How do I begin talking about 12 pipers who play 12 different sets of pipes on one CD? I'll have to let you read the liner notes so you can glean the information about each set of pipes, but I can throw in a few tidbits. The pipes played were all made by the firm of Hamish & Fin Moore, a well-known company in Scotland that has served pipers well for ages.

There's an easy touch and sound to this recording -- partly, I think, because it wasn't a studio creation. The recording happened at a live concert the evening before a piping championship in Pitlochry on Oct 31, 2003.

The pipers are Fin Moore, Martyn Bennett, Iain MacInnes, Malcolm Robertson, Anna Murray, Graham Mulholland, Gary West, Gordon Duncan, Iain MacDonald, Allan MacDonald, Angus MacKenzie and Hamish Moore. Thirteen tracks appear on the CD because Martyn Bennett is featured on two -- this young piper was too ill to attend, and his contributions here are from the recording The Grand Concert of Scottish Piping. Hamish Moore salutes his "brave battle with cancer," but this well-respected musician, sadly, passed away last year. Bennett's "The Magic Flute," in particular, is brilliant.

But so are all the others. What I found on this CD is a marvelous celebration of the many pipes and styles that exist in Scottish piping. There wasn't a staid, dull moment, and each medley of tunes, which ranged from one to seven, opened like a bright sunrise on a new day.

For instance, some pipers chose to have a guest musician weave accompaniment into the tunes, and it worked really well. Fiddlers Simon Bradley, Gabe McVarish and Mairi Campbell and guitarist Malcolm Stitt each performed with a piper. I was blown away by Angus MacKenzie's set with Gabe McVarish, but if you press me to pick one favourite, I couldn't do it. Mairi Campbell and Hamish Moore's closing set was beyond heaven, marking high on the shiver register.

Another interesting feature was the singing. How can one sing and play the pipes, I asked? Mairi Campbell, Allan MacDonald and Anna Murray all do it -- and well, too -- offering a sprinkling of English and Gaelic to the celebration.

The last feature also touched my heart, and though it might not mean much to many of you, I haven't heard this happen on a commercial CD anywhere other than Cape Breton. There's a special "whoop" made when the excitement rises in the music, and there's a rhythmic tap with the heel on the ground or the floor that becomes the heartbeat of the music. The audience and the pipers on this CD do it, and I imagine it's also reminiscent of the marching tread heard when the men left for or returned from a military exercise.

Read editor Tom Knapp's enlightening take on tapping at a Celtic Colours concert in 2005. If you listen or watch closely at a Cape Breton performance, there are several foot movements by the listeners. Sometimes the knee bobs up and down but the heel doesn't touch the floor, sometimes the heel bounces sharply off the floor, sometimes the heel and toe alternate hitting the floor, and then there's the more sedate toe tap, where just the ball of the foot touches lightly on the floor.

A few of the tunes you'll hear are "The De'il in the Kitchen" with Malcolm Robertson; "Cuir I Glun Air A'Bhodach," a strapthspey and reel with Fin Moore; "Because He Was a Bonny Lad" with Iain MacInnes; "Ballincrieff" with Graham Mulholland; "Father Michael MacDonald's Silver Jubilee" with Iain MacDonald; "Drumchorrie" with Gary West; and "The Cameronian Rant" with Gordon Duncan.

To conclude, this CD is a vibrant tribute to the pipers, the pipe makers and the whole blend of Scottish culture as it's meant to be enjoyed. You absolutely can't go wrong by adding this one to the collection.

by Virginia MacIsaac
Rambles.NET
22 April 2006