Preview

Cyfuniad egsotig o rhythmau Africanaidd a’r dwyrain canol, melodiau ysbrydoledig gan ddylanwadau Gorllewinol a Dwyreiniol, harmoniau hypnotig a grym llwfr isalaw a drymiau – i gyd wedi eu harwain gan soddgrwth drydan.

Ivan Hussey, aka Celloman, produces a big sound with his five-piece band, and it's a sound like no other. An exotic blend of Middle Eastern and African rhythms, Eastern and Western Classically inspired melodies, hypnotic harmonies and driving funky bass & drums.

Ivan trained classically at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama until he was 17, when he 'took to the dark side' and joined the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. Going on to tour with Duran Duran, and play on the classic first Soul II Soul album. As a session player he's worked with scores of big names including Mick Jagger, The Spice Girls, Shola Ama, The Stereo MC's and The Lighthouse Family. His string arrangements have graced hits by Gabrielle 'Dreams', Take That 'Babe', and Maxi Priest 'Close To You' - all No.1 chart successes.

The live act with Ivan on electric cello, and his fantastic band, Oli Savill - percussion; Oroh Angiama - bass guitar; Kosimo Keita - drums; and Samy Bishai - electric violin, is both raunchy and tender, danceable and mellow. Listeners to Radio 3's Late Junction voted their performance at Womad in 2003 'their favourite festival moment'.

Be prepared for a truly unique Talbot experience……

Review

'Now, keep that dancefloor clear', were our instructions to our faithful if aged retainer Whistling Ted Bloke, whose onerous task it is to set out the furniture for our gigs ... we certainly weren't wrong: a substantial proportion of the goodly crowd (130-plus) found the Celloman groove irresistibly danceable. Little wonder, as this fabulous six-man amalgam cooks up a delicious blend of world-music ingredients (Africa, the Far East), seasoned with classical flavouring, served up on a bed of drums and bass that would satisfy the appetite of the most rhythm-starved punter (Leave the culinary metaphors to Jamie Oliver, please. - Ed.).

Any misgivings about the concept of a band fronted by a cellist are instantly dispelled by the lean and charismatic Ivan Hussey, who opens proceedings alone, building, with the aid of on-stage technology, an introductory string-quartet piece; then, joined by fellow band members Samy Bishai (6-string electric violin), Oli Savill (percussion), Lol Ford (guitar), Kosimo Keita (drums) and Orah Angiama (bass), he launches into 'Talisman', 'Always', 'Aquador', 'The Wailer', 'Paparai', 'Eden', and more, each an extended atmospheric journey giving every participant a chance to shine: Bishai, in particular, showed virtuosic skills both on his own account (shades of Flock's Jerry Goodman, and Sugarcane Harris) and duelling with Hussey, while Ford's guitar work was unfailingly incisive and tasteful; Savill's percussion accentuated but never cluttered, while Keita and Angiama kept it all at boiling point. An on-stage sequencer might bring a frown to the brow of the occasional purist, but its impressionistic backdrop was employed only sparingly, often as accompaniment to more meditative pizzicato or neo-sitar dexterity from Hussey ... the second set brought us a debut airing of four fresh titles - 'Sharptown', 'Kali', 'Amulet', 'Gidon' - and climaxed with a resounding 'Maya', with 'Chebba' as an encore, all adding up to a vindication of their Womad popularity.

It only emerged over post-gig ales that this was literally the band's first outing of 2005 - Hussey's high-profile session commitments, as well as the equivalent multiple projects pursued by each and every member of this scintillating band, prevent it from gigging more regularly: but persuasion on our part wasn't called for - they loved the Talbot and the audience response, and have vowed to return. Sounds good to me ...