26.01.10 Thanks!! We are now all grown up.

Hello, thanks to all the people who came down to see our 15th Anniversary event on Sunday night at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. We had a great gig at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and then somehow managed to just about fit the whole band on the stage of the festival club at the Glasgow Art School for a late night set. Thanks to all the guest musicians who joined us, we hope you are home safely now, and thanks to Donald Shaw and the Celtic Connections staff for all the help in putting the show together. We had great time and a few drinks after to celebrate. It was all a nice way to, as said below, come of age!
5 star review of the concert below, photos of the concert by Louis De Carlo.
Hope to see you soon, all the best Salsa Celtica.

The Scotsman Newspaper
Published Date: 26 January 2010
By Sue Wilson

SALSA CELTICA 15TH ANNIVERSARY / MAYRA ANDRADE *****
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

FORGING the Celtic Connection between Cuba and Cape Verde, Salsa Celtica were preceded on stage by the latter island’s fastest-rising star, the enchanting young singer Mayra Andrade, who greeted the near-capacity crowd at her debut Scottish gig by saying she hoped to come back soon and often.

Blending her homeland’s post-colonial African, Portuguese and Brazilian influences with shades of jazz, pop, funk, reggae and ska, her seductively cool yet lambent voice floated, flirted and yearned over rootsy, slinky backing from her five-piece band, winning a roomful of new fans in an all-too short 40 minutes.

Salsa Celtica themselves triumphantly pulled out all the stops to celebrate their first 15 years, augmenting their core 11-piece with a guest list that swelled the total cast to around 25, extending the connections to link in the Bronx, Ireland and Spain, taking in Hothouse Flowers frontman Liam Maonlai, Altan accordionist Dermot Byrne, Asturian piper Jose Manuel Tejedor and New York trombonist/flautist Joey de Jesus.

In terms of the folk elements welded so seamlessly into the band’s unique musical alloy, there was a virtual contemporary-trad supergroup among the throng, with the guest stars joined by regular collaborators like pipers Ross Ainslie and Jarlath Henderson, fiddlers Chris Stout and Mathieu Watson, Gaelic singer Kathleen MacInnes, harpist Catriona McKay and banjo demon Eamonn Coyne.

With the Latin contingent including a four-strong brass section, three percussionists, and the potently paired voices of Lino Rocha and Ricardo Fernandez Pompa, this thoroughly-rehearsed performance magnificently showcased a group of musicians who have truly come of age

2.01.10 Happy New Year 2010

2010 marks 15 years since we embarked on our great Scottish Latin adventure, big thanks to all the people who have supported the group over the last 15 years. We have had a great time so thank you all! Salsa Celtica 15 years old wow!!!

To celebrate we are putting on a very special concert at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on the 24th of January as part of the Celtic Connections Festival. The concert will feature an incredible line up of friends and guests we have met and worked with over the last 15 years from all over the world (see below). The seats in the stalls are being taken out to make room for dancing and after the concert there will be a chance to party and preview copies of our new live album will be on sale for the first time. This really is a one off concert, we hope to see you there!!!

Upwards of 20 musicians will form the “The Salsa Celtica Grande Orquesta “ with an international cast of World and Celtic music guest stars from Cuba,Venezuela,Cape Verde,New York, Asturias,Ireland,England and Scotland, including amongst others Ireland’s Liam O Maonlai (Hothouse Flowers).

“The Salsa Celtica Grande Orquesta “
Lino Juan Rocha (lead vocals,Venezuela),Toby Shippey (percussion/coro,Scotland),Douglas Hudson (congas,Scotland), Eric Alfonso (timbales,Cuba), Javier Fioramonti (bass/coro,Argentina), Simon Gall (piano/coro,Scotland), Stephen Kettley (saxophones,England) Sue McKenzie (sax,Scotland), Eamonn Coyne (banjo,Ireland), Ross Ainslie (pipes/whistles/bouzouki,Scotland)

Special Guests

Liam O Maonlai (guest vocals, Hothouse Flowers, Ireland),
Joe De Jesus (trombone/flute, New York),
Dermot Byrne (melodeon, Ireland),
Jose Manuel Tejedor (pipes, Asturias),
Ricardo Fernandez Pompa (lead vocals, Cuba),
Chris Stout (fiddle, Shetland),
Jarlath Henderson (Uilleann Pipe, Ireland),
Kathleen Mackiness (guest vocals, Scotland),
Catriona McKay, (harp, Scotland)
Paul Jayasinha, (trumpet, England)

more guests tbc

The first half of the concert will feature the fantastic singer Mayra Andrade and her band. Crowned as Best Newcomer at the 2008 Radio 3 World Music Awards, the young Cape Verdean singer born in Cuba describes her sound as “a musical crossroads” between African, Latin, jazz and pop influences.

3.12.09 Thanks and Muchas Gracias!!

Thanks and muchas gracias to all of you who came down to see us on our UK tour 09. Yes England,Scotland and Wales thanks you, great craic was had by all,including us!!! We finished the tour by recording a couple of our gigs in Manchester and Findhorn and right now we are mixing what will be our first live album. Look out for release 2010.

click here for further info