Music

Liimo – an abbreviation of a “little more” – are a fantastic young pop / R&B group from Edinburgh, now based in London. Thinking About It was released on Friday via B-Unique Records and marks Liimo’s sixth single release to date – listen at: https://liimo.lnk.to/ThinkingAboutIt.

Thousands of people gathered to watch as Scotland’s largest puppet took over the streets of Glasgow.

DIRECTING from the harpsichord, conductor Maxim Emelyanychev set the SCO on fire in this crowd-pleasing programme of Baroque dances with his sheer magnetism and boundless energy.

IF Thursday’s BBC SSO programme was, in content, a mixed bag, so its performances ranged from high-voltage to the depths of weirdness. To be fair to German-born Kevin John Edusei, stepping in at short notice for the advertised conductor, he established a rapport that kept things mostly on a sure footing.

For the Opening Night of Celtic Connections 2020, the unstoppable force that is the Grit Orchestra, comprising 85 of Scotland’s most talented players across the classical, folk and jazz realms, returned to the scene of their debut triumph five years ago with their first brand new music – five commissions from six of their members and a new arrangement of an old song by festival director Donald Shaw, each inspired by the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath.

We have some recommendations for pet playlists on Spotify (and other music streaming sites).

Thoughtful releases by the Brewis and White siblings, aka Field Music and Electric Soft Parade, light up gloomy January 

When the idea of a new album reinterpreting the work of Ivor Cutler was mooted, the late songwriter and storyteller’s many fans in the Scottish music industry turned out to help, writes Fiona Shepherd

In a programme as bewilderingly diverse as Celtic Connections’ 2020 iteration, its content ranging from orchestral extravaganzas to bothy ballads, recommendations teeter on the brink of invidiousness. Here, however, are a few choices from the festival’s 300-plus events.

Falkirk Blues Club’s first big event of the year takes place on Thursday when musicians and music fans collide for the first jam night of 2020.

Since the demise of ECAT, contemporary music hasn’t enjoyed the same profile in Edinburgh. So kudos to ECME for delivering a programme to excite the ear and stretch the mind in their 15th anniversary showcase with new conductor Gordon Bragg. Claire McCue’s consummate double trombone concerto, In Pursuit, with the phenomenal soloists Davur Juul Magnusen and Simon Johnson was a dazzling tour de force.

Amy Beach, born in 1867 in New Hampshire, was singing in tune by one, harmonising with her mother by two, and by four playing piano and composing with distinction. At 16 she made her concerto debut with the Boston Symphony, later marrying a man older than her father who insisted she give up performing but allowed her to compose, which she did prolifically – some 300 works – up to her death in 1944.

Superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti provides a “big bang” for children at her inaugural Benedetti Sessions writes Ken Walton

The legacy of Robert Burns will be celebrated at Celtic Connections’ Auld Lang Syne concert on 25 January, when Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, Jarlath Henderson and Shona Donaldson perform some of the bard’s greatest works, accompanied by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. But the Ayrshire poet’s influence extends well beyond Burns Night, and his songs are loved by musicians performing across this year’s festival. Here Celtic Connections artists pick their favourites…

Greg Lawson has re-assembled the mighty GRIT Orchestra for the opening concert of this year’s Celtic Connections, and commissioned some of its members to compose pieces to mark the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath. Interview by Jim Gilchrist