Gig review: A banda das crechas

Published on Sunday 23 January 2011 19:35

A BANDA DAS CRECHAS ST ANDREWS IN THE SQUARE ****

"It's Friday night, it's Glasgow and the streets are teeming with talent!" So quipped fiddler Alasdair Fraser as he and cellist Natalie Haas delivered a gorgeously fluent set interspersed with plenty of repartee and some of that talent.

Not that innovative step dancer Nic Garreiss arrived out of the blue: they'd previously met at a Michigan festival. His deft, percussive foot-stroking of the floor, side jumps, slides and other syncopated moves beautifully translated Haas's rhythms in particular.

Haas's accompaniment, full of timbric texture, somehow reminded me of the late Catalan cellist Pablo Casals. Certainly Spain was top of the agenda as fresh from jamming with friends in Vigo, Fraser and Haas played the Mueira de Cantera among a dazzling flow of jigs and reels, setting the ambience for the Banda das Crechas.

This exuberant 12-strong collective has emerged from weekly Wednesday gatherings at the ancient Casa de Crechas by the famous Cathedral back home in Santiago de Compostela. While eclecticism describes their instrumental line-up which ranges from pipes, accordion, flutes and sax to fiddles, banjos, cittern and percussion – including the pandeira tambourine and scallop shells – internationalism defines their repertoire.

With stirring songs from Carlos and Pepa they shifted effortlessly from Galicia to the Balkans via Scandinavia, creating a layered soundscape rooted in irresistible rhythms. Their passion was contagious, sealed by the mueira dance finale which saw sprightly dancers circling as if powered by springs.