For the Transatlantic Sessions fans

Bob-Dubery

Series 5 has just been shot. Expect a debut on Scottish TV late this year, and a DVD release thereafter.

HOUSE BAND
Aly Bain (fiddle), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Mike McGoldrick (pipes and whistles), Donald Shaw (keyboards), Danny Thompson (bass), James MacIntosh (drums).

First Week Only

John Doyle (guitar), John McCusker (fiddle)

Second Week Only
Russ Barenberg (guitar), Nollaig Casey (fiddle)

AMERICAN SPECIAL GUESTS
Alison Krauss, Sarah Jarosz , Bela Fleck, Dirk Powell, Sam Bush, Amos Lee, Eric Bibb

IRISH SPECIAL GUESTS
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Sharon Shannon, Jim Murray, Donal Lunny, Declan O’Rourke

SCOTTISH SPECIAL GUESTS
Eddi Reader, Phil Cunningham, Iain Morrison; Kathleen MacInnes

Bob-Dubery

Personally I'm excited about the presence of John Doyle. He's a very fine player. Eric Bibb should bring a bluesy touch to proceedings. Bela Fleck is a marvellous player with a broad stylistic palette and a sense of adventure.

Lots to look forward to.

lindsmuse

They have a session (if by this you mean a group of Irish musicians playing Irish music - not sure of what this means?)once a week at "touch of Madness' here in Observatory in Cape Town. I'm really amazed at these folks' musicianship. They're are welded to their instruments when they start to play. Flawless. In fact I don't know how to describe it! Just love it ...

Bob-Dubery

"Transatlantic Sessions" is a BBC Scotland series. The mastermind is Aly Bain, the great Shetland fiddler, and the idea is to explore common roots (and the differences) between North American and Celtic folk forms. This all stems from an earlier series in which Bain went globe trotting and interacted with fiddlers from different traditions all over North America.

I think they stretch their own rules a bit, but I don't mind because some of the cross-overs are so interesting. Sticking strictly to the rules would also mean no Danny Thompson (a sassenach!).

It's mostly acoustic, though Jerry Douglas plugs in from time to time. They don't confine themselves to the classic folk canon. The standard of musicianship is high.

I think with a lot of that folk stuff, and especially the Irish folk dance, good timing is essential.

There's quite a lot of clips from series 1 to 4 on youtube. I have 1, 3 and 4 on DVD. Series 2 is tied up in a copyright dispute and so far has not made it's way onto DVD. A pity as there are a couple of fab performances by John Martyn and Paul Brady and also an appearance by Cajun fiddle great Michael Doucet.

Bob-Dubery

X-rated Bob wrote: There's quite a lot of clips from series 1 to 4 on youtube.

I remember posting a clip of Cara Dillon singing the Dougie McLean song "Garden Valley" and you being quite moved by that.

lindsmuse

Oh so that singer was from those sessions. Incredible. The musicianship must be mind-boggling. How I envy people who live/ lived in the cities and towns where this music is/was happening. I love watching it live (the bit I've seen) - love the vibe. John Martyn nogal. I will try and watch in between everything - thanks for info! You know who I think are incredible - are the whistle players (at the Irish-music sessions). Where does all that air come from! But for them and the fiddlers - the concentration I guess isn't concentration anymore - it's just second nature to be able to play those reels and jigs and stuff! The setup I've watched - the guitarist also plays a bazouki (sp?) Really has a nice quality to it. My son (death metal guitarist) was pretty blown away by the Celts I tell ye! ?

Bob-Dubery

lindsmuse wrote: Oh so that singer was from those sessions. Incredible. The musicianship must be mind-boggling. How I envy people who live/ lived in the cities and towns where this music is/was happening.

"Transatlantic Sessions" is a bit of a special case as it's set up purely for BBC Scotland and whilst the musicians play live they don't play to an audience. They rent some posh hotel in the Scottish countryside and fill it with players.

But yes... seeing this live. Mrs X-rated and I have been lucky enough to see some fab live music in the UK and the standard amongst the folk players is actually very high. I think that's because there's nothing else going on - you can either play or you can't. We saw Appalachian fiddler Bruce Molsky in Beverley, Yorkshire a couple of years ago. Superb. We've seen Martin Carthy (who is quite different from anything you'll see on the Transatlantic Sessions) and his wife Norma Waterson - two of the most amazing performances I have seen (if I see better one day I'll die a happy man). Martin Simpson who is not for the purist but certainly comes out of the English folk tradition and shows enormous respect for that material.

And you know, last week at TJs we had a couple of fiddlers and a flute player walk in and do some reels. A rare treat. I suspect there might be more of this music being performed if there were venues where it could be performed.

Bob-Dubery

From series 3 - "St Anne's Reel". The players are Aly Bain on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on lap steel, Russ Barenberg on guitar and Todd Parks on bass. I think this is the sort of thing that Lindsmuse might be anticipating.

Jerry's solo will make your toes curl.

lindsmuse

Yeeeeeeeeee HA! ?

Those shows must've been excellent! I'm trying to work out why this sounds 'American ' and that's before the slide kicked in. Maybe the 'Old Country' musicians don't do so much of that thar fingerpickin'? This was a perfect example I reckon of the blending of the 2 worlds. It's awesome when you think of how old these reels must be. And its not necessarily written music, so it's really stood the test. And the musicians are just as hot today as they were then - it hasn't died.

Bob-Dubery

A lot of what became "country" or "bluegrass" is rooted in Scottish, English and Irish tunes that were taken to the Americas by immigrants. This is part of what "Transatlantic Sessions" explores - those common roots.

Lots of traditional English songs ended up being preserved in the Appalachians after they were forgotten or as good as in England. In many cases the tune or the bare bones of the story in an English/Irish/Scottish song got adapted to American ends. That tradition continued right up until the early Dylan records (and maybe beyond). He based several songs on traditional English songs that he'd learned from Martin Carthy.

Anyhoo.... loads of this stuff on YouTube. Or you can get the DVDs from Amazon (maybe Take 2). I have series 1,3 and 4 on DVD. Three is outstanding - some marvellous performances and beautifully lit and shot.

lindsmuse

Have noted all this info so that I can go looking ...