Celtic Connections review: Transatlantic Sessions, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Transatlantic Sessions, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall ***

The Celtic Connections institution that is Transatlantic Sessions is back and all is well and jovial in the sold-out Concert Hall auditorium.

The key players, Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham and dobro maestro Jerry Douglas, have used last year’s enforced lay-off to completely rethink their format – or maybe not. Part of the appeal of this long-running celebration of the links between Celtic folk and American traditional music is the comforting familiarity of its blend of instrumental sets and special guest songwriters.

The opening jig, with nifty solo on Irish pipes by Michael McGoldrick, was an infectious demonstration of those Celtic connections with bluegrass, while the special guests brought diverse styles to the relaxed party, from the ragged roots of Paul Brady, with his strident satire on the banking crisis, Money to Burn, to the pleasant freewheeling folk pop of birthday girl Siobhan Miller, whose rendition of yearning slow air The May Morning Dew was among the first half highlights.

Dirk Powell paid separate homage to his great-great-grandmother and his grandfather, with the latter song, Waterbound, building to a beautiful massed celebration, while Leyla McCalla, formerly of Carolina Chocolate Drops, honoured her Haitian heritage on Merci Mon Dieu, a hypnotic act of thanksgiving with African rhythms. Third American guest Sarah Jarosz beguiled with her own soaring Blue Heron, a cover of Dylan’s Ring Them Bells and a mellow croon to kick off the second half.

The band, including John McCusker, John Doyle and Celtic Connections director Donald Shaw, were the deft bedrock for many of these turns, and there was the usual reassuring banter between Cunningham and Bain, who claimed they play faster as they get older because they’re not sure if they will make it to the end of the tune. They duly picked up the gentle pace considerably with the rich, almost rousing jigging of the encore set.

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