Fiona Shepherd’s contemporary & traditional music picks
There cannot be many more effective “Rituals That Unite Us” than coming together at a concert, so the Edinburgh International Festival has already fulfilled its self-imposed brief by curating another fine strand of contemporary and traditional music in its 2024 programme.
Once again, the Usher Hall, Queens Hall and Playhouse are the key venues for the contemporary music line-up, while the Hub sessions bring together musicians from Brazil, China, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, West Africa, India and the US, as well as home-grown favourites Breabach and Manran and the return of jazz bassist Endea Owens for more informal concerts in a sumptuous, comfy setting.
There are, in fact, a number of returning artists. Senegalese superstar Youssou N’dour last appeared at the festival in 2016; once again, he graces the Usher Hall stage. Paris-based piano polymath Chilly Gonzales returns, following his 2017 Room 29 collaboration with Jarvis Cocker, with a new solo show, Gonzo, while the equally enigmatic Stephin Merritt aka Magnetic Fields celebrates the 25th anniversary of epic triple album 69 Love Songs by performing all 69 across two nights. Meanwhile, the uplifting power of the Grit Orchestra, comprising 80 of Scotland’s best classical, jazz and folk musicians, has to be experienced at the Playhouse.
Among the festival debutantes are London’s Balimaya Project, a cross-genre collective fusing the music of the West African diaspora with jazz and urban styles, and antipodean singer/ songwriter/producer Jordan Rakei, performing his soul-inspired new album The Loop.
The EIF tradition of welcoming alternative divas remains strong, with appearances by South London alt-pop performer Tirzah
and the endlessly creative and visually intriguing Bat For Lashes premiering her coming album, The Dream of Delphi, informed by her experiences of new motherhood through the pandemic. The bewitching Cat Power, meanwhile, continues her celebration of Bob Dylan’s watershed 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert, marking his transition from acoustic folk to electric roots rock in her sultry, soulful style.
For more information, and to book tickets, see www.eif.co.uk