BATTLEFIELD BAND
Leaving Friday Harbor (Temple)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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For nearly a quarter of a century, Battlefield Band has been one of leading lights in the Celtic music field, and perhaps the brightest of those lights to shine on the Scottish portion of that field. Blending traditional reels with contemporary ballads, and touching a multitude of bases in between, the quartet creates a sound larger than itself, in no part by drawing on the full resources of a magnificent legacy.

Leaving Friday Harbour is standard fare for Battlefield Band, which means it is a superb album. The players, Alan Reid (keys & vox), John McCusker (fiddle, whistle, cittern & keys), Davy Steele (guitar, bouzouki, bodhran & vox) and Mike Katz (small & Higland pipes, whistle, guitar, bass) are impeccable and the selection of material, even when freshly minted, carries the comfortable feel of a set of old favorites.

This is a welcome addition to the Battlefield Band discography, and to any World or Celtic music shelf.

Track List:

Clan Coco/The Road To Benderfoch/Fifteen Stubbies To Warragul * The Last Trip Home * It's Nice To Be Nice/The Auld Toon Band/ McCabe's Reel * The Straw Man * Leaving Friday Harbor * The 24th Guards Brigade At Anzio/The Melbourne Sleeper/MacRae's Of Linnie * One More Chorus * The Pleasure Will Be Mine * Something For Jamie * The Sisters Reel/Marion & Donald/The Lassie With The Yellow Petticoat/Jesse "The Body" Ventura's Reel * Logie O'Buchan

© 1999 - Shaun Dale