If you are going to unveil a new collaboration anywhere, then Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January has got to be the place to do it. For Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser there must have been the added bonus of being regarded as something of a legend in these parts and anticipating a rapturous reception from the audience. That was exactly the response the on-stage ‘gathering’, as Alasdair called it, received – and for very good reason given the sheer class in what we heard on the night.
Badged as the New World Assembly, the quintet set out to chart the journeys traditional music has made from Scotland across the Atlantic, reflecting their own roots. For this gathering Alasdair brought together his regular musical partner, cellist Natalie Haas (you can read our review of Ports of Call, their most recent album, here), her fiddler sister Brittany, a former member of Crooked Still, her (Natalie’s) husband – undoubtedly this is a family affair – Québécois guitarist, singer and Genticorum member Yann Falquet, and, last but definitely not least, US step dancer Nic Gareiss (no relation) who performs with, amongst others, This Is How We Fly.
The quintet came out firing on all cylinders with a breathtaking set that captured straight away what they are all about. Starting with The Highlander’s Farewell to Ireland, a strathspey, and a favourite of Burns, the set progressed through The Killarney Boys of Pleasure, a reel that Alasdair told us is the Irish version of the same tune, followed by an unrelated (unnamed) Québécois jig, and ending with a third, this time Appalachian, version of the main tune. Alasdair talked about the set illustrates how tunes ‘wander’, which is such an apt way to describe how the music ends up in such diverse and far away locations.
In combination, New World Assembly were a force to be reckoned with but the breadth of music came, during much of the show, from the democratic interchanging combinations of members on stage at any one time. The Hass sisters did it themselves, they were a family band with Yann – including a Québécois song and a Mike Vass tune, Brittany played with Nic and Nic danced alone. Most obviously, Alasdair and Natalie played as a duo, notably on a stirring rendition of Freedom Come All Ye (which they recorded on Ports of Call), the internationalist message of which Alasdair referred to as more relevant than ever – appropriate not least given the stories of artists from some countries, in particular, African countries, turning down invitations to the Festival because the Government’s ‘hostile environment’ has made getting visas too difficult.
Prior to the show, I was, having not seen him before, intrigued as to how the step dancing fifth of the quintet would work. Once I’d saw Nic Gareiss in action, it quickly became obvious that my mistake was thinking about him as a dancer. Not at all – his work is about the ‘employment of the human body as a musical instrument’ or, as Alasdair put it: ‘he has musical feet’. More specifically Nic’s feet are a percussion instrument and an astonishingly versatile one at that. He studied dance in Ireland and described one teacher as saying that she would have no ‘scraping’ in her class (i.e. only crisp connections with the ground) – which he took as a challenge to incorporate scrapping into his musical repertoire. Nic’s unusual talent was as much a part of the band as the others, although for me he was too low in the mix when they were all on stage.
Everyone was back on stage for Valley of the Moon Reel. It was another example of all on stage playing their full part and the whole being an even greater, upbeat and uplifting joy. Throughout the show, but particularly on this tune, I was struck by how exciting Natalie’s Hass’s cello playing is, how completely she has made (more accurately remade) the instrument right at home in Celtic music, and how effortlessly and brilliantly she switches between playing rhythm and playing the melody. The reel’s title comes from Alasdair’s annual fiddle school in northern California which Natalie and Brittany attended when they were much younger. There was one of the loudest audience cheers of the night when Alasdair announced the tune and it seemed that a large number of alumni were present, which added to the genuine gathering/family atmosphere. The trick was repeated on The Kelburn Brewer, another excellent reel written by Alasdair, again played by the full quintet – the man who runs said brewery was also in the room!
For the first time on stage together in this combination, New World Assembly were, from the off, remarkably relaxed but had great energy when it was called for, in particular when they were all on stage together. Alasdair Fraser’s playing was superb as ever, one moment very beautiful, the next getting them rocking in the aisles. Built on the substantial and reliable foundation of the Fraser/Hass duo, making the most of the Hass/Falquet family connection and Nic Gareiss’s musical feet as the icing on the cake, they can certainly be counted as another successful collaboration on a Celtic Connections stage. Let’s hope we see more from New World Assembly.