I arrived on Burns Night, celebrating Scotland’s favorite son Robert Burns, the great poet and lyricist who lived 250 years ago and whose language still speaks the heart of the people here. I got to step right into the Scottish hearth first night here  – my friends Douglas and Jane Ann host a great rootsy music series in their flat in Edinburgh and had a Burns Night celebration at their place. A lovely Scottish lass and singer Jake Cogan and her band filled the evening with Burns song and hearty good humor, while we filled our bellies with haggis and whiskey, and I chimed in with a couple of tunes.

Then off to play the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Four nights and very modest sleep later, I have to say it is truly one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to. Fine musicians from many parts of the world playing at venues all over the center of the city, people gathering from all over Europe to take it in – all hosted with hearty Scottish color and warmth.

As part of the festival, I played a concert with the great Scottish guitarist Tony McManus. Wonderful to share the evening and to play some tunes together as well. He’s a fine musician and human, and it was all pleasure joining in some creative musical communication onstage. An audience member contributed the posted photo from the show. Later, I played another solo set at the Late Night Sessions in one of the lovely venues in the Royal Concert Hall to a warm and generous crowd.

The weekend was full of superb music. The musical bar is pretty damn high at Celtic Connections, and the vibe earthy – many sublime musicians, many hearty hangs and friendships made. Just some of the highlights were Nuala Kennedy and her band’s epic & almost theatrical show Friday night, Alistair Fraser and Natalie Haas’ exquisite musical camaraderie, rich in history and musical exploration, and some great 4am “craic” (craic not crack) with some spunky Norwegian compadres. One of the coolest things about the festival is that it seems to get a lot of its juju from having spirited roots in traditional music while also being very into creative approaches and collaborations across cultures. I really relate with that – roots are not separate from branches and the reaching is exhilarating, even evolutionary, as long as it taps the deep humanity root.

 I’ll be in Edinburgh this week, then after Saturday’s show I’m headed northeast to Aberdeenshire for a couple cool shows, one solo and one collaborating with some fine Scottish musicians, Johnnie Hardy and Davy Cattanach. More later –>>

I’ll do my best to keep the blog portion of the site updated in the coming months as I tour and study in Scotland and Mali… so check back from time to time.

Thanks to everyone for your support and best wishes for a great new year. May 2012 be 99% better than 2011!

- Walter

Planet Solitaire – Sometimes you stumble across a musician who defies definition. This can be a good thing, or a very bad thing. Walter Strauss possesses a paradigm of monikers – Walter certainly isn’t ‘rock and roll’ and ‘Strauss’ evokes the image of large ballrooms and sweeping orchestral movements. Thankfully there isn’t much evidence of either, but what you do have with “Planet Solitaire” is a rare breed of world-fusion that actually works.

Strauss is a master of the picking-style of guitar-playing favoured by African musicians such as the late Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate, plus also jazz-luminaries such as Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie and the totally non-classifiable Vini Reilly – plus he can also sing with a resonating sub-baritone quiver. Bastard. Aside from a respectful and busy reading of Woody Guthrie’s, “The Great Historical Burn” and George Harrison’s, “Within You, Without You”, much of this engaging album is comprised of West African traditional and self-penned innovations.  If you are slavering at the thought of me sticking the boot into another irksome, twee and mawkish ‘world-music’ dribbling from a WOMAD reject – seriously, think again. Walter Strauss kicks global arse and is a serious contender.

Intricacy is the name of the game, to start with, and “Djeli”, “Gypsydish” and “Djimbaseh” are perfectly-executed acoustic workouts that may well serve a purpose for wine-tasting sessions in Clapham, but are more suited to kicking back on a sandy enclave in Cornwall, Kent or the Western Isles. Basically, much of Strauss’s work knows no boundaries, yet appeals to anyone with a mind broad enough to enjoy the technical and emotional skill that this man can bang out. When he sings, as on the Woody Guthrie tune, he holds his own, but his real forte is when playing acoustic guitar – the man is a wizard. He’s even learnt the workings of the king of African stringed-instruments, the kora, for the closing track and “Soutoukou”, a cracking piece derived from the renowned icon, Mamadou Diabate. This whole album is so good, I’m genuinely surprised that ECM or RealWorld haven’t licensed this enthralling set of songs. It encompasses Western classical and jazz-values, plus rootsy African and Americana with bewildering aplomb. Hello major-labels, get your cheque-books ready! – Paul Pledger

What, very interestingly, sets him slightly apart is an even greater breadth of stylistic influences. Sure Messrs Fearing and Simpson have their share of experimentalism, but Walter Strauss here incorporates the sound of the West African kora, a little Native American folklore, and just a sprinkling of 60s psychedelia into his repertoire.

Apparently he has been performing at festivals in the USA, Canada and as close as Ireland, but only visited England and Wales earlier this year. Keep your eyes peeled for dates. On the evidence of Planet Solitaire, he is a guitarist you just have to see. – Trefor Patten