Celtic Connections, long a catalyst for unlikely collaborations, surpassed itself with this union of Cream demi-god Jack Bruce and virtuoso folk trio Lau.
A dapper figure of engaging humility and wry humour ("It's really good to be here – at my age, it's good to be anywhere"), Bruce was initially accompanied on stage by a string quartet offering elegance and grandeur to his affecting balladry and dramatic piano, reminiscent of a semi-operatic Randy Newman. As his rich voice – miraculous in a man of 68 – mesmerised a reverential audience, you marvelled not only at his durability, but his appetite for new challenges.
Things got even more poignant with Lau's entrance, providing brooding intensity as Bruce sang a song for his son Jo – founding member of Afro Celt Sound System – who died of an asthma attack in 1997. Then, abandoning the piano, he strapped on his bass guitar to simmering excitement as the audience recognised the opening chords to Sunshine of Your Love, swiftly escalating into a full-blown eruption as Martin Green's accordion and Aidan O'Rourke's fiddle blazingly joined the fray. When Kris Drever began harmonising, rock legend and traditional folk heroes blended intuitively, exposing the folly of compartmentalising music into specialist ghettoes.
Burns Night was celebrated with a couple of the bard's songs Ca' the Yowes and Aye Waukin O, and a heavier lineup escorted us through a full-on rock and blues segment before the 13-piece ensemble united for a stampeding arrangement of White Room. "We don't know any more tunes," said Bruce as the audience demanded an encore, so they settled for an even wilder reprise of Sunshine of Your Love. He left to a standing ovation … and that was just from Lau and the rest of the band.
