Skyedance's Live in Spain is a wonderful album recognising the array of contributors necessary for a true Celtic sound. Recorded in concert in Madrid, Pamplona and Orense, the live sound has a real party feel about it -- a collision of fiesta and ceilidh!

The band, Skyedance, is headed by master fiddler Alasdair Fraser, and incorporates Eric Rigler on Scottish and uillean pipes, Chris Norman on flute, Paul Machlis on keyboard, percussionist Peter Maund and Mick Linden on bass. Previous Skyedance tours of Spain began to have a subtle influence on the music composed by the band, and so it seemed only right that they invite their friends to join them on this latest venture. The guest line up is impressive: Jose Manuel Tejedor on Asturian pipes, Jose Angel Hevia, the inspired inventor of the Asturian midi-bagpipes, his sometime collaborator, Basque Kepa Junkera, playing the trikitixa (a melodeon), his fellow countryman Joxan Goikoetxea playing a five-row chromatic accordion, a duo called Oreka TX, who play the txalaparta (a traditional Basque wooden percussion instrument), Galician-born singer Mercedes Peon and Mikel Laboa, making a special appearance to sing his moving love song to freedom.

Such an wealth of experience on stage could hardly fail to delight the crowds, and the adept playing of the variety of instruments also delights the listener. The album is well-balanced, the majority being foot-tapping, frenetic and infectious reels occasionally interspersed with equally welcome breathers -- particularly the balladic and haunting "Marabilla (A Wonder)." Peon, backed by Fraser on fiddle and Machlis on keyboards, gives a strong performance that has made me seek out her own CD, Isu�. In keeping with the rest of the tracks, the influence is traditional, but the composition is original, melding the cultural history with the present day. Where traditional tunes are used, the new blend of instruments used by Fraser's fellow Celts adds a new facet to familiarity.

Live in Spain comes with a photo booklet which lets the curious see the different instruments in the hands of those who have mastered them. There is an introduction by Fraser on one leaf of the three-sided CD holder, and notes accompany the photos and tune titles in the booklet. The only slightly discordant note is that, despite written assertions to the contrary by Skydance and the evident enjoyment of the music itself, the photographer seems to have invariably captured the players at moments of great concentration and solemnity!

On this album, the poetry of Gael Sorley MacLean meets the poetry expressed by Mikel Laboa in the Basque folk anthem "Txoria Txori (The Bird)." As the audience in Pamplona sing along to this, one is reminded of the great oral tradition our Celtic forebears handed down to us, along with the double-edged gifts of indomitable spirit and fierce independence. Fraser makes mention of the Catalonians, Galicians, Asturians and Basques singing in their own tongues -- the voice of the people raised in song, establishing cultural freedom. This parallels the resurgence of interest in the Celtic languages of Cornish, Welsh, Highland and Irish Gaelic and also the return of some political independence to the Welsh and the Scots. There are many parallels between the lands where Celts have passed and stayed, and this tour of Skyedance brings the best of the similar musical heritage to the fore. Here we are witness to the joy and love of fun, flinging our feet around in wild abandon, and we also witness the dark side of the Celtic nature, the brooding depths of sorrow, exquisite in its vocalisation. Both are inescapable facets of life and Live In Spain brings them together in an unforgettably spicy and evocative blend. This album can be played time and again, yet is undeniably always fresh and invigorating. Wonderful!

[ by Jenny Ivor ]
Rambles: 7 September 2002