MUSIC

Explosive blues, heart-wringing fado, the return of Bristol Folk Festival and the sound of a solitary pen falling to the floor – that’ll be another eclectic year in music round these parts, then.

ROCK

Potentially the biggest news of 2011 concerned something that used to happen rather a lot and might yet happen again: the Ashton Court Festival. Back in April, BrisFest – the event that swiftly hove into view following the original’s 2007 demise – announced a pledge: that if 10,000 people bought a fully refundable £30 ticket, 2012 would see a return to sunlit uplands. Added your name yet? You’ve got ’til year’s end to pledge via www.brisfest.co.uk.

Biggest definite festival news was the April return, following a 32-year absence, of the Bristol Folk Festival – see Roots review for more. Meantime, September saw BrisFest continue its massed-staging of local pride, while a slimmed-down Harbour Fest actually worked rather well; the grass of Queen Square, after all, being a much more conducive place for sprawled relaxation than the concrete amphitheatre.

2011, alas, saw Metropolis’s staging of music and comedy whittled down to nothing. Real shame, that, for the programming was strong – if infrequent – and the city hardly runneth over with decent-sized venues. Nor with pubs wont to field live acts boasting flair and imagination in lieu of ten-a-penny blooze bands. Not that that stopped ‘concerned residents’ putting Clifton’s The Grapes through hell over their once-a-week rock-centric gigs. Far be it from us to suggest that singling out this pub – when the altogether more regular jazz-/roots-staging Cori Tap was (rightly, of course) allowed to continue hassle-free just up the same road – smacked of philistine snobbishness. And we certainly wouldn’t dream of pointing out that, should people feel a preference for dwelling in a living fossil, there’s a city swelling with civic pride for espousing precisely that virtue just up the road. There was better news from a couple of old stagers: the Louisiana opened up its basement for some splendidly intimate giggage, while the Arnolfini celebrated its 50th birthday with a suitably forward-looking music bill including Factory Floor, Anika and Hype Williams.

BBC Introducing in Bristol enjoyed its finest year to date, with Richard Pitt and similarly dedicated cohorts reaching ever more diligently to ensure the extraordinary breadth of the local scene is given an airing; the increased focus on the beats-led scene, in particular, has been equal parts marked and welcome. They’re giving local acts an ever-stronger leg-up to the national scene, too, with their support at the turn of the year seeing Out Like A Lion selected by Chris Moyles for A-list R1 rotation.

Also making an increased mark Beyond These Parts, Kill It Kid’s exploded blues drew wide acclaim at the release of their second album, ‘Feet Fall Heavy’ (One Little Indian). And Zun Zun Egui’s (pictured, top) debut, ‘Katang’ (Bella Union), was slatheringly well-received by a fleet of critics, none more so than the veteran, never-knowingly-gratuitously-praising John Aizlewood: “As head-spinning-and -turning rides go, there are none more likely to result in squeals of delight.”

Lord knows we could fill both pages doffing gladdened hats in the direction of closer to home delights, but word count is upon us and we can’t really let a review of 2011 slip by without mentioning – at least in passing – that whole, y’know, us nearly dying thing. One minute we’re heading down the pub to stuff our collective sorrows into a sack like so many mangy kittens, idly tweeting our imminent demise as we go, the next we’re blearily exiting to be greeted by a truly staggering – moving, frankly – welter of support. And as much as BrisBath pledged help from across the board, please don’t think this desk didn’t notice that by far the majority came from the music community. Cue a whole slew of benefit gigs, expressions of solidarity and, ultimately, Them Upstairs belatedly realising amid all the hoo-ha that perhaps we were worth giving another chance after all. ‘We couldn’t do this without you’ might be an overused phrase but, by crikey, this year proved it all too starkly true. So, thank you. (Julian Owen)

JAZZ/WORLD

It’s been a mixed year for jazz in these parts, with the worst being the corporate chopping of the Jazz@Future Inns club in Bristol – promoter Ian Storror’s supply of excellent gigs deserved better. Festivalwise Cheltenham was good and Brecon was great but Bath’s jazz supply was understated and overshadowed by a livewire Fringe Festival programme. Andy Sheppard’s classy new ECM trio premiered tantalisingly at Cheltenham while his idiosyncratic Pushy Doctors (pictured) were a busy star turn on the local scene all year. Andy headed up the Coltrane-themed season at St George’s, Bristol, that also welcomed a memorable Joe Lovano set. Over in Bath the fortnightly St James Wine Vaults sessions continued to develop, showcasing a mix of top local players and national stars with Alan Barnes’s visit a highpoint. Top gig? Hotly contested, but the jaw-dropping Impossible Gentlemen set at Colston Hall remains an undimmed memory.

Happily, the Hall is now working with Mr Storror to keep the jazz flag flying, while its partnership with Asian Arts Agency promises great world music that started with passionate street-singer Sain Zahoor. Always big on the agenda, global treats last year included the irrepressible Seun Kuti, while Baaba Maal’s St George’s gig reminded just how spellbinding his music can be. 2011 saw local heavyweight reggae veterans re-emerge with kudos, with Black Roots’ Fleece set and Talisman’s Harbour Festival appearance properly rooted and rocking. The Bath Fringe peaked with Ska Cubano’s Spiegeltent-bursting night while WOMAD brought Bristol Zoo to life with a memorable evening topped by Alejandro Toledo & The Magic Tombelinos. 2011, though, definitely belonged to Claudia Aurora, the Bristol-based fado singer whose debut album ‘Silencio’ caught the ear of Radio 3, the Festival Hall and a recording deal with World Village. Previewed at the Harbour Festival, the re-worked album was launched at a magical evening at the Folk House. (Tony Benjamin)

ROOTS

As already mentioned, by far 2011’s biggest noise in roots was the revival of the Bristol Folk Festival. The Colston Hall and surrounds were packed across all three days, partly drawn by high-profile headliners – Seth Lakeman, Show of Hands and Bellowhead – but also offering bounteous cheers to a whole slew of lesser sung local lights. Smaller of scale but scarcely less vibrant, August saw the Bath Folk Festival bring a wealth of fine fare to the city, while, in a particularly memorable folking year, in February Bristol streets thronged to morris teams for the prestigious Intervarsity Folk Dance Festival. Less happily, organisers cited “cash flow problems” for the cancellation of the picturesque Trowbridge Village Pump, but were at least able to offer consolation in staging a full weekend’s ents in the pub where it all began. Some must-see local acts to conclude: Leonie Evans’s (also part of Rae) unselfconscious voice is altogether magical, while eponymous albums from Three Cane Whale and Emily Teague should be sought by lovers of, respectively, twinklingly intricate musical invention and open-hearted singer-songwriting. Finally, a belated Bristol welcome to moved-here-in-spring Aussie vaudevillian blues shouter, CW Stoneking – he might go far too, you know... (Julian Owen)

CLASSICAL

There might have been some gloriously bonkers moments in Bath Festival’s Cardew Day, (the sound of a pen falling to the floor soon outstays whatever welcome it had in the first place!), but 2011 has been decidedly kind to contemporary music. Joanna MacGregor’s coruscating account of the MacMillan Piano Concerto No 2 (also in Bath), linked arms with Bristol’s Elektrostatic Festival, while St George’s saluted Cage, and Cheltenham Festival ‘eyed up’ Turnage’s Oedipal ‘Greek’ in a searingly direct Music Theatre Wales production which subsequently won an Outstanding Achievement in the Theatre Awards. Welsh National Opera turned in ‘safe’ new productions of ‘Fledermaus’ and ‘Don Giovanni’ at Bristol Hippodrome, but there should be a bit of edge restored when new boss David Pountney gets his feet under the table, and a stunning revival of Katie Mitchell’s ‘Katya Kabanova’ really hit the spot. Iford delighted with a cupcakes ‘Hansel & Gretel’ and musically top-drawer ‘Rodelinda’, while in Bath, English Touring Opera baffled with ‘The Fairy Queen’ (and seduced with ‘Flavio’). Orchestrally, 2011 was Mahler Year: marked by a Philharmonia/Maazel 4th Symphony, and gilded by the precision engineering of James Gaffigan’s BSO Mahler 7. The Bristol Ensemble and Freddy Kempf surfed the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, and the Auroras (pictured above) went for the spooky jugular, initiating a new residency at St George’s ahead of 2011’s newest kid on the festival block: Earth Music Bristol. Not to be outdone, Bath has just announced a new festival for 2012. Bring it on! (Paul Riley)

Copyright Julian Owen, Tony Benjamin and Paul Riley 2011