NATALIE MACMASTER
Live (Rounder)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Natalie MacMaster is Canada's reigning queen of the Celtic fiddle, and this two disc set provides ample indication that her reign will last about as long as she chooses. The first disc finds her in full concert form, accompanied by a full band and a company of step dancers, performing for her CBC TV special, My Roots are Showing. While Celtic traditionalists may quibble, the roots she exposes go much deeper than the traditional sounds of her Cape Breton home (the island in Novia Scotia is perhaps the strongest enclave of Irish and Scottish music in North America), as she deftly blends Latin, rock and country moods into her repertoire.

If the traditionalists are taken a bit aback, though, they'll find solace aplenty on the second disc, recorded at a square dance in Glencoe Mills, Cape Breton. This isn't the big skirt and bolo tie square dance you'll find at the local senior center, though. This is the kind of dancing that the Celtic forbears of the island's residents brought from the old country long ago, and the dancers expect the kind of music those lightfooted ancestors might have heard. MacMaster delivers brilliantly, showing that whatever direction her music may take, and whatever direction her influences may come from, she is thoroughly grounded in the tradition she arose from, and to which she returns with virtuosity and joy.

Track Lists:

Disc One: The Farewell * The Fairy Dance * Torna A Surriento * Bog An Lochan Steps * Blue Bonnets * Welcome To The Trossachs * David's Jig * Tullochcorum * The A Medley * The Encore Disc Two: Natalie's Intro * Opening Figure * Second Figure * Lively Steps * Jerry Tunes * Pipe Jigs * Grand Promenade * The Stepdancers Queue * One Good Holler

© 2002 - Shaun Dale