Music Spectrum

What John Wesley Harding accomplished with Trad Arr Jones, Kate Rusby matches at points on her album, The Girl Who Couldn’t Fly, which could be called Trad Arr Rusby. Rusby takes some traditional tunes, lending the strong Gaelic air of her voice to old stories in old words. Along with producer/co-arranger John McCusker, plus a great set of musicians, Rusby’s guitar picks up these traditional tunes with a bright, dusted-off energy. The traditiona words of the lament for “Mary Blaize” gets a pub dance rhythm in Rusby’s music which has hints of the shared rhythms of mariachi.

Elsewhere, though, The Girl… could be called Rusby Arr Rusby. Her own tunes achieve the same traditional feeling without feeling like she’s putting on airs, leaving an album that’s cohesive even as the tracks go back and forth between traditional and original tunes. Rusby seems to be in touch with the voices of the past as she sings with her own voice. It’s a voice of longing, beauty, and pounding heart, such as on “No Name,” which builds as Rusby sings. Like reaching the crest of a ridge while hiking, experiencing a rush of emotion as you’re about to look out over the valley. What give you the panoramic view from the top of “No Name” is when Roddy Woomble’s voice enters. Change in timbre, clarifying the passion, like punctuation on Rusby’s tremendous sentence. It’s Rusby Arr Rusby, a song arranged to break open the emotional power.

Thanks to Kate Rusby, Compass Records, and Pure Records for the review copy.

Greentrax Tradition
If you’re interested in hearing how other artists are finding ways to communicate through the traditional while still hearing the music of today’s streets, check out the releases on Greentrax Recordings of Scotland. While offering predominately traditional Scottish tunes, the artists keep that history alive in a music world very much focused on the new, now, and what will be gone in two minutes. For instance, the quartet of fiddles that forms the center of Fiddler’s Bid enlivens old songs on their Naked & Bare (2005) while also strumming out the rhythms of life just past the turn into the 21st century.

A few Greentrax releases are available in the Music Spectrum Giveaway Closet if requested. See the Sidebar for info on how to get your FREE CDs.

Thanks to Greentrax Recordings for their support of Music Spectrum.

Chris Stout, part of Fiddler’s Bid and also a member of Salsa Celtica (a fusion of Brazilian and Celtic musicians), has now released a solo album, First O’ the Darkenin’. It begins broodingly, Stout’s fiddle lines emerging from the fog on the opening tune, “Hillswick.” That traditional tune is coupled with “Party Scene” from Ivan Drever’s Celtic Fusion. This reminds us that we are listening to the Chris Stout Band, not just Chris Stout. Malcolm Stitt’s guitar especially works on this tune to heighten the party-like atmosphere of Stout’s fiddle.

Many of the tunes on First O’ the Darkenin’ come from Scandinavia. As I mentioned when reviewing some collections of Scandinavian artists by NorthSound, there’s a great similarity between Celtic and Scandinavian tunes.

Stout’s originals dot the landscape here. “Double Helix” is a blend of Scottish fiddle and jazz sensibilities, highlighted by Fraser Fifield’s saxophone. The band together wrote the title tune, a tonal piece, semi-improvised. Stout mentions he is interested in using traditional folk music in “creating scenes.” Indeed, such compositions would be a wonderful soundtrack for stage or screen. “First O’ the Darkenin’” is coupled with Stout’s “Baak-High,” an upbeat tune reminiscent of something that Joshua Bell & Edgar Meyer might have created on their album, Short Trip Home, which explored traditional American folk tunes. Stout’s “Baak-High” brings out the sun from the fog of the more ethereal tunes in this collection.

Back in the summer of 1998, my wife and I went to the Rolla Bay Fiddle Festival on Prince Edward Island, seeing a number of great Celtic artists. One artist there that night was a new phenom at the time, Richard Wood. Wood combined incredible fiddle work with a punk rock look, spinning around and around while he played up a storm. I bought his CD, Fire Dance, from his Da’ from the back of their car while his Da’ told me about how proud he was of his son, how his son was hitting a lot of festivals across Canada.

The CD, however, failed on some levels due to the production. A heavy use of electronic keyboards and drums minimized the very acoustic, very fluid fiddle playing. I still enjoy Wood’s CD, but I kept wishing to hear him live again, to hear that fiddle without the songs sounding a bit like canned tracks. Perhaps if I get a chance to review the newer albums, he may prove me wrong on this point.

GiveWay, a Scottish group of 4 young sisters, walks that fine line as well. Truly, the Johnson sisters are young phenoms like Wood, but their album, Full Steam Ahead, comes close being over produced like Wood’s album, taking away any live feeling. A little overemphasis on the electronic keyboard begins to erase the natural, traditional flavor of the music. For example, the bouncing beat that ties together the tunes in “Piper and the Shrew” is led by Mairi’s keyboard. Mairi’s playing would shine even more with an acoustic piano or an electronic piano with better resonance.

For the most part, Full Steam Ahead escapes this problem. That is large part to the tremendous musicianship of the Johnson sisters. Fiona’s fiddle is outstanding, especially as it blends wonderfully with Kirsty’s accordion. Amy adds nicely placed fills in the percussion. And again, the comments about the electronic keyboard sound should take nothing away from Mairi’s playing.

“Jiggin’,” a set of 4. . .jigs, begins ominously, as if the dancers are coming out of the dark alleys on a stormy night. Suddenly, the Johnson sisters launch full steam ahead into the rest of the set. It is a good example of how these sisters blend so well. The girls’ album notes say that “Monday Morning” (“Starjump”/“Monday Morning Reel”/“Dinkies”) is related to their difficulty of getting up on Mondays for school. This set indeed gives that feeling through the way they play, a pace that matches that difficulty of trying to rouse yourself from bed. Midway through finds Kirsty’s accordion doing fast lines over Fiona’s mournful fiddle, Mairi’s halting keyboard, and Amy’s impatient beat. Then they’re ready to hit the door, face the day and the new week, with the entrance of the final tune.

Fiona also contributes three originals to the album, including 2 reels, “Dusty’s Reel” and “Macca’s Reel,” in the set called “Crossing the Water.” While these reels sound traditional, you also hear Fiona’s modern musical influences (Travis, Oasis, Coldplay) in the way she strikes the bow and the beat that changes the pattern a bit from the other tunes on the album.

While the album notes and pictures don’t let you forget that they’re school girls, the playing on the album shows that they’ve graduated from school recitals to concert halls.

Incidentally, Chris Stout and GiveWay share a common trait for great song titles. Stout names his second track, “Scandanonymous,” for an anonymous Scandinavian tune. GiveWay name their first track, “Manonymous,” for the anonymous tune that begins the set—except one of them pronounced the word incorrectly. It stuck, and we all get to share in this inside joke. Both tunes show, however, that these artists are interested in the great store of traditional tunes.

Win a Scottish CD!

To get the taste of Scottish music, Greentrax Records also released this spring Reel of Four from the Occasionals. The first person to email me was Sarah Dylan Breuer. She wins this collection of tunes for Scottish Ceilidh dancing.

Thanks to Greentrax Records, Chris Stout, and GiveWay for the review copies and giveaway CD.

Here are four short reviews of fairly new acquisitions. They are discussed in Spectrum order, beginning with Irish/Scottish/English Folk.

Park Records, Oxford, England, celebrates their 15th anniversary this year of producing fine traditional folk and folk-inspired rock artists. They sent me Step into the Park, a fine collection of songs from recent releases. Maddy Prior offers the blend of traditional and dance rock elements that Annie Lennox might attempt, but Maddy sounds much more connected to this music. Rock, Salt & Nails sounds equally at home on a set of reels and a singer-songwriter type song (fleshed out with traditional fiddle and guitar). One other track to mention is “Smile,” a song which shows that Rose Kemp is both influenced by the Indigo Girls or other female singer-songwriters while also keeping some traditional roots.

The next CD shouldn’t actually be in this section of the Spectrum. Martin Simpson’s righteousness and humidity is his tribute to the music of the Southern U.S., both traditional tunes and some originals inspired by the blues, folk, country, and Gospel tunes of America. So while it really belongs as an album in the American Folk section, this is Martin Simpson, known for his incredible, eclectic guitar work on traditional songs from the UK and music inspired by such. The other albums that I own, Live and Cool & Unusual, showcase his ability to bring old tunes forward to today.

However, righteousness and humidity not only belongs in the Irish/Scottish/English Folk section because of Simpson’s previous work; it belongs in this section because it shows the connection between the tunes in both parts of the world. The immigrants to America from the British Isles brought the old tunes with them, and while over the years those tunes have grown and expanded into their own genre, inspired by the music of Africa, French Canadians, and other parts of the world, they nonetheless share a common bond with traditional UK folk. Simpson offers this outstanding selection of songs, including some great ballad narrative songs of which Simpson’s performance can never be beat—whether in New Orleans or Oxford. Righteousness & humidity is available from Red House Records in the States and Topic Records in the UK.

Next up are 2 compilations from NorthSide Records, Nordic Roots 2 and Nordic Roots 3. Here we actually more from the Irish/Scottish/English Folk to Nordic Folk. The space between the 2 isn’t big however, because the connections are amazing. While my Grandpa was Norwegian, I never realized in the kitchy Sons of Norway celebrations in Minneapolis that there might be some many musical similarities between that heritage and my Squires side, the English-Irish side of the family. Thanks to NorthSide I have discovered the abounding comparisons in the fiddle, accordion, and guitar tunes.

Maria Kalaniemi & Aldargaz from Finland offer “Ahma,” which clicks along with an accordion lead like found on Solas—the Irish-inspired band. Sweden’s Vasen, a great ensemble with multi-layered instrumentals, is probably the most well-known Nordic band in the states, having been a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion. Also from Sweden, Hoven Droven take the Nordic tune, kicks in the electric, and moves somewhere between traditional tune and bass-thumping dance track. Garmana goes even more electric in the backing to Emma Härdelin’s enchanting, fluid vocals—contrasting to the angular beats of the drum loops and samples.

We’re back in the UK with Jim Moray’s Sweet England. Traditional English songs make up most of this album. Moray’s voice would be both at home in the cathedral and the street. These are earthy songs, about love and loss and death, but Moray’s voice brings an innocence to the song. Of course, we can’t forget to mention the arrangements: traditional tune sung by Moray as the foundation for drum loops and samples. The arrangements meant that Moray sends us into the Folk-influenced IRE/UK Rock section.

I love how Moray uses these traditional tunes to head in directions that end up being similar to Badly Drawn Boy and Duncan Sheik. It is also nice to hear “Gypsies” and compare it to the Waterboys’ version (“The Raggle Taggle Gypsy”) from their release Room to Roam. Moray’s version starts with a horn section worthy of the Polyphonic Spree.

So, stop buying those silly Soundscapes CDs! Yes, they have those cool displays at Target and the Nature Company. Yes, you can press a button and some Irish-sounding music starts, but there’s nothing innovative about it. That isn’t what you’ll find on these albums—artists who are not only playing traditional folk but also contributing their own elements to that tradition. Pick up a Jim Moray album, and you’ll know what I mean.