CHRIS STOUT & FINLAY MACDONALD - The Cauld Wind
Chris Stout Music CSMUSCD002
Shetland fiddler Chris Stout, voted Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2013 Scots Trad Music Awards (the ‘Trads’) demonstrates here just why he commands such respect, in collaboration with piper Finlay MacDonald. Some tracks also feature guitarist Ross Martin, although he is so low in the mix that he’s barely there at all. The driving force is (as I suppose it has to be) the partnership of the two named artistes, who are perfectly matched in musicianship and enthusiasm – and they can certainly write some cracking tunes also. It’s obvious that this pair absolutely love their music and their musical interplay is of the highest order.
Dull And Boring is anything but (celebrating the twinning of the Perthshire village of Dull with Boring in Oregon, USA). Jim Sutherland’s Border Crossing is sensitively showcased with Finlay’s own Heathercroft and a retreat march (Dark Lo’ers The Night). Another highlight for me is Gordon Duncan’s The Thin Man, although the pinnacle is the final track, Land Of Bens And Glens And Heroes – almost nine minutes of musical interplay that leaves me begging for more (particularly as the total running time is just over 42 minutes – come on guys surely you can stretch to more material on a full priced album). That aside, I cannot fault the talent laid bare here, and the high production values of this CD, which sums up for me what is compelling and vibrant about contemporary Scottish pipe and fiddle music. I just wish I could hear more of the guitarist – in fact more of everything really, duration wise…
www.chrisstout.co.uk
Grem Devlin
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 100 of The Living Tradition magazine. |