JAMIE MACDONALD & CHRISTIAN GAMAUF - The Pipe Slang
Private Label JMCG01
The bold and bright sound on this first album from the Scottish/Austrian duo will knock the cobwebs clean off. Their playing on pipes and fiddle is lively and rhythmically nuanced with gritty ornamentation. Pipes and fiddle are so closely matched at times that the fiddle sound melts into the pipes. And the arrangements that allow for conversation between the two instruments, such as The Boy’s Lament For His Dragon, provide some contrast, allowing the fiddle its unique identity and greater dynamic range.
Anna MacDonald (twin sister of Jamie) contributes two (Scottish) Gaelic songs and clarsach/Scottish harp, while Anna-Wendy Stevenson lends viola. Joined by either guitar (Jack McRobbie) or piano (Adam Young) on the majority of tracks, the spotlight is firmly on the fiddle and pipes, while the accompaniment often feels distanced. Rhythmic step dance – a soft brushing style, no clatter here – is added by Sophie Stevenson.
The Step Dance Reels and Calum Campbell’s are instrumental highlights with strong, vibrant melody playing, that in Calum Campbell’s breaks from characterful march and strathspey into measured reel with moments of harmony from fiddle. The arrangement of Mo Nighean Donn À Cornaig has a gentle ebb and flow that supports the bitter sweetness and tragedy of the waulking song’s tale: a girl soon to be married is murdered and the wine for her wedding serves her funeral instead.
Drawing influence primarily from Scotland and Cape Breton, with a brief salute to Asturias, this is unmistakably youthful playing with an old soul.
www.pipeslang.com
Lori Watson
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