Road Soda

This collaboration between two Alaskan-born artists – fiddle player Tory Dugan and Scottish harpist Cheyenne Brown – straddles multiple styles. The traditional tunes on Road Soda derive from sources ranging from Celtic countries to Finland and Israel. While Brown's harp makes a clear link to Scottish music, Dugan's gritty, mic’ed-up violin and slurring delivery render his playing reminiscent of Didier Lockwood and other modern jazz figures. Add in a heavy-handed rhythm section – a drum kit and electric bass – and the sound shifts again to something rockier. Does it all hang together to make a whole? Occasionally. Opener ‘Eva's Polka’, with its overdubbed harp lines and brisk bass, followed by a funky fiddle solo, is an enjoyable start. Traditional Welsh tune ‘Cuckoo’ has similar character in its spark and bounce. The harp solo on final track ‘The Grey Heron’ is beautiful in its simplicity.

Other tracks spin out into more exploratory material, from grinding fiddle solos to probing, improvised ensemble playing. The overall effect is patchy and the balance is too bass-heavy throughout, setting up a clash with the gentler, high-pitched harp.