What’s New for the 7th of August: lots of SF books and audiobooks Euro-folk, Indian classical, and some jazz, plus lots of African music jerky Jonah Hex and more!.What’s New for the 21st of August: Summer Queen SJ ‘Sooj’ Tucker including her performing ‘Ravens in the Library’, Swedish folk music, Matt Wagner’s Grendel and a wee bit more.A Kinrowan Estate story: You’re Invited to A Pig Roast.What’s New for the 4th of September: A Rivers of London novella, a Piece of Pulp gets the Film Treatment,Ice Cream, Jethro Tull’s ‘The Hunting Girl’.A Kinrowan Estate Story: Kedgeree, or Khichari You If Prefer.What’s New for the 18th of September: Our Elizabeth Bear edition, plus some de Lint on film and in comics, contemporary raga, lots of traditional fiddle music and a Bert Jansch tribute, and of course dragons and chocolate.A Kinrowan Estate story: Chasing Fireflies.What’s New for the 2nd of October: Contradance music and Arabian fuzz, William Gipson redux, military SF and horror, soul cake, and more.A Kinrowan Estate story: Staging Shakespeare.What’s New for the 16th of October: Fantasy maps, Bradbury mysteries, Middle Earth history Cajun music on film comfort foods Daredevil classical music reviews, and more.A Kinrowan Estate story: All Hallows’ Eve.What’s New for the 30th of October: Spooks galore! Stephen King, Ellen Datlow, William Gibson Halloween on screen bad Dracula Singing Bones, Metallica on cellos, scary chocolates and more.So whether you’re a traditionalist or prefer your Celtic music with some modern touches, Natalie MacMaster has put a little something for you on Yours Truly. Natalie acquits herself very well indeed with her solo break on “Danny Boy,” though. That last one is a little New-Agey for my taste, but I’ll take it over Track 7 “Danny Boy” with vocals by soft-rocker Michael McDonald. And “Mother Nature” features the chant-singing of Canadian Tom Jackson, a well-known First Nations actor and musician from Saskatchewan. “Cape Classico,” with just fiddle, piano, cello and banjo from Jens Krūger, would sound at home on a Flecktones record. It sounds to me like a stately English country dance tune on just guitar, fiddle and cello. “Farewell to Peter,” an elegy to the late Peter Jennings, ups the emotional ante. “Matt & Nat’s” is a rousing rocker with MacIsaac again on electric pipes and Keldie playing a Moog synth. A set of two reels titled “NPG” has Matt MacIsaac on pipes for the traditional element and Denis Keldie on Hammond organ for a semi-sophisticated urban feel. The opening “Volcanic Jig” starts things off with a quiet, tension-building intro laid down by Davidge on guitar and Rushad Eggleston’s cello before Natalie launches into the melody by the time it finishes, after a pensive middle section, there are drums and bass guitar and hot electric guitar riffs on the fade-out. My other favorite is the lovely “Julia’s Waltz,” which features the Belarusian Alexander Sevastian of Quarteto Gelato on accordion and Natalie Haas on cello very sweet, a little Paris, a little Petersburg, a little Cape Breton …Įlsewhere, she mixes it up a bit more. Maybe this one grabbed my ear especially because it’s just Nat on fiddle, Brad Davidge on guitar and Betty Lou Beaton on piano, just the way you’d hear it at a dance in any community hall on the cape. I don’t think of myself as a strict traditionalist, but one of my favorite selections is a traditional medley on Track 8, with two strathspeys (“Money Musk” and “The Stormont Lads”) followed by three reels, “Sally Garden,” “Colonel McBain” and “Culfadda,” all but the last traditional. She is joined by a cast of some of the biggest names in contemporary Celtic music, as well as some less well known musicians from Cape Breton with some very Nova Scotia names like Chiasson and MacIsaac. This disc is a very nice example of the whole range of MacMaster’s music, from straight traditional Cape Breton to contemporary Celtic to some flat-out rock ‘n’ reel. Mary Frances makes a brief vocal appearance in the final track, an instrumental over which Natalie thanks her fans and fellow-musicians. Yours Truly is her first release since the birth of a daughter, Mary Frances Leahy, to Nat and husband Donnell Leahy, who co-produced the album with Natalie. It doesn’t hurt that she’s very pretty, and a spunky and energetic performer. By that I mean that she is taking the traditional music of her homeland and putting a slightly modern, NPR-friendly spin on it that makes it attractive to fans of all ages. Natalie MacMaster is well on the way to becoming the Alison Krauss of Cape Breton Island.
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