Live At The Savoy

Ashley MacIsaac – fiddle
Maybelle Chisholm McQueen – piano

Recorded October 15, 2003
Linus Entertainment (Waterdown, Ontario) 270054
Engineered by Michael Wadden / Produced by Ashley MacIsaac

https://linus.labelstore.ca/releases/803057005420-live-at-the-savoy-digital-mp3.html
http://www.ashleymacisaac.com/discography?id=729

This whole album seriously cooks!

MacIsaac’s puckish wit and performer’s abandon shines through every track, and McQueen’s well-nigh legendary piano stylings always keep you guessing. For instance, I dig how Ms. Maybelle colors the fifth track when the shift from strathspeys to reels is made. What she does with “The Campbell Brothers” (especially in the B part on the first time through and in the A part on the second time through) is particularly zesty.

All of the tune titles expressed here were filled in first with the CD notes themselves, then from the listing at Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index:
http://www.cbfiddle.com/rx/rec/r233.html

Any inconsistencies with the currently linked tune names will be corrected with their proper links in a forthcoming comment.

The second tune of the first track is actually the Ador “King George IV” strathspey. – https://thesession.org/tunes/1114

The second tune of the fourth track is actually the Gmaj “Old Man and the Old Woman” reel. – https://thesession.org/tunes/4382

The third tune of the seventh track is actually the BFmaj “Newcastle” hornpipe that is also known as “Prince Albert’s.” – https://thesession.org/tunes/684

The first tune of the eighth track is actually the Gmaj “Idle Road” jig that is also known as “The Winding Road.” – https://thesession.org/tunes/4474

Here is an .ABC transcription of how MacIsaac plays the nameless Dmaj hornpipe that is the third tune in the set on the second track (between “The Boy’s Lament for His Dragon” and “Athole Brose.”)

Some of the only clues to its origin are vague titles that have been given to it on other Cape Breton recordings. On Rodney MacDonald’s album titled “Dancer’s Delight” it is called a “Traditional Mabou Strathspey,” and on Willie Kennedy’s album titled “Cape Breton Violin” it is given as “Traditional from Johnny Wilmot.”

Despite its apparent lack of a solid moniker, it has graced more than a couple of Cape Breton recordings, such as:
— Mairi Rankin’s “First Hand” (third tune on the 7th track) – https://thesession.org/recordings/794
— “Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music” by The Beatons of Mabou (second tune on the 1st track) – https://thesession.org/recordings/1214
— Ashley MacIsaac’s “Fine thank you very much” (first tune on the 4th track) – https://thesession.org/recordings/845

From Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index:
http://www.cbfiddle.com/rx/tune/t2012.html

R: strathspey
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
d>B | A<B =c2 d>B A>F | E>F G>A B<E E>B | A>B =c2 d<B A>F | (3A/A/A/A d>e f>d d>B |
A>B =c2 d<B A>F | E<F G>A B>E E<d | A<B =c>e d>B A>F | A<B d>e f>d d>A ||
d>e f<g a<b a>f | d>e (3f/f/f/a b>e e<f | d>e f>g a>b a>f | e<f d>e f>d d>A |
d>e f>g a<b a>f | d>e f>a b<e e<b | f>d e<f d<B A>F | A>B d>e f>d d>B ||
A<B =c2 d<B A>F | E>F G>A B<E E<B | A>B =c>e d<B A>F | (3A/A/A/A d>e f>d d>B |
A<B d>e d>B A>F | E<F G>A B>E B<e | A<B d<e d>B A>F | (3A/A/A/A d>e f>d d>A ||
d>e f<g a<b a>f | d>e f>a b<e e<f | d>e (3f/f/f/g a>b a>f | e<f d>e f>d f<b |
d>e f>g a>b a>f | d>e f>a b>e f<b | f>d e<b d<B A>F | (3A/A/A/A d>e f>d e<a ||