Fiddle Tunes

This album's modest title reflects the pure reverence, unmitigated by contemporised showiness, with which these instrumentalists approach music from Ireland, France, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the US and their native Canada. But there's much more, including the different techniques Boeur brings to the fiddle — sliding into intonation and bouncing the bow on Irish tunes, gently romancing a valse à cinq, ornamenting a Swedish polska — and aural evidence of the historical link between Scandinavia, the Celtic countries and North America.

With Iredale-Gray partnering handsomely on fiddle or guitar, and resonant support from Robert Alan Mackie on upright bass, there's an irresistible variety of regional dance formations. The ensemble's arrangements are artful, with innovative variations on repeated melodies, and the trio of tunes for the Irish dance sets are tastefully chosen. On ‘Brureslått Rull Fra Jølster’ and ‘Nils Og Jens Og Gjeidaug’, Boeur explores moods and microtones of Norwegian folk magic on Hardanger fiddle. Much of what she and Iredale-Gray share are their recent discoveries. I can't wait for them to bring us another bounty.