Brìghde Chaimbeul – The Reeling
River Lea – 18 January 2019
Brìghde Chaimbeul, from Skye, is a virtuoso on the Scottish smallpipes, and it might initially come as something of a surprise that her debut album has come out on the new River Lea label (which released Lisa O’Neill’s fantastic Heard A Long Gone Song album towards the end of last year). But look closer, and you’ll find it perfectly in keeping with the label’s mission statement – River Lea is “dedicated to releasing beautiful and strange music from Britain, Ireland and beyond”. So it’s clearly not just another mere (ha!) demonstration of instrumental prowess from a promising new talent captured in the studio by a decent engineer and producer. It’s all of those things, of course – except for the studio handle – and actually very much more.
The Reeling was recorded live without overdubs in the historic East Church in Cromarty on the Black Isle, and – fittingly – fairly “reels” with the ambience of the location, most especially on the opening track O Chiadain An Lo, which opens with what amounts to a preface played on an ancient, slightly creaky harmonium that Brìghde found in the church by happenstance. The primordial timbre of this instrument really suits this stately tune (somewhat reminiscent of a pibroch, and whose title translates as “the recollection of that day”), which Brìghde has sourced from the 1784 Patrick MacDonald Collection of Highland/Gaelic tunes. The entry of the smallpipes, when it comes, then seems for all the world the most natural sound to follow and develop the melody.
Lau’s Aidan O’Rourke is the man responsible for the thoughtful production of the album, enlisting engineer Iain Hutchison to capture the special sonic qualities of the occasion, both of Brìghde’s smallpipes themselves and of the surroundings. Brìghde has worked closely with Aidan, drawing on his expertise and vision while herself devising a completely new way of arranging for pipe music that emphasises the rich textural drones of the smallpipes; the instrument’s very constancy of sound imparts a trance-like quality to the tunes entirely in keeping with their provenance. These aspects, of course, are squarely within Aidan’s province (through his award-winning work with Lau, several crucial solo ventures including An Tobar and 365 and countless other collaborations he’s proved himself a consummate master of progressive and experimental fusion, and is widely acclaimed for his adventurous and innovative presentation of musical ideas and textures).
Brìghde credits her own initial inspiration for taking up the pipes to veteran piper and pioneer of canntaireachd (a phonetic singing tradition used for teaching pipe tunes) Rona Lightfoot, whom she heard play (this was at age four – she began studying the instrument only three years later!). It’s only right, then, that Rona can be heard guesting on The Reeling (she chants the canntaireachd on three tracks). Also making supportive and spirited contributions are Lankum’s Radie Peat (concertina on three tracks) and Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle on three). The disc’s sequence is well managed, with no key clashes and a good balance of tempos. The repertoire includes Gur Bòidheach Nighean Donn Mo Chridhe and two other tunes derived from old Gaelic songs, while the traditional puirt a beul is represented by another take on Ruidhle Mo Nighean Donn and there are dance compositions by Archie Lindsay and Donald MacLeod. The lively Harris Dance also comes from the aforementioned Patrick MacDonald collection, while the medley containing the CD’s title tune is a standout, perhaps the most “present” selection in terms of pure, vital energy and ensemble craic. Aside from the exceptional playing of Brìghde herself, another distinctive feature of this disc is the inclusion of a number of Bulgarian tunes; Brìghde’s decision to perform and record these is clearly a direct result of her visit to that country in March 2017 and the impression its exhilarating and strange folk music, and in particular its kaba gaida piping tradition, made on her. Throughout the disc, Brìghde is pointing us to the deep-rooted commonality between on one hand the piping/Gaelic song/canntaireachd and on the other hand the global connections of piping, and the result is invariably most stimulating.
Although this CD’s release just under a month ago was marked by a concert at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival preceded by an appearance at that festival’s opening gala night, the disc will form a more permanent experience that will prove every bit as special in its own atmospheric way.
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