26th January 2009

Auld Lang Syne, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Star rating: ****

This was a night of effortless excellence as the stars of the Scottish folk firmament showed a love and understanding of Burns in song to celebrate the poet's 250th birthday.

Saying they'd finished rehearsing "about five minutes ago", multi-instrumentalist and musical director for the night John McCusker led an outfit featuring the likes of Phil Cunningham, Dick Gaughan, Ewan Vernal, Anna Massie, James Grant, Karen Matheson, Karine Polwart and even festival director Donald Shaw through a fiery opening set. Sympathetic readings of Burns in his many moods followed, from Gaughan's powerful Parcel of Rogues, which sounded chillingly modern, to Eddi Reader's joyous Willie Stewart.

Shining most brightly were the supposedly lesser lights, principally the beautifully unaffected singing of Emily Smith and Mari Campbell. Voted singer of the year in the Traditional Music Awards last year, Smith's Silver Tassie was a highpoint, while Campbell's closing Auld Lang Syne, hugely popular after being featured in the movie Sex and the City, raised the rafters. One legend missing from was Odetta, the voice of the US civil rights movement in the 1960s who influenced the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. She died six weeks before she was due to sing at Barack Obama's inauguration, following which she was to appear at Celtic Connections.

Karine Polwart led the tribute to the American with Odetta's gospel hit Gonna Let it Shine. Long may her light remain.