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Lowell,
MA
The
Boston Globe
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FOLK
LOOKS FORWARD AT LOWELL FESTIVAL
Monday,
July 31, 2000
By
Scott Alarik, Globe Correspondent Page:
C6 Section: Arts
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MUSIC
REVIEW
LOWELL
FOLK FESTIVAL
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| Look
in any corner of the Lowell Folk Festival
over the weekend, and the sounds of new
music being born could be heard. That may seen odd, since this
is the most traditional of all New England
folk fetes, but most of the highlights
this year came from a new generation of
folk artists, deeply banked in the traditions
they represent, yet determined to take
the old music into the 21st
century – and to have some modern fun
doing it. |
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| The
Eileen Ivers Band rocked the house everywhere
it played, Ivers’ electric fiddle pumping
out Irish Jigs and reels to the hypnotically
slippery groove of Puerto Rican percussionist
Emedin Rivera and Nigerian bassist Bakithi
Kumalo.
A broken string Friday took Ivers
to the wings, enciting a delightful jam
among Kumalo, superb guitarist Donal Clancy
- son of Clancy Brother Liam – and guest
flutist Joanie Madden, of Cherish the
Ladies fame.
Soon Ivers was back, exchanging
sassy rock and jazz riffs with Rivera
before tearing into a furious set of reels. She pranced off the stage,
fiddling her way through the cheering
crowd, pausing to hop along with a couple
of step-dancing children. |
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| Ivers
is under some fire from Irish purists
these days for her exotic fusions of jazz
and world beat. She has a grand instinct for
the theater of her music, her playing
brimming with bright surprises, blues
slides to announce reel changes, wah-wah
pedal whines to screech out rock riffs. But these are just side trips;
the heart of everything she does is pure
Irish music, which she plays as well as
anyone in Celtic music today. |
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