Two comments
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“Dacent tunes one doesn’t know”
Rev Gary Hastings has written a cover note which would be hard to surpass. He begins:
“It’s powerful altogether to see musicianers rooting and plundering in the old (and new) collections like weans with new toys. It’s also powerful to hear dacent tunes one doesn’t know, instead of the nearly standardised menu that has gone the rounds too often.”
This CD has been carefully researched and it is easy to imagine Brian and Josie spending their evenings relaxing while playing their way through Roche, Petrie, Stanford, Boullier etc, occasionally lingering longer over a special tune and long-listing it for the planned CD. The subsequent short-listing must have been painful and I’ll bet there were one or two animated discussions about the final selection.
Many people bemoan the demise of the LP and its vast amount of space for sleeve notes. This
beautifully produced CD has met the problem head on with its double fold cover containing a wealth of information about each and every tune. For those with failing eyesight a magnifying glass is a useful accessory.
The tunes themselves are skilfully and immaculately played by two gifted musicians and their friends. There is wonderful lift and bounce where appropriate and haunting sensitivity at other times. It will be no surprise if many of the tunes now find their way into session lists but I seriously doubt if they will ever be played better.
If all that doesn’t convince you that the CD should be in your collection, the final clincher is the fact that you will have a rare opportunity to hear a Stroh fiddle played somewhere other than a street corner.