WOMAD

Shooglenifty

From United Kingdom

A fiery dram of Caledonian spirit that hits the spot delightfully. The flying Scotsmen of Shooglenifty weave a Day-Glo tartan of fiddle, banjo and mandolin over a strong torso of bass and drums. Reeling through jazz and colliding with dance, this mash-tub of melodies proves irresistable to festival audiences, who link arms and cavort around enthusiastically whenever Shooglenifty come out to play. There is a gusting breeziness about their music that makes it refreshingly invigorating. Fronted by the charismatically hirsute Angus Grant, a gangly source of offbeat wit and fiddle wizardry, their "folk devils with a twist" (a wrap or a pill) sound finds its inspiration within the possibilities of the well-matched strings: as the banjo lays out the path of the tune, the mandolin flutters around overhead until it is carried off by the swooping violin for a free-form frolick. A favourite with visitors to WOMAD festivals, they have an album on the WOMAD Select label - 'Live at Selwyn Hall, Box' - that captures them in effusive good form.