Fireworks, Flute, Fiddle and Folk

Last night was a special event in the Durban Calendar, as it was the Hindu population's festival of Diwali/Deepavali. All night the sky was sparkling with coloured fireworks and the night echoed with the continuous bangs of the crackers. Although our poor skittish dog was going beserk, I can never help but love firework season. The city feels alive and excited - even though I am not personally participating in the celebrations. (I did get some sweetmeats at work today from Meeressa, so I felt included!) Thanks Meeressa - much appreciated!

Before the fireworks really got going last night, I was audience to some very different sounds... My parents and I attended the Durban Folk Club gathering, which took place at the UKZN Centre for Jazz and Popular Music. We had never been to the Folk Club before but were attracted by an advert promising Irish music. My dad and I are big Celtic music fans (well mostly my dad), and so it was really enjoyable. The band who played were called Celtis, and consisted of a flutist (Keri Povall), a guitarist/drummer and the fiddle/violin player from Landscape Prayers. They were really good, although I have heard better (in my opinion) versions of some of the pieces they played.

After the Celtic music, the evening moved on to some more traditional Woodstock style Folk, with singer-songwriter Tiffany taking the mike. She had an absolutely beautiful voice, with a really great range. An interesting aside was the noises made by the Folk Club co-ordinator, while the sound technicians were doing the soundchecks and setting up the reverb...

Last up on the line-up was Richard Haesloop (Of ECR Roots and Fruits fame) who is a slide guitarist. He played several different guitar-type instruments (dobhra, mandolin), and was clearly very talented, but his loud rough singing style and the abrasive string guitar did not really appeal to me. All in all a very interesting and enjoyable evening though!