CONCERT REVIEW: Carlos Nuñez @ Sellersville Theatre 10/3

From all accounts, I'm double glad I skipped the debate for a dose of pan-Celtic music.

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CONCERT REVIEW: Carlos Nuñez @ Sellersville Theatre 10/3

POSTED: Thursday, October 4, 2012, 11:41 AM

Filed Under: Music Concert Review

Carlos Nuñez Band, first official night of their first US tour in umpteen years. They are ready! (Out of respect for Sellersville's request that there be no flash photography I resisted taking any pix until the encore, which was too hot to not.) (Mary Armstrong)

From all accounts, I'm double glad I skipped the debate for a dose of pan-Celtic music.

Carlos Nuñez is from Galicia, an under-celebrated Celtic nation contained within Spain. He was championed as a piping prodigy by the Chieftains when he was just into his teens. Like them he has travelled the world, ferreting out lost connections in places where the Celtic Diaspora put down roots, like Mexico and Brazil and Cuba.

Me, I love hearing hot playing to set pieces with a great deal of charming explication in between. My Celto-phile companion was less charmed; she wanted more of a session. Not what you'd expect on the first night of a tour, particularly not one to support a Sony two-CD collection, Discover. They chose some great tunes, but since they are pulled from a range of themed recordings and seemingly mixed at random, one day when I have time I'll separate the orchestral stuff (eh) from the Cuban (yes!) and trad.

If you like a little teaching mixed with music, try this Nuñez live show, which will take you back to the 13th century, featuring a cantiga played on hurdy gurdy and sung by Don Pancho Alvarez. Alvarez is also front and center in the 21st century running his bouzouki through a stomp box on other songs, playing a booming bass simultaneous to delicate string lead, courtesy the marvels of processing. Speaking of processing, my companion is the mother of percussionists and she was alarmed by the lengths that Nuñez' brother Xurxo went through to tart up his drumming. The pride of Boston, fiddler Katie McNally played her fiddle straight and strong.

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