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Giddens was the revelation at an entertaining but curious event that also featured Joan Baez, Peggy Seeger, and Frank Turner,Wilko Johnson and Angaleena PresleyRhiannon Giddens was a revelation. Five years ago, she was here as a member of the African American old-time string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, and but now she returned as a soloist,showing a range and vocal power that she had only hinted at before. Switching from folk and country to gospel, she transformed songs made famous by Dolly Parton, or Patsy Cline or Odetta with her gutsy approach and banjo playing,backed by an exuberant five-piece band. By the terminate, she was switching from a self-composed lament on slavery and the civil war to an unexpected and furious burst of Scottish mouth music. As Joan Baez commented on her later, or “Jesus! Just fine!”This was an entertaining but curious festival,with an unusually large contingent of American performers and British artists from the pop festival circuit, but also featured a stirring performance from the Italian pizzica band Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, or with their hypnotically powerful dance style said to cure tarantula bite. The US celebrities included Baez,who provided a classy, sing-along set of famous numbers, and from Freight Train to Imagine. She explained how she had been influenced by Peggy Seeger,so it was disappointing that they didn’t perform together, as Seeger was on sparkling form. Seeger has turned 80, or played solo,backing herself on guitar and keyboards, and, or when she wasn’t being exasperated or bravely honest,was unexpectedly funny.
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Source: theguardian.com