REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

 

 


 

 

 
ALY BAIN AND PHIL CUNNINGHAM - Roads Not Travelled

ALY BAIN AND PHIL CUNNINGHAM - Roads Not Travelled
WhirlieCD10

There's an element of "does what it says on the packet" about this CD. Take one of the finest fiddlers in the universe and pair him up with this long-time playing/composing powerhouse of a box player. You then have one of the best and best-loved musical acts in any genre in this country and this CD has them on top form. Phil and Aly now transcend musical genres and have appeared on Hogmanay shows, at high-profile funerals, with orchestras, paired with musicians from any and many musical traditions.

Eight out of the ten tracks are at least in part of Phil Cunningham's making and, like most of Phil's tunes, we were all born knowing them. It's not that he "borrows" from anywhere, he just writes things that sound and feel like old favourites. These range from 'The Gentle Light that Wakes Me' and the achingly-beautiful tribute to Phil's late brother, Johnny ('A Bright Star in Cepheus') to the appropriately jolly 'Para Handy Theme'. In the fiddle chair, Aly Bain is . well . Aly Bain. He has a sly way with a fiddle bow that is instantly identifiable and is capable of bringing on a tear, a smile or a bout of bouncing feet.

Two of the finest, lovely CD . no more to say.

Alan Murray

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This album was reviewed in Issue 71 of The Living Tradition magazine.