Wow! You wouldn’t imagine it could work but it very definitely does. Close your eyes and you could be in Havana. Open them and you find yourself at a ceilidh.
With a stage big enough for an 11-piece band – seven parts Latin and four parts Celtic roots – and plenty of elbow room for the salsa dancers in the audience to strut their slinky stuff, The Old Market was an ideal venue for this exhilarating if unlikely fusion.
Solidly Cuban songs had Scottish folk tunes subtly interwoven. Others began firmly in the Celtic camp, Gaelic vocals alternating with reels from banjo fiddle and bagpipes, then morphed imperceptibly into salsa. A third category, the mixed medley switching suddenly between the two styles, was less convincing.
But the majority of songs were a blend – where fiddle and tin whistle tunes played against the Latin clave rhythms, and were utterly convincing. By some magic, neither tradition was compromised and something entrancing and highly infectious was created. I am a fan. A truly fabulous band rewarded by a sizeable and lively audience despite a Sunday night. Check them out on YouTube – the song Pa’l Rumberos is a good place to start.
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