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GAVIN PENNYCOOK - Gavin Pennycook

GAVIN PENNYCOOK - Gavin Pennycook
Own Label GCPCD001

It is difficult to understand why this is Gavin Pennycook’s debut solo CD. He is the only Scotsman to win an All Ireland Fiddle title, so it goes without saying that he is a master of that instrument. He is also an accomplished whistle player and composer. He has been a member of several well known bands including Deaf Shepherd and Kinnell. Well, mystery or not, here is said CD and it is excellent.

On this CD Gavin plays nineteen of his own compositions on the fiddle and whistle. I would expect many of these tunes to become popular with today’s musicians and would not be surprised, in time, to see them listed as ‘trad’. The CD includes files of manuscript notation for all the tunes.

Musically this is a super CD, but I feel that it will have difficulty in reaching as many folk as it deserves because of its presentation. The sleeve, and it is a sleeve, is a thin paper folded envelope, just adequate to hold the disc but impossible to display and awkward to store. There are no notes.  This quibble aside, this is nearly forty minutes of the best traditional style music available at the moment. Your efforts in obtaining this gem will certainly be worth it.

Danny Saunders


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This album was reviewed in Issue 75 of The Living Tradition magazine.