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Eliza Carthy’s Generations The Sage, Gateshead


In the Sage’s promotional literature this much-anticipated project was described as Eliza Carthy bringing together second- generation folk artists, like herself, from across Europe for a unique concert. Her accomplices were the Czech vocalist-violinist Iva Bittová, the Greek singer and lute player Martha Mavroidi, the frame drum player and violinist Mauro Durante from Italy’s Can- zoniere Grecanico Salentino, and the core vocal trio of Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Karoliina Kantelinen from Finland’s Värttinä. It might therefore be described more as an everyday story of pedigree folk rather than of hereditary musician lineages.


It fell to Iva Bittová to start the proceed- ings. Unquestionably one of the most genre- stretching musicians on the planet, her solo slot began with an audience walkabout, a sung poem in English and climaxed with an exhilarating full-tilt rendition of a signature song of hers, Strange Young Lady. Martha Mavroidi performed alone, with a second song blighted by technical gremlins. Her tri- umph over adversity demonstrably won her a place in the audience’s heart. She followed with a duo performance of Aremu (Who knows…) with Mauro Durante. It made mani- fest a Greek and Griko connection. Griko is an Italiot Greek dialect and minority culture, recognised by Italian law, from Italy’s ‘boot heel’ region of Salento. Last, Värttinä swept in, completing their set with an exuberant joik.


The second half provided both the meat of the programme and portents aplenty of what might come to pass. It opened with a Bittová/ Carthy violin and vocal duet. Given the Tyneside location, it was fittingly adapted from the Northumbrian Minstrelsy. O I Hae Seen The Roses Blaw became O I Have Seen The Roses Blow that afternoon. A violin exchange began it and Carthy carried it for- ward but on the last verse Bittová sang a game-raising, complementary vocal part. Next came a partnership brought together by this magazine’s editor for the Queen Eliza- beth Hall’s Bridges bash. Carthy and Mavroidi performed Thalassaki and Bushes And Briars together, both bringing umpteen latent pos- sibilities to life. A roll of the dice added an untoward factor as the concert progressed. Carthy’s voice was a stopgap Vocalzone pastille and blackcurrant lozenge realm. After performing the project’s absentee Orca- dian sojourner Kris Drever’s The Light of Other Days with an appropriately stripped- back Wayward Quintet, they switched to vocal recovery territory with some instrumen- tal wizardry. Parenthetically, keeping the sec- ond-generation thang going, the Wayward Band’s Barn Stradling is the son of Rod and Danny Stradling. Durante joined the Way- ward Band for Pizzica Indiavolata. It proved a rhapsodic pointer to a bright future (one shorn of diabolic or devilish underlying meanings of the word ‘indiavolata’).


The penultimate barnstormer with the


Wayward Band and Värttinä brought togeth- er Three Drunken Maidens and Kanaset (chicks, as in little Finnish chickens). The finale took them through Roma, Finnish and English trad arr territory – with Fe Labu Mange, Oi Da and The Sportsman’s Hornpipe. Worked up over the afternoon’s rehearsals, like much of Generations, it was seat-of-the-


Tribali at Earth Garden


pants, extemporised stuff drawing on ideas laced together over the previous 48 hours.


Nevertheless, there is no disputing that


Generations remains a work in progress. Still, they came prospecting for gold and found nuggets. Its potential as “an album at some point next year” (Carthy) shone. With Bit- tová, Durante and Mavroidi on board, the assembly won’t need the fuller Wayward Band. With this concert’s core – guitarist Dave Delarre, drummer Laurence Hunt, melodeon player Saul Rose, bassist Barn Stradling and fiddle player Sam Sweeney – it would be fool- ish not to counsel a less-is-more approach.


Ken Hunt


Earth Garden Ta’Qali National Park, Malta


One of the joys of festival hopping is digging out the occasional hidden gem, and Malta’s smashing little Earth Garden event has been one of our best finds in a long while. Nestling in dense conifer woods in the dusty heart of the island, Earth Garden offered a broad- reaching bill of local and international acts, all glued together by a fantastically welcom- ing and positive vibe.


In part this was down to the glorious


weather, and the ever-sunny disposition of the Maltese people. But every time we zig- zagged through the woods between the four stages we’d encounter ever more friendly jam sessions and arts happenings, like we’d stum- bled into some kind of quaintly folk- flavoured Ewok encampment. You could have almost gone the whole weekend with- out leaving the campsite and still had an incredible time, but you’d have denied your- self some spectacular musical treats.


Treats like Iranian drummer Mohammad


Reza Mortazavi. This unassuming figure looked tiny and alone as he took to the big main stage, but the second he began to rumble his fingers across his tombak the crowd were mes- merised. Quite how he managed to effect such power and tone from such minimal finger movements was beyond us, but his dense, multi-layered beats soon had the whole audi- ence swaying and jumping in hypnotic reverie.


Elsewhere, Kenyan singer Tina Mweni danced with such abandoned delight that she forced a smile from even the gloomiest punter; transcontinental reggae-rap crew Pon Di Corner turned the Roots Stage into a


head-nodding skankathon, while Austro- Hungarian trio Airtist absolutely tore the place up with their unlikely brew of jaw harp, beatboxing and didgeridoo. You’ll rarely see such a fevered and enjoyable acoustic perfor- mance as these boys chucked out. But it was the local artists who kicked up the most dust from the arid surrounds.


Maltese ska veterans The Rifffs are clear- ly big fish around these parts, and drew in the biggest crowd of the weekend. The mob down the front were already fit to burst from the band’s own solidly rocksteady sounds, but notched up several levels of excitement when old stager Neville Staple – who’d played a well-received set of his own a night earlier - stepped up to run through a fistful of classics from his old band, The Specials.


Local cult legend Brikkuni also impressed. The only act of the weekend who steadfastly refused to either sing or speak in English, his dark, degenerate Maltese drinking songs had both teens and grandparents shouting along at the top of their lungs, and their minor key folksy shuffle evoked a cloud of dust from the rabidly dancing feet that enveloped the stage and bloomed up a good 60 feet into the sky. We’d happily go and see this gloriously gloomy lad again, any day of the week.


But it was roots fusion collective Tribali who drew the most love of the weekend. Their curious collection of sitars, guitars, djembe, trumpets and didgeridoo minced up a diverse blend of genres and forged them into their own curious – and highly danceable – concoc- tion. Band leader Peter Paul stomped about like a painted powerhouse in baggy pants, while singer Eliza swirled like a wild-eyed dervish and had us hanging on her every glori- ously-presented syllable. They’ll be working their way around the folk festivals of Europe this summer, so keep an eye out for them.


But the real star of this festival was the festival itself. Beautifully located, with a knowledgable audience open to new things, and one of the most friendly and helpful crews we’ve ever come across. And what’s more, it was cheap – only 15€ for a weekend ticket! That’s less than twelve quid for three days of excellent fun and terrific sounds. If you’re planning a little break in the sun next year you could do far worse than to dovetail it around Earth Garden. An event this special surely can’t remain a secret for too much longer.


www.earthgarden.com.mt Roy Delaney


Photo: Catherine McCarthy


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