Edinburgh continues to buzz with too many people and oh, far too much to do. Even for those of us who live here all the year round it’s simultaneously overwhelming, exciting and utter sensory overload. So tonight’s gig at La Belle Angele venue is an oasis of calm, not least because they’ve got air con (look: this is Scotland; at 10 degrees people start taking their tops off, at 20 they start to melt).
But it’s also important because tonight Orcadian Catriona Price is here with a fantastic two part show. While the audience should be wayyyy higher, those who are here are stunned with what we get. The first part of the show sees this talented singer and violinist (trust me, anyone who can do both at the same time deserves to be treated with reverence, pal) playing with her drummer Joni Strugo. He hails from Argentina with Jewish roots; she’s Orcadian with a German mother. This is significant because they draw from their family heritage in this short set, which reiterates the mantra that folk is a living breathing thing. Yes, it may be (deep)rooted in tradition, but it’s not preserved in aspic like some sonic equivalent of one of those god-awful 70s salads. So they tear into a fantastic fiery reel with scarcely a word to us at first. But they draw breath to tell us about their journeys, so amongst other things we get a klezmer tune, followed by a tango, and best of all, a German lullaby which translates as ‘The Moon Is Risen.’ It’s all rather special…
In the second half of the show we get ‘Catriona Price & Friends‘ performing music from her excellent debut solo album Hert (Orcadian Scots for ‘Heart,’ language fans). This sees her band swell with some amazing musicians, of which special mention must go to cellist Su-a Lee who may just be the most talented and versatile cello player in Scotland. The album is a suite in nine movements for nine musicians drawing upon Orcadian writers to represent Orkney life. These include George Mackay Brown and also Luke Sutherland. The latter is the inspiration for her instrumental piece ‘Venus As A Boy‘ (no, not that one) which may be the finest piece on the album.
There’s also a clever interweaving of songs not necessarily associated with the folk genre, in this case covers of Radiohead’s ‘True Love Waits‘ and a stunning reworking of the Bjork-popularised ‘It’s Oh So Quiet‘ which brings the house down. Two sets which challenge, very gently, notions of folk and indeed Scottish folk.
