Quite a few years ago when I was starting to listen to more traditional music with the intention of attempting to write about it I asked my friend Heather Rankin an important question: what is the difference between a violin and a fiddle? She responded, wisely, with, “the way you play it,” So, I was very excited to hear the Symphony Nova Scotia Maritime Fusion show that featured Cape Breton’s renowned fiddler, Ashley MacIsaac, combined with an orchestra full of people playing the violin. “What would that be like?” I wondered. The answer, obviously, is “AMAZING.” It was amazing.
The evening was set up a bit differently than most of the other Maritime Fusion shows that I have attended. Usually Symphony Nova Scotia performs two pieces of classical music that have some connection to the artist being featured, one at the very beginning of the show and one after the intermission. Here, the Symphony, conducted by Martin MacDonald, performed three: Suite of Scottish Dances (William Alwyn), Scenes from the Scottish Highlands (Granville Bantock) and The Land of the Mountain and the Flood (Hamish MacCunn). The connection to MacIsaac’s music here is obvious. The first piece conjured images for me of clans and tartan and ancient ceremonies, while the last one did feel more connected to geographic imagery, of mountains and ocean, and the hardships that can sometimes come from those specific elements. The flood is largely dramatized by the trombones, and it is beautifully vivid. The Bantock piece was interesting because it is quite obscure. It was first published in 1914 and it does feel very much like the classical version of what would have been popular folk tunes of its day.
Then, for something completely different, Scott MacMillan performed his new concerto for the electric guitar, Twelve and Change. The first time I saw MacMillan perform he was playing the acoustic guitar during one of Ashley MacIsaac’s sets during East Coast Music Week, so this pairing made inherent sense to me. He also arranged all MacIsaac’s music for this concert. Also, of course, MacIsaac is known for embracing elements of rock music, mixing genres, and using the fiddle in exciting, new, and unexpected ways, and here MacMillan was doing something very similar with the electric guitar. His concerto was like a solo rock concert with an orchestra for a backing band. I’ve never seen anything like it before! It was so cool and dynamic and really fun to watch.
Ashley MacIsaac began his set after the intermission with Miss Lyall’s Medley, a jaunty series of tunes that immediately had me tapping my toes and bouncing in my seat. Watching MacIsaac play the fiddle is an immensely theatrical experience, the energy with which he tears into the music is captivating, invigorating, and impressive. His deep passion for the music is equally apparent in slower, sadder, tunes like “Silver Wells” (James Scott Skinner), which was one of Buddy MacMaster’s favourite airs by Skinner. It’s a beautiful, lilting, sombre tune that evokes deep feelings of heartache and sorrow. He then broke into “Jean’s Reel” (Bobby MacLeod), a tune that keeps getting progressively faster, almost daring MacIsaac, and MacIsaac’s bow, to keep up with it. He followed that up with the marathon “Buddy’s Picks,” a series of tunes that were favourites of Buddy MacMaster that is so many pages MacIsaac sat down for bit, which didn’t impact the power of his playing whatsoever. One of the tunes in this set was John Morris Rankin’s “Nicole Fakoory,” composed for his first godchild, which does very much conjure up joyful imagery of a child prancing around, and the celebratory feelings surrounding the arrival of a new baby.
MacIsaac told us the story behind the writing of one of my favourite tunes, “MacDougall’s Pride,” which he wrote with Geordie Sampson, a hilarious tale that involved pizza, pot, and Howie MacDonald’s dad. I think “MacDougall’s Pride” is one of the most gorgeous fiddle tunes ever written. Every time I hear it, it hits me directly in the heart. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that this song had been passed down in Scottish fiddling families for hundreds of years. It feels that timeless and important. “Tulloch Like It Is” was another set of tunes that I could feel deep in my bones, like my ancestors were stirring somewhere inside of me.
Another of my very favourite of MacIsaac’s tunes is “Sleepy Maggie,” his duet with Mary Jane Lamond, and probably the closest anyone can get to rapping in Gaelic in the middle of a traditional tune. This song hit #29 on the US Dance Charts and #15 on the Canadian equivalent. If they didn’t play this song at raves in Halifax in the late 1990s I’ll be disappointed that the DJs missed a truly epic opportunity. Watching MacIsaac and Lamond perform this song live is mesmerizing, and I heartily recommend that everyone have this experience at least once in their lives. I love that Lamond comes out just for this one song in the whole set, but that when she leaves the stage there’s an implied microphone drop.
MacIsaac then performed a very touching tune called “My Mother,” which was especially sweet, and even took some ad hoc requests from the audience, playing a little bit of “Spoonboy,” some of the “Skye Boat Song,” and some of the very first tune he learned in his first fiddle class with Stan Chapman, which his cousin Wendy MacIsaac, and Natalie MacMaster also learned on the same day. MacIsaac told a lot of stories, all with so much humour, humility, and a great sense of pacing. I didn’t realize that he wrote an autobiography, Fiddling With Disaster: Clearing the Past (2003), now I really want to track down a copy and read it.
He then launched into the raucous “Looking Glass;” as his bow continues to fray, you do wonder if it is going to make it to the end of the set, especially when he follows “Looking Glass” up with the even more frenzied “The Devil in the Kitchen.” If that doesn’t get everyone’s hearts pumping and their souls invigorated, nothing will. Mary Jane Lamond came onstage for the encore and sang another favourite of mine, Gaelic lullaby “Ba Ba Mo Leanabh,” a beautiful way to end a wonderful evening.
Ashley MacIsaac’s show was the last of the Maritime Fusion Series of the Season, but there are still some more classical music concerts coming up, as well as a sold out Family Series show between now and May 5th, 2019. Next year, the Maritime Fusion Series features shows by Natalie MacMaster (October 4 & 5), Jeremy Dutcher (October 17), Catherine MacLellan in a Tribute to Anne Murray (April 3 & 4, 2020), Lennie Gallant (March 6 & 7, 2020), and Soul Sisters Reeny and Mahalia Smith (May 8 & 9, 2010). Ticket packages are on sale now and individual tickets go on sale August 1st, 2019. For more information, please visit this website.
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You can find Ashley MacIsaac’s music at this store for Physical CDs and Digital Downloads, on iTunes and Apple Music, and on Spotify. You can follow him on Facebook and for more information visit this website.
