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New Traditions: Talisk, Vishtèn and Xabier Diaz at Celtic Connections 2019

Old Fruitmarket, Celtic Connections 2019

These three bands lit up the warm fires of live music!

The audience at the wonderful Old Fruitmarket venue was treated to an international line up of award-winning Celtic musicians. They did a fine job interpreting the musical traditions of Galicia, the French Canadian Acadia islands and Scots Celtic.

Xabier Diaz   Galician folk musician Xabier Diaz performed a colourful set along with the exuberant female voices of JNoró Adufeiras de Salitre choir – who sang indigenous language songs and played traditional Galician percussion with spoons, tambourines and boards. Also performing were the Alvarez brothers, Gutler (hurdy-gurdy) and Javier (diatonic accordion). Diaz mixes tradition with modern innovation. Their music evokes the rich culture of the Spanish peninsula (given autonomy in 1981).

Musician and composer Xabier Díaz (Berrogüetto, aCadaCanto), is a major voice in the trad-galego scene. He is also a collector of Galician folklore. Their first album, The Tambourine Man (Músicas de Salitre, 2015), has reinterpretations of traditional Galician music and an avant-garde approach; it pays tribute to the simple sound of traditional percussion. In 2018 they released Noró (Músicas de Salitre, 13 songs with voice and percusiion –a “declaration of love to the North”. Website

French Canadian multi-instrumentalists, Vishten hail from Prince Edward island.  The trio performed a fiery set with a faster style of Cajun music. They play traditional Acadian music along with contemporary vibes and rousing songs. Vishten consists of Emmanuelle and Pastelle LeBlanc and Pascal Miousse. They performed on fiddle, guitar, accordion, octave mandolin, whistles, piano, bodhrán, jaw harp and foot-percussion. They said it was hard to find joyous archive songs, but they managed it with the song Miracles. They have a new album called Horizons.  Vishten website

Scottish award winners Talisk burst onto the stage with fiddle, accordion and guitar. The band are led by concertina dynamo Mohson Amini, who is one of the most physical and full on energetic players, ever! The trio also consists of talented fiddler Hayley Keenan and guitarist Graeme Armstrong. They played a set of dynamic, expressive and challenging tunes. The band have received excellent reviews for their new album Beyond, where they mix traditional tunes with innovative electronic sounds.  Talisk website

Encouraging to hear musical traditions kept alive and relevant with modern innovation and creativity. A highly entertaining evening of enriching live music.

Pauline Keightley 

This section: Celtic Connections 2019, Music Reviews, Pauline Keightley