Hello all,
I know that the "mission statement" of the site is to promote traditional Irish music, but could I please ask if anyone has any recommendations for, say, 10 or so recordings of Scottish fiddle tunes.
I've been listening to the Gavin Marwick/Johnnie Hardie tunes on the two albums that they collaborated on, and I've got all the stuff from the Iron Horse days, and some Old Blind Dogs CD's, which are excellent, but I wondered if anyone had any pointers to collections of Scottish tunes that really stand out, particularly some of the more recent stuff, Jenna Reid and the likes.
I know that there are some on the site who are based in Edinburgh and around the country, and just wonder what's around. Thanks, in anticipation.
There are too many good recordings of Scottish fiddle music, and too many new recordings are being released too. I've given up checking new recordings, and keep listening Jennifer and Hazel Wrigley's albums. My favourite is "Mither o' the Sea": http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/jennifer-hazel-wrigley-mither-o-sea.html
Indeed Jenna Reid would be a great example. If you like a mix of instruments then The First Harvest by Iain MacDonald and Iain MacFarlane is a lovely mix of fiddle and flute/whistle/pipes.
Bogman recommended Alasdair White's album the other day, An Clar Geal - The White Album which I see is still listed on this website twice!! I think that will be one of the next ones on my shopping list.
The 3 big fiddle bands - Blazin Fiddles, Fiddler's Bid and Session A9 have also produced some cracking albums worth looking out.
Amy Geddes and Sandy Wright produced a lovely album a few years ago - Over The Sky to See.
Alasdair Fraser has some excellent recordings with loads of excellent tunes, he’s a bit like Martin Hayes in that he likes playing lots and lots of fine tunes per record. He plays in the West Highland style, but also has a command of some of the more tricky north east music. For loads of superb Scottish tunes, I think he is King (in an Anarcho-syndicalist way of course!) In order, starting with my favourite CD:
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (a remarkable American cellist) – “Fire & Grace”
(Lots of fine tunes here and sublime duet work.)
Alasdair Fraser – “The Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle” (1 and 2)
I prefer “The Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle” volume 2; I prefer the accompaniment for one thing (as well as piano there is Natalie Haas playing cello) and I like the tunes better. Volume One (which just has fiddle and piano) does have many nice tunes, and a few of the great Scottish show pieces. (It has Scott Skinner’s Classical Hornpipe “Madam Neruda” (written for Wilhelmina Neruda, a classical virtuoso violinist better known as Lady Halle), which employs spiccato bowing (bouncing bow). And to my knowledge this is the only place it’s actually been played well on a recording.)
Alasdair Fraser & Jody Stecher (guitar) - “The Driven Bow”
Alasdair Fraser & Tony McManus (guitar) – “Return to Kintail”
Aonghas Grant – “The Hills of Glengarry”
Aonghas Grant is a superb traditional fiddler from Lochaber, and plays in the North West Highland style, heavily influenced by the highland pipes. If you can find his 1978 recording “Angus Grant – Highland Fiddle”, it’s also superb. I have it on cassette but sadly it never made it to CD. He plays (and for that matter looks) like he’s from another time. Check him out! http://www.scottishfiddle.org/angusgrant/
Aly Bain & Ale Möller - “Fully Rigged “
My favourite Aly Bain recording, playing along with a great Swedish musician. It gives you a taste of the strong cultural and musical links between Shetland and Scandinavia. (And personally I prefer hearing Aly’s playing without piano, and this is a rare opportunity to hear it on CD.) This might not be so great for hearing lots of Scottish fiddle tunes, but it’s exquisite. It will change your life! (maybe)
Tom Anderson & Aly Bain (and other fiddlers too) – “The Silver Bow: The Fiddle Music of Shetland”. Wonderful old school Shetland fiddling. Some beautiful tunes.
For North East style a CD of the great Hector MacAndrew has been released, it’s called “Hector MacAndrew - Legend of the Scots Fiddle”. A powerful player with some really nice tunes.
"The Fiddler’s Companion" ( a CD to accompany Alastair Hardie’s book “The Caledonian Companion”: a collection of Scottish fiddle music and a guide to its performance) is also good. It has recordings from Aly Bain, Angus Grant, Alastair Hardie, Donald Stewart, Tom Anderson, Bill Hardie, & Hector MacAndrew (a couple of tracks each). The book itself is the best thing ever written on Scottish traditional bowing, especially the North East style.
Actually, Christine Martin's book: "Traditional Scottish Fiddling: A Player's Guide to Regional Bowing Techniques, Repertoire and Dances" is also an excellent resource. And in case you’re interested, some books of Scottish music are recommended here: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/21438
Willie Hunter, "Leaving Lerwick Harbour" or "The Willie Hunter Sessions. " Very nice piano by Violet Tulloch. Yes, I mean it. I just love "Return to Kintail," as above. Incredibly tasteful and beautiful playng by Fraser and McManus.
There was a 1980 LP/cassette of West Highland fiddle called "Port an Dubh Ghleanneach" with Angus Grant, Farquhar Macrae and a couple of tracks from Angus's son. Guitar backing though.
& the Cape Breton take on such things ~ for examples:
Winston 'Scotty' Fitzgerald, The Five MacDonald Fiddlers, Mike MacDougall, Buddy MacMaster, Jerry Holland, Dave MacIsaac, Ashley MacIsaac, Howie MacDonald, Brenda Stubbert ~ etc...
Pete Clark's "Even Now" is a recording of the music that Neil Gow might have played including of course some of his Gow's along with other 17th century composers. Also Pete's "Mackintosh at Murthy" is a nice representation of the music of the Northeast region of Scotland, again 17th century Scottish dance music.
I also love Johnny Cunningham's "Fair Warning" cd and wish the man had been able to give us more.
Bonnie Rideout is an amazing fiddler and has a new cd just on the piobaireachd
And then there is........
Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Hello all,
I know that the "mission statement" of the site is to promote traditional Irish music, but could I please ask if anyone has any recommendations for, say, 10 or so recordings of Scottish fiddle tunes.
I've been listening to the Gavin Marwick/Johnnie Hardie tunes on the two albums that they collaborated on, and I've got all the stuff from the Iron Horse days, and some Old Blind Dogs CD's, which are excellent, but I wondered if anyone had any pointers to collections of Scottish tunes that really stand out, particularly some of the more recent stuff, Jenna Reid and the likes.
I know that there are some on the site who are based in Edinburgh and around the country, and just wonder what's around. Thanks, in anticipation.
# Posted on September 22nd 2009 by riverrunner
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
There are too many good recordings of Scottish fiddle music, and too many new recordings are being released too. I've given up checking new recordings, and keep listening Jennifer and Hazel Wrigley's albums. My favourite is "Mither o' the Sea": http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/jennifer-hazel-wrigley-mither-o-sea.html
Jennifer Wrigley is also on Birlin' Fiddles: http://www.footstompin.com/products/cds/birlin_fiddles A nice mixture of old and new tunes, including Cape Breton ones.
# Posted on September 22nd 2009 by slainte
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/2399
Never bettered - yet, anyway.
# Posted on September 22nd 2009 by Kenny
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Indeed Jenna Reid would be a great example. If you like a mix of instruments then The First Harvest by Iain MacDonald and Iain MacFarlane is a lovely mix of fiddle and flute/whistle/pipes.
Bogman recommended Alasdair White's album the other day, An Clar Geal - The White Album which I see is still listed on this website twice!! I think that will be one of the next ones on my shopping list.
The 3 big fiddle bands - Blazin Fiddles, Fiddler's Bid and Session A9 have also produced some cracking albums worth looking out.
Amy Geddes and Sandy Wright produced a lovely album a few years ago - Over The Sky to See.
Then there are the albums by John McCusker.
There's lots out there. Happy listening.
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
http://www.raretunes.org/ Old recordings of Scottish fiddling. http://www.archive.org/ has the same material, also search there for classic sides by Cape Breton fiddler Angus Angus Chisolm. This page has some more old records by CB fiddlers: http://www.juneberry78s.com/sounds/ListenToCapeBretonFiddles.htm
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by Kevin Rietmann
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings.
Alasdair Fraser has some excellent recordings with loads of excellent tunes, he’s a bit like Martin Hayes in that he likes playing lots and lots of fine tunes per record. He plays in the West Highland style, but also has a command of some of the more tricky north east music. For loads of superb Scottish tunes, I think he is King (in an Anarcho-syndicalist way of course!) In order, starting with my favourite CD:
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (a remarkable American cellist) – “Fire & Grace”
(Lots of fine tunes here and sublime duet work.)
Alasdair Fraser – “The Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle” (1 and 2)
I prefer “The Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle” volume 2; I prefer the accompaniment for one thing (as well as piano there is Natalie Haas playing cello) and I like the tunes better. Volume One (which just has fiddle and piano) does have many nice tunes, and a few of the great Scottish show pieces. (It has Scott Skinner’s Classical Hornpipe “Madam Neruda” (written for Wilhelmina Neruda, a classical virtuoso violinist better known as Lady Halle), which employs spiccato bowing (bouncing bow). And to my knowledge this is the only place it’s actually been played well on a recording.)
Alasdair Fraser & Jody Stecher (guitar) - “The Driven Bow”
Alasdair Fraser & Tony McManus (guitar) – “Return to Kintail”
Aonghas Grant – “The Hills of Glengarry”
Aonghas Grant is a superb traditional fiddler from Lochaber, and plays in the North West Highland style, heavily influenced by the highland pipes. If you can find his 1978 recording “Angus Grant – Highland Fiddle”, it’s also superb. I have it on cassette but sadly it never made it to CD. He plays (and for that matter looks) like he’s from another time. Check him out! http://www.scottishfiddle.org/angusgrant/
Aly Bain & Ale Möller - “Fully Rigged “
My favourite Aly Bain recording, playing along with a great Swedish musician. It gives you a taste of the strong cultural and musical links between Shetland and Scandinavia. (And personally I prefer hearing Aly’s playing without piano, and this is a rare opportunity to hear it on CD.) This might not be so great for hearing lots of Scottish fiddle tunes, but it’s exquisite. It will change your life! (maybe)
Tom Anderson & Aly Bain (and other fiddlers too) – “The Silver Bow: The Fiddle Music of Shetland”. Wonderful old school Shetland fiddling. Some beautiful tunes.
For North East style a CD of the great Hector MacAndrew has been released, it’s called “Hector MacAndrew - Legend of the Scots Fiddle”. A powerful player with some really nice tunes.
"The Fiddler’s Companion" ( a CD to accompany Alastair Hardie’s book “The Caledonian Companion”: a collection of Scottish fiddle music and a guide to its performance) is also good. It has recordings from Aly Bain, Angus Grant, Alastair Hardie, Donald Stewart, Tom Anderson, Bill Hardie, & Hector MacAndrew (a couple of tracks each). The book itself is the best thing ever written on Scottish traditional bowing, especially the North East style.
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by whistleblower
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings. Books
Actually, Christine Martin's book: "Traditional Scottish Fiddling: A Player's Guide to Regional Bowing Techniques, Repertoire and Dances" is also an excellent resource. And in case you’re interested, some books of Scottish music are recommended here: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/21438
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by whistleblower
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/1769
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by Kenny
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Willie Hunter, "Leaving Lerwick Harbour" or "The Willie Hunter Sessions. " Very nice piano by Violet Tulloch. Yes, I mean it. I just love "Return to Kintail," as above. Incredibly tasteful and beautiful playng by Fraser and McManus.
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by Steve Shaw
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Just home from work, thanks for all the replies. There's some for me to go at, just can't wait to hear some of the tunes put forward.
This site never fails to delight. Sincere thanks to all.
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by riverrunner
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
There was a 1980 LP/cassette of West Highland fiddle called "Port an Dubh Ghleanneach" with Angus Grant, Farquhar Macrae and a couple of tracks from Angus's son. Guitar backing though.
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by david_h
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Scottish Fiddle Music ~ help widen my perspective, please?
# Posted on November 16th 2008 by ceolachan
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/19769
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Scottish / Cape Breton Fiddle Tune Recordings
& the Cape Breton take on such things ~ for examples:
Winston 'Scotty' Fitzgerald, The Five MacDonald Fiddlers, Mike MacDougall, Buddy MacMaster, Jerry Holland, Dave MacIsaac, Ashley MacIsaac, Howie MacDonald, Brenda Stubbert ~ etc...
http://www.cbfiddle.com/rx/index.html
http://www.cranfordpub.com/
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
CD: "Jerry Holland: Crystal Clear"
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/1664
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by ceolachan
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
Pete Clark's "Even Now" is a recording of the music that Neil Gow might have played including of course some of his Gow's along with other 17th century composers. Also Pete's "Mackintosh at Murthy" is a nice representation of the music of the Northeast region of Scotland, again 17th century Scottish dance music.
I also love Johnny Cunningham's "Fair Warning" cd and wish the man had been able to give us more.
Bonnie Rideout is an amazing fiddler and has a new cd just on the piobaireachd
And then there is........
# Posted on September 23rd 2009 by crfiddler
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
definitely the Pete Clark cd's
also these
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/turnerjohn2
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jtcfdgmc
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/turnerjohn
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/melindacrawford
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cfaspg
here is a clip of Colyn doing a set of Marshall tunes
http://coastsidevideo.com/sites/PSF/scotland2008/pages/Colyn-Fischer-Shauna-Marshall-Hawick-081026-Coastside-Video-flv.html
# Posted on September 24th 2009 by Sunnybear
Re: Scottish Fiddle Tune Recordings
One of the best fiddle albums I've heard is Gordon Gunns solo album.He plays a variety of styles. Also Bryan Gear.
# Posted on September 27th 2009 by tirvaluk