Customer Reviews

The Cape Breton Connection

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Cape Breton must be in the lead for the "musical talent per capita" award, as this album amply illustrates. It's a good introduction to the wide range of styles found under the general heading of Cape Breton traditional music, from the traditional stylings of Buddy MacMaster to the contemporary energy of Slainte Mhaith. In between are the amazingly versatile Barra MacNeils (this album features an instrumental, but they are equally strong on vocals), the incredibly talented J.P. Cormier (equally virtuostic on fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, piano, and bass and a great singer and songwriter to boot), and the unique piano stylings of Tracy Dares. As with all samplers, not every cut is equally strong - Stephanie Wills' intonation is painfully bad and Graham and MacDonald's isn't much better. You'll want to buy a number of the albums sampled here, but will be frustrated by their unavailability (unless you're lucky enough to be Canadian).

I knew I would love the music on this CD from the cover alone, a close-up view of a violin (fiddle)! The back cover photo was just as inviting, rolling hills, with a field of wild flowers, and a small farm building. The music is fresh, lively, and full of expression just as the Gaelic language itself! Most of the tunes are jigs, reels, airs, and strathspeys, many are accompanied on Uillean pipes or bagpipes, one is played on the guitar and another has a piano accompaniment. The titles to each sets speak volumes: "O'er the Moor Among the Heather", "Clumsy Lover Set", "The Iron Man", "Brucie and the Troopers", "Kilts in the Fire", " Gaelectric Blues" ... each has 3 - 6 different pieces played in succession, while difficult at times to tell when one begins and the other starts, it is absolulely thrilling to have about 45 - 47 *different* musical tunes on one CD. This is dance music at its BEST! The liner notes give a brief bio on each fiddler (there are about 15, only one of which I recognize, Natalie McMaster). It describes some family background about musical origins and connections, describes the musician's rise to recognition in the Cape Breton community, some have come national attention and others to international, as well. It really makes you feel proud of their achievements, as if *you* were a friend & neighbor, wishing them success on their rise to fame and fortune! Word descriptions of this music: hypnotic, mesmerizing tunes, musical frenzy, spiralling ecstasy, rousing, passionate and magical playing (some of the violins have been passed down from generation to generation)!!! If you love the violin when it is called a "fiddle", this CD is for you! Erika Borsos (erikab93)