Mike Vass- Decemberwell Decade

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In December 2011, Mike Vass’s regular employment, travelling around the schools of western Scotland to provide fiddle tuition, was on hold due to the winter weather. However, that gave him a chance to make good use of his home studio, writing and recording the music that became his 2012 album, Decemberwell, a suite of compositions that helped cement his growing reputation as one of Scotland’s most innovative and accomplished composers and performers. A reputation crowned by being named Composer of the Year at the 2012 Scots Trad Music Awards.

Ten years on, he’s produced Decemberwell Decade, an album that again draws its inspiration from the ambience, events and, yes, weather associated with this time of year. But that’s pretty much where the similarity between the two albums ends. The 2012 album relied on Mike’s abilities as a multi-instrumentalist as much as his composing, with him playing all the parts, fiddles, cittern, mandolin, percussion and piano. In stark contrast, he doesn’t play at all on the 2022 album. He’s written, arranged, recorded and produced all the tracks but engaged with a team of ten outstanding musicians to perform the pieces.

On the album sleeve, Mike politely lists them in alphabetical order, but I’ll try to introduce their contributions as they appear on the album. It opens with Two Decker, its gentle intro section featuring piano from Joseph Peach, Donald Grant’s violin and guitar from Sorren MacLean. These are three well-established members of the Scottish folk scene but, equally, are known for successful and wide-ranging musical collaborations. Grant, in particular, has a penchant for inspired meanderings across the boundaries between folk fiddle and classical violin. Their instruments, along with double bass from Emma Smith and drums from Louis Abbot, provide a backbone to much of the album. As the album develops, they each also take turns in the spotlight, but, in this opening track, it is a rather less predictable instrument that first takes centre stage, the trumpet of Philip Cardwell. He played on Mike Vass’s previous album, Save His Calm, though he’s perhaps better known for his modern jazz work. The trumpet initially takes over the gentle melody line from the violin but is soon joined by the drums, and Signy Jakobsdottir’s ever-inventive percussion, picking up the pace while the trumpet becomes progressively more adventurous. This track is a perfect scene setter for the album, a multi-layered composition evoking the first of many facets of December life.

Prisms on the Dark Sea introduces a strongly percussive theme, initially from plucked double bass and pizzicato violin, building with trumpet and bowed fiddle. After a crescendo, the fade pares it back to leave just pizzicato fiddle and sharply ringing percussion, both sounds shouting “icicles”. The following track continues this theme, leaving no room for doubt with its title Getting Colder. The lead here is taken by Joseph on piano along with violin and a trumpet that at times sounds more akin to breathy shivers. The fourth track, Suspension in the Air, keeps the focus on wintry weather, led this time by Sorren’s guitar and a rhythm from Signy’s percussion that almost persuades you to start running to keep warm.

The following track changes the mood completely with a traditional Gaelic song from Mairi MacLennan, Siud Mar Chuir Mi ‘N Geamhradh Tharam a title that translates as That’s How I Spent The Winter. The accompaniment is led by Joseph’s piano and includes flute from Rura’s David Foley. A second Gaelic song is the final track of the album, a Gaelic version of Silent Night, Ciuin an Oidhch’ featuring the singer here Kathleen MacInnes. The accompaniment to both songs is restrained, leaving ample space for the lyrics. Four more instrumental tracks fit between the two songs and they reference the other most obvious feature of December life, the build-up to Christmas. As its title suggests, Levity firmly introduces the party spirit, with maybe a touch of sleigh bells, while multitracked trumpet strongly suggests a brass band carol concert.

We’re used to Mike Vass thinking big but, for Decemberwell Decade, I’m tempted to bring out a phrase I don’t think I’ve ever used in a review before and call it a tour de force. So much has been weaved into these arrangements, even after repeated listening I’ve barely scratched the surface both of the album’s structure and of the moods and emotions it evokes. For the most part, it’s the trumpet and percussion that establish the atmosphere of each instrumental track, but then the contributions of the remaining six musicians dovetail perfectly into the arrangements. Underlying these performances, of course, is the astounding musical imagination of Mike Vass. As well as composing, arranging and producing he also took charge of the album’s recording at Gloworm Studios. Recording that, naturally, had to take place during the month of December 2021. Decemberwell Decade is an absolute delight. But don’t wait to add it to your Christmas list, you’d then miss out on the best possible month to be listening to this inescapably December music.

Decemberwell Decade is released on November 18 on the Unroofed Records label.

Order Decemberwell Decade on Bandcamp: https://mikevass.bandcamp.com/album/decemberwell-decade