowers into visions and dreams – have emerged alongside the recordings, jointly fronted by Lau fiddler Aidan O'Rourke, with Ian Stephenson on guitar and drummer Jim Goodwin.

They collectively hit the ground running with a terrifically tight set, matching the trademark lift and urgency of Finnegan's lissom, intensely lyrical playing with heavyweight rhythmic attack and split-second ensemble timing. He and O'Rourke both being noted improvisers, their complementary sense of adventure further enriched a selection of mostly contemporary Scottish and Irish material, much of it original, with splashes of jazzy colour and interludes of groove-based riffing around the tune.

Some of these finer points, along with several lovely slower numbers, were rather lost on an extremely talkative, albeit loudly enthusiastic, Saturday night crowd. But with guest appearances from guitarist Ed Boyd, whereupon Stephenson switched to double bass, and uilleann piper Jarlath Henderson, it certainly merited the sell-out attendance.

Even more adventurous were the support act – John Mulhearn's radical reinterpretations of classic piobaireachd, with his eight-piece Big Music Society line-up artfully interweaving folk, ambient, techno and contemporary classical elements, variously calling to mind Laurie Anderson, Mouth Music and Martyn Bennett.