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Reviews
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Recorded Delivery The 60s Bairns RUMCD05
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I thoroughly enjoyed The 60s Bairns’ session on Take The Floor, so it goes without saying their debut album was very high on my list of hotly anticipated new releases and I can tell you the wait was well worth it. This very tasty and classy bunch of musicians comprise Duncan Black (accordion), Ian Muir (accordion), Marie Fielding (fiddle), Dennis Morrison (piano), Brian Cruickshank (double bass) and Gordon Smith (drums).
This wonderful album really epitomises everything that’s great about Scottish dance band music and for me sums up why I love this genre so much! This is a class body of work that unquestionably deserves to be in your Scottish music collection. Recorded Delivery was recorded and engineered at Castlesound Studios by Stuart Hamilton and produced by Duncan Black and Marie Fielding. The choice of tunes and the absolutely fabulous arrangements throughout the thirteen sets are I suspect down to Duncan’s and Marie’s outstanding creativity.
The first of the thirteen tracks begins with the Elwyn’s Fairy Glen set to the tunes Niel Gow’s Farewell to Whisky followed by two Jim Johnstone tunes, Miss S.J. Marshall and The Well Wynd. There is so much to enjoy about this new recording, not least the outstanding musicianship, which is as accomplished and mature as the finest bottle of malt whisky you’re ever likely to find. The sound The 60s Bairns create has all the tasty ingredients you would expect to hear from such a top-notch band. The selection of tunes is excellent, the sets are well arranged, and there’s tons of lift and lilt, gorgeous harmonies evident throughout and soring dynamics and musical articulation that will have you soaring as high as a golden eagle. This group of Scotland’s
finest Scottish dance band musicians have definitely nailed it with this debut recording.
Some highlights worthy of note are Marie’s lovely composition called Bill Black’s Fiddle which Marie plays on Bill’s fiddle. It is a wonderful tribute to such a legendary man who did so much for Scottish traditional music during his lifetime. The feeling and sensitivity Marie delivers during this performance of one of her own compositions is both musically thought provoking and moving. Another great highlight was the band’s interpretation and presentation of A Scottish Soldier to the tune The Hills of Tyrol. This is the final and very fitting closing track on what is simply an outstanding recording.
The group clearly derive their name from all the band members being born in the 1960’s. That fact clearly had to be exploited by the CD artwork designers who have creatively included photographs of all six musicians in their younger (and formative) years, which is both an appropriate and nice touch. I’ll leave it to you to decide who’s weathered the last few decades the best! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this recording and I hope it isn’t to long before they find the road that leads them back to the recording studio. Highly recommended. l
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