Ross Ainslie & The Sanctuary Band, Celtic Connections Glasgow review: 'a concert of contrasts'

This concert of contrasts kicked off in unadorned traditional mode, Irish uilleann piper Leonard Barry delving industriously into the repertoire of his native Kerry and adopted homeland of Sligo in the company of fiddler Andy Morrow and guitarist Ali Hutton. So we enjoyed limber Kerry slides as well as Sligo reels, pipes and fiddle stepping out smartly in some hornpipes, with Barry switching to whistle for a pair of mazurkas.

Highland pipes and low whistle virtuoso Ross Ainslie, on the other hand, was surrounded by his eight-piece Sanctuary Band to launch Pool, the third of his trio of “journey” albums. One of the most inventive spirits on the contemporary folk scene, Ainslie included tunes from Pool but also music from other projects.

A formidable core trio of himself (mainly on whistle, later switching to Highland pipes) flanked by violinist Greg Lawson and saxophonist Paul Towndrow, was powered in often muscular fashion by keyboards, acoustic and bass guitars, drums and percussion. The music ran in a near-continuous flow, initially working up a congas-driven, Latin-flavoured groove with things becoming ever funkier, whistle dancing over pounding beats from James Mackintosh and Paul Jennings – and my only carp would be why this often gloriously fluid music had to be, in live performance at least, quite so loud and consistently beat-driven.

An elegant tribute to recently departed Indian percussion maestro Zakir Hussain saw low whistle undulating lithely over drones along with eastern-inflected violin and sax, before Ainslie finally took up his Highland pipes, their jubilant chatter adding a heady spin to the proceedings.

A loudly demanded encore, Lullaby for Mel, was a mellow slow reel that became anthemic – “a good Sunday night tune,” as Ainslie put it.