CAROL ANDERSON & MARTIN MACDONALD - Single Track Road Trip
Tradition Bearers LTCD5001
In Cape Breton, they'd say, "There's Gaelic in that fiddle!" Which is odd, because fiddler Carol Anderson is an Aberdeenshire lass, a long way from Gaeldom, and as far as I know she doesn't have West Coast connections. Perhaps because of Stirling summer schools with Aonghas Grant, she makes a marvellous job of pipe tunes. There are some splendid examples on this debut CD: The Clan MacColl, Culbokie and Lucy Cassidy stand out. Martin MacDonald, on the other hand, is a Lewisman, so his mastery of compositions by MacLeans and MacLeods on fingerpicked guitar is no surprise. This recording includes some spectacular slow airs too: the traditional Roslin Castle which was a favourite of mine before Dan Brown became famous, the regal Auchenblae by Donald Rennie, and Carol's own Wilderness Brae. The fiddle tone on these tracks is pure as Speyside malt, contrasting nicely with the gutsier sound on big reels like The Haggis and The Fourth Floor.
You wouldn't expect to hear a North East fiddle album without some grand strathspeys, and this one obliges in style. Skinner and Milne's well-known collaboration The Shakins o' the Pocky keeps company with North of the Grampians, both deftly bowed and delicately accompanied. Nothing to brash or flashy, this duo take their time and make the most of their music. Carol and Martin add a few very respectable reels and jigs of their own, plus an atmospheric arrangement of The Little Cascade for fiddle and banjo, before their departure to a trio of timeless retreat marches. Single Track Road Trip is also a departure for the Tradition Bearers label, its first instrumental release, and possibly its youngest artist so far, suggesting exciting possibilities for future recordings.
Alex Monaghan
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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 86 of The Living Tradition magazine. |