IT is a long-standing but insurmountable regret that Scotland’s good fortune in having three orchestras with full seasons of inventive programming and high-standard playing means that coverage of other concerts in the classical music sphere rarely matches the quantity and quality of the music-making.
Every week of the year there are chamber music performances – by the very nature by and for smaller numbers of people than can be found in the main halls of our cities – across the country, bur relatively few of them are mentioned in the pages or website of this or any other newspaper.
Broaden the definition of “chamber music” only a little, and this year’s Celtic Connections programme adds a further layer to that rich menu of activity – and one attracting a very wide audience, many of whom may not be inclined to attend a performance of a Haydn String Quartet. Chamber music is not limited to the work of dead composers, and in two events in smaller spaces at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, I heard four hugely accomplished ensembles playing contrasting styles of music that combined inspired writing with quite astonishing improvising.
The new “solo” work by Shetland fiddler Jenna Reid, previewed in Herald Arts by Rob Adams, is nothing of the sort. Expanding on her duo partnership with pianist Harris Playfair by adding the four core string players of Mr McFalls Chamber and her percussionist husband Iain Sandilands, she has created a suite of tunes for septet (gathered under the title of one of them, Working Hands), that embraces both her island tradition and personal dedications to her collaborators. Reid made the new auditorium in the RSNO Centre into her personal creation space. Its intimate acoustic was also ideal for the conspicuously non-electric sound of Toronto’s Andrew Collins Trio, as the leader of this band of virtuosi (completed by Mike Mezzatesta and James McEleney) was very swift to credit, clearly delighted that their flying-visit one-off appearance had landed in such an excellent room.
Collins and Co play music that had been branded “chamber grass”, but bluegrass is only one facet of their musical mix-up, which also included selections penned by Nick Drake and Pink Floyd, and one made famous by Louis Prima. Their brace of new albums showcase both vocal and instrumental music and are entitled, with the sort of wit that is apparent in the band-leader’s tween-song discourse, Tongue and Groove. My hope and wish is that they return soon for a longer stay.
Two days later, in the neighbouring Strathclyde Suite, came the debut of another new Scots-born chamber ensemble, this one combining musicians supported by Dutch Performing Arts with three locals: Hardeep Deerhe on tabla, jazz guitarist Graeme Stephen and the whistle and pipes of Fraser Fifield. There was groove-aplenty from the LoLanders too – no matter whose composition was on the music stand, these experience hands could mine a riff for all it was worth. This was the finest context for Fifield’s talents I have heard, and communication between him and the viola and vocals of Oene Van Geel was the igniting spark, mirrored in Deerhe’s combination with percussionist Udo Demandt, and Stephen’s lick-trading with bassist Mark Haanstra.
The good news is that band is back in June for Glasgow Jazz Festival, at which you may also be confident of hearing pianist Fergus McCreadie, one of the stars of the “30 under 30” that the festival promoted for its 30th anniversary. Tonight his trio with bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson are playing the second of two nights at Ronnie Scott’s in London, so their LoLanders support on Tuesday was by way of a warm up for that. A chamber group? With this level of communication between the musicians and such a fine flow of new compositions, there can be no argument.
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