Coffee House featuring Judith Cohen, Alana Cline, & Leigh Cline

We asked if you would be interested in a bonus coffee house in May, since a group of fine musicians is available & you gave us a resounding “Yes!”  So we are pleased to bring the excitement & joy of Celtic music & the soul of old world songs to the Gallery on May 18 – happy long weekend!  Here are the details & a handy dandy poster is attached.  We will be away just before the concert, so if any of you can print, share or put up a poster, we’d appreciate it.  Thanks!   Here are the details:

JUDITH COHEN is a performer and ethnomusicologist specializing in Judeo-Spanish (“Ladino”) songs, as well as in medieval and traditional music, including Balkan, Portuguese, Yiddish, French Canadian & pan-European balladry. Her daughter, Tamar Ilana often performs with her. Judith’s repertoire is presented in a dynamic, accessible style to audiences from sophisticated cognoscenti to school children. She is on faculty at York University & performs in concerts & cafes all over the world. Judith is the General Editor for the Spain series of the Alan Lomax project, carried out with the Association for Cultural Equity and Rounder Records.

ALANA & LEIGH CLINE are a Celtic fiddle and guitar instrumental duo, who combine Irish, Cape Breton and Scottish styles to create their own distinctive sound. They also include Balkan tunes in their sets.

ALANA  – “My family roots are not in Cape Breton but my father, Leigh Cline, was friends with (renowned Cape Breton musician) John Allan Cameron, who put us in touch with Sandy MacIntyre who taught me Cape Breton fiddle.” As a teenager, Alana attended Colaisde na Gàidhlig (The Gaelic College) in Nova Scotia. In 2008, she was the first Canadian to be accepted to the Meitheal School of Irish Traditional Music in Limerick.  She holds an honours degree in music, summa cum laude, from York University. She has been combining Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton styles to create a distinctive Celtic sound of her own, but also enjoys playing Greek and Turkish sets with her father.  “We include some Balkan tunes in our sets as my father has played Greek and Turkish & Celtic music for decades. Because of this, there are some Greek violin techniques that I incorporate into my Celtic fiddle style.”

LEIGH was part of the Toronto/Yorkville folk scene of the 1960s, travelling throughout North America as a folk music performer. He was Artistic Director, Stage Manager and Technical Director for the Mariposa Folk Festival in the ’60s and ’70s, and did World Music Research. Leigh learned musical styles and guitar firsthand from the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Bukka White, Maybelle Carter, Lonnie Johnson, Bill Munroe & Merle Travis. He also worked for the CBC doing music research for TV documentaries.

Leigh was sound engineer for many performers including The Chieftains, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, John Allan Cameron, Fleetwood Mac, The Boys of the Lough, Procol Harum, Bruce Cockburn, Rod Stewart, as well as touring with Ian & Sylvia & The Great Speckled Bird. For many years he worked in Greece and Turkey with top folk and nightclub singers and musicians, both in the folk and bouzouki genres.

Leigh is the author, with Cape Breton fiddler Sandy MacIntyre, of the Mel Bay publication “Cape Breton Traditional Style Fiddle Sets with Guitar Tablature”. Leigh has three solo CDs “Orient Express”; “Galatia”, a Celtic/Pontic Greek fusion CD; and “Al Asha Bi Daha”,

It is easy to understand why the Toronto-based twosome is in such high demand on the summer festival circuit; it is virtually impossible not to grin from ear-to-ear while listening to these songs. ~ SPC

“So let’s hear it for Cape Breton, and Alana & Leigh Cline.”  Frank Hennessy, Celtic Heartbeat, BBC Radio Wales