Judith Gennett wrote this review.
Six Strings North Of The Border is an instrumental collection of tunes from Canadian guitarists. Often record companies compile showcases of their own artist, but some of the guitarists here record via Borealis and some don’t. All the selections are good, and range from Celtic to World Fusion to Old Time, plenty of variety: something for everyone. There is one track not previously released, Rick Fielding’s “Hesitation Rag.”
I got a guitar with Green Stamps as a teenager, tried to play it like a zither for a couple days, put it in the closet, and started banging on the piano again. There are two ways to go from that sentence, and one is that I’m not a guitar expert. The second is that I looked in the E-Z play manual and asked “But where are the NOTES?” Well, there are plenty of notes on this recording, not so many chords and a lot of good musicianship.
Two tunes from the Maritimes that stand out, particularly for those of us who are familiar with the more haunting structured tunes of Celtic music, are Jean Hewson’s “Scotty MacMillan’s G Minor Jig” and J.P. Cormier’s “The Mathematician/Sleepy Maggie.” “Scotty” is an odd tune with surprise notes… I guess they don’t call it G minor for nothing. “The Mathematician,” with a kick of nuevo acoustic in it, is just stunningly quick and all over the place… and its amazing how Cormier can accompany himself on fiddle without a bow.
An odd disappointment on Six Strings is the Thomas Handy Trio’s “Spring.” Handy uses the guitar in conjunction with tabla and violin (via Oliver Schroer) to play Indian fusion. It’s great as long as the trio stays focused (about 30 seconds) but this plan is superseded by nine and a half minutes of ethno-jazz noodling. A listener might ask “Is that still on?” But for the most part, the other tracks, chosen by the artist for concentration and by the Borealis label as cream, float to the top via a well-marked path. Most of the playing is intricate, without the stark airs one might hear on a fiddle compilation. Quite a few of the tracks are Celtic, like Gordie Sampson’s “The Black Jig,” Jason Fowler’s easily recognizable “Shi Big, Shi Mhor,” or Stephen Fearing’s Martin Carthy tribute “Martin’s.” Of the rest, Don Ross’ perky lite jazz-bluesy “Three Hands” is one of the better tunes, and amazing because three hands seem to be needed to play so many parts. David Essig’s “Berkley Springs” is a slow contemporary tune with traditional roots and a strong theme. And it is interesting that Eve Goldberg can play banjo at the same time on “Watermelon Sorbet.”
By the by, Michael Wrycraft was nominated for a Juno for album design, and the cover would also be appropriate as a wall hanging.
(Borealis, 2000)
