Abundance

The collaboration between Alasdair Fraser, a US-based Scottish violinist and all-round fiddle music evangelist, and American cellist Natalie Haas is one of the most consistent and unusual partnerships in traditional music. This is the duo's fourth album, and it combines Fraser's lithe fiddle playing with Haas’ rounded cello sound, which together gives their strathspeys, reels, jigs and waltzes a distinctive textural depth. It is an unashamedly upbeat record of classic Scottish dance music with the occasional twist, such as the brassy climax of opening anthem medley ‘The Corrie Man’ and the Gypsy swing treatment given to strathspey and reel on ‘Hot Club d'ficosse’ in the five-part ‘Connie Suite’. Even when it comes to the duo's slower tunes, the sound is more warmly nostalgic than mournful. On ‘Farley Bridge’, by Scottish fiddler and composer Duncan Chisholm, Haas’ nimble plucked, and then bowed, rhythmic figures adds a light-touch support to the keening melody.

The subtle use of an ensemble of top American and Scottish musicians – including piano support from Hanneke Cassel, fiddle backing from Haas’ sister Brittany and splashes of mandolin and accordion – broadens the scope of the pieces chosen here, a mix of traditional tunes, Fraser compositions and covers. Fraser's pieces are some of the best on the record, including ‘The Referendum’, a feather-light tune composed to celebrate the upcoming vote on Scottish independence.