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PATSY REID "With Complements" Patsy Reid APMR901

At the time of recording "With Complements" Patsy Reid was nineteen and in her third year at Strathclyde University studying applied music. Her playing on said cd is of such maturity and sheer class that one wonders what heights she will achieve in the future, the highest without doubt. She has already won the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship at Blair Castle in 1998 and 1999.

Patsy is from the village of Knapp in Perthshire. She started to play at the age of eight and when she was ten attended a Natalie MacMaster concert, the effect of this experience was to fire her interest in different fiddle styles. The results of this interest manifests itself on "With Complements" with beautiful performances of tunes from all parts of Scotland as well as Cape Breton, America and Ireland. She is also a very gifted composer. It is my opinion that it is a sign of great talent and a complement to the composer if modern/self composed tunes do not stick out like the proverbial sore thumb in the overall program, on this score Patsy wins hands down.

With Complements is a CD of the finest fiddle music played with elegance and a deftness of touch second to none. From delicate and intricate slow airs to lively reels, jigs, strathspeys and marches. Patsy places great importance on appropriate accompaniment to emphasise the different fiddle styles. She is of course correct in this and could not have chosen better musicians for the task. On different tracks she is joined by Declan Hegarty - Irish Harp, Harvey Beaton -Piano (and one track step - dancing), Gill Simpson - Piano, Keith Morrison -Piano and Alasdair White - Bouzouki and Mandolin. With Complements is Patsy Reid's debut album I hope there will be many more. Wonderful stuff and highly recommended.

Danny Saunders.

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This album was reviewed in Issue 53 of The Living Tradition magazine.