My familiarity with Canadian fiddlers runs mostly toward the East Coast, with a few notable exceptions. Add to the latter group a British Columbia musician who has recently come to my attention: Jocelyn Pettit, who recently released her third CD, Wind Rose.

Pettit is a fiddler, singer and step-dancer. For this recording, she split her efforts between British Columbia and Glasgow, Scotland.

Most of the tracks on this album are original Pettit compositions. There's only one traditional tune -- "The Contradiction" -- and several covers by familiar names in the Celtic music world: Dougie MacLean, Dan R. MacDonald, Phil Cunningham, Kate McGarrigle, Ed Reavy and Loreena McKennitt among them.

Her fiddle is deftly handled, a joy to hear throughout the album. Here and there, she also plays pieds and guitar, and she sings. The expert arrangements feature piano, guitar, whistles, cello, bass and various percussion, including bodhran.

She definitely builds a Cape Breton vibe on the appropriately named "Kitchen Ceilidh," featuring tunes by MacDonald, Bobby MacLeod and Cunningham (the latter of whom, while not a Cape Breton native, has visited enough to qualify for some sort of citizenship), as well as the later track "Mrs. Jamieson's Melody," which includes Pettit's original composition. Most of the tracks are measured, even stately, and her performance is flowing and precise.

Our first taste of Pettit's vocals comes on track 3, MacLean's "Ready for the Storm." Her voice is lovely, mellow and sweet, as she further demonstrates on McGarrigle's "Cheminant a la Ville," a French song from the Quebecois tradition, and McKennitt's "Never-Ending Road."

Wind Rose is a fine album. Check it out!

Note: At the time of this writing, Wind Rose is not available on Amazon in the U.S. or Canada. Visit Pettit's website (link below) to order from her directly.

[ visit Jocelyn Pettit's website ]