Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Top music shows so far

Antonio Forcione – Sketches of Africa, Assembly George Square

The famous guitarist brings a beautiful blend of world music to the Fringe, loaded with special guests, great songs, and bags of charm.

What we said: “Easily the stand-outs in what was generally a joyful, uplifting concert were those numbers which embraced that side of Africa. Madiba’s Jive, a tribute to Nelson Mandela, brilliantly conjured up the spirit of the great African leader with his life-affirming outlook and irresistible smile.”

Until August 27

Star Rating: * * * *

This Land: The Story of Woody Guthrie, Zoo, Southside

A rollercoaster ride through the life oc one of music’s greats, through his songs and the words of the man himself.

What we said: “Arguably the nearest American equivalent to Robert Burns, it feels right that his story should be told here in Edinburgh this year, and Leeds-based Interplay have done it superbly.”

Until August 18

Star Rating: * * * * *

Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells for Two, Assembly George Square (Venue 3)

In an Olympic-level musical event, two barefoot Australians, Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts, get physical in their two-man performance of Mike Oldfield’s multi-layered 1973 extravaganza Tubular Bells, frantically dashing between keyboards, bells, guitars and glockenspiels to pull it off.

What we said: “Since Oldfield’s overdubbing marathon, the advent of real-time “sampling” may have made live performances more feasible, but theirs is still a gruelling feat of acrobatic musicality, with a few hairy moments. Their impressive instrumental abilities, I suspect, are further energised by that useful mystery ingredient, sheer panic, as they grab yet another guitar, hotly pursued by some riff they sampled earlier which seems hell-bent on overtaking them.”

Until 27 August. Today, 9pm

Star rating: * * * * *

Louis Durra Trio, The Jazz Bar (Venue 57)

Louis Durra and sidekicks, bassist Brian Shiels and drummer Doug Hough, work their magic on songs that in their own words “no self-respecting jazz piano trio has any business playing”, including Bob Dylan’s Tangled Up In Blue, KT Tunstall’s Black Horse and the Cherry Tree and Tears For Fears’ Mad World.

What we said: “The Los Angeles pianist, embarking on his second Fringe lunchtime residency, is a master of deconstruction and reinvention, trawling well beyond the usual jazz repertoire to take on tunes you thought you knew, but which emerge forged anew, amid much creative sparkling.”

Until 26 August. Today, 2.30pm, 4pm

Star rating: * * * *

Colin Steele/Brian Kellock, Jazz Bar (Venue 57)

Two Scottish jazz musicians at the top of their game, pianist Brian Kellock and trumpeter Colin Steele, spend an hour sparring through jazz standards.

What we said: “It was the slower-paced material which provided some of the most satisfying moments: Steele’s plaintive spelling out of Burt Bacharach’s Alfie over Kellock’s gentle chiming; or Kellock generating sheer starlight in Autumn in New York Not that they wsted any time when they felt like it, with the catchy hook of Charlie Parker’s My Little Suede Shoes given a boisterous Kellock lead-in, while their closing number saw both letting rip, with some exuberant blowing from Steel in response to the pianist’s dazzling cascades.”

Until 11 August. 10 August, 8.30pm

Star rating * * * *