Flourish is a good choice of title for this fine collection of fiddle tunes. It aptly describes the tasteful touches that young Boston fiddler Katie McNally adds to the repertoire to make it her own, and in its other meaning it describes what this ancient music is doing in the hands of McNally and others of her generation as they carry it forward into the future.
McNally is quite young and quite proficient. She’s been playing Celtic music since she fell in love with Irish fiddling when she was a precocious player at the age of 10. She eventually added Scottish traditions to her musical interests, including those carried forward by the musicians of Canada’s Cape Breton Ireland – not surprising given the close connections between the Boston and Cape Breton musical communities. She has studied at Tufts, the University of Glasgow and the Scottish National Piping Centre, toured with Galician piper Carlos Núñez and played in the group Childsplay. She’s also played in the duo Katie and Eric with guitarist Eric McDonald, which explains the near-telepathic communication they display in some duets on this collection.
Flourish is McNally’s first solo recording, and for it she draws on some of her friends, who are highly talented folk musicians themselves, including Cape Breton pianist Neil Pearlman, guitarist McDonald, fiddler Hanneke Cassel (who co-produced the recording with McNally), bassist Corey DiMario (Crooked Still), and cellist Ariel Friedman. The tracklist is a mix of her own compositions, traditional tunes and some covers, including a fine set by accordionist Phil Cunningham that concludes with “Leire’s Welcome To Cozac” in the unusual 5/4 time signature.
The disc has plenty of variety, which is good in a collection of fiddle tunes. She’s put her strengths right up front in the opening track, which pairs the traditional Scottish jig “Waulking Of The Fauld” with her own “Lillian’s” reel – most impressive is the transition between the two. Just as moving is her expressive playing on the traditional “Farmer’s Daughter” which gradually builds in tempo and transitions just as seamlessly to the high-stepping reel “The Glen Where The Deer Is.” Another favorite of mine is her three-tune set that starts with Charlie McKerron’s “Bruichladdich,” leaps into James Scott Skinner’s “Gladstone’s” and finishes with Katie’s “Miss Nora Berson of Newton.” Here’s a homemade video of the “Bruichladdich” suite by Katie and friends:
I particularly love the haunting tune she finishes with, a real ancient-sounding Irish number “Da Unst Bridal March,” featuring no accompaniment but the droning bowed bass of Mr. DiMario. I’d love to hear more of this kind of sparse and grand music on her future recordings – of which I’m sure there will be many. Katie McNally is quite a talent. You can like her on Facebook.
(self-released, 2013)
