Review CD; Borders Pipes
Reviews
Borders Pipes
Calum Galleitch, Gordon Mooney, Chris Ormston, Chris Waite (Borders Traditions)
WHILE the renaissance of Scottish small pipes and Lowland or Border pipes is inarguably established, recordings of them playing Border repertoire remain thin on the ground. This album, produced by Fred Freeman as part of the excellent Border Traditions Series (which has already dealt with fiddle, accordion and song) is therefore particularly welcome. There is characterful piping from Calum Galleitch, Gordon Mooney, Chris Ormston and Chris Waite, with sympathetic accompaniments from the likes of Ian Anderson on bouzouki, guitar, etc), Marc Duff on bodhran and whistles, accordionist Angus Lyon and fiddler Shona Mooney.
In fact the two Mooneys are in particularly sparkling fettle here, playing together in a couple of lively Border reel and hornpipe sets, including a selection associated with the great Jamie Allen that fairly loups along. Chris Ormston opens the album and pretty well sets the tenor of it with a delicate, slow Border pipes rendering of John Anderson My Jo (with Duff on low whistle) before launching into the skeely 9/8 jig Hey Ca Through.
There's a more contemporary feel to the syncopated accordion striding alongside Chris Waite's playing (Border pipes) of two recently written tunes 17 Minutes to Midnight, by Harris Playfair, and Waite's Reel (by Andrew Waite) while a distinctly Irish-sounding whistle introduces Ormston's spare, unadorned Border air on small pipes, Chevy Chase, before providing a haunting harmony line. In fact these tunes - such as Ormston's pairing of Stumpie and Jacky Latin - are frequently interpreted in a strikingly simple yet crisp style, while Calum Galleitch is precise yet restrained in his variations on Ginglin (sic? - Ed) Geordie, gleaned from the Dixon MS.
All the tunes on this album are interpreted with consideration and flair, if perhaps occasionally erring on the side of caution - Galleitch's closing Soutars of Selkirk, for instance, manages to sound as if it's just getting underway when it finishes. All in all, though, a commendable venture, with Freeman selecting pipers, such as Mooney and Ormston, whose style on these instruments has been shaped as much by Northumbrian playing as by Highland technique.