Review Music for Book 8

Music for Book 8 RSCDS

Jim Lindsay and his Scottish Dance Band

Book 8 has five strathspeys, including two which are 8x40! Doubtless because of this, no less than seven of the dances on the original LP recording by Jim Macleod were played 4 times through instead of 8 times! Jim Lindsay’s CD version solves this problem and offers a very nice set of supporting tunes for each dance. About half of these are traditional or by the old masters, whilst the dances themselves are all traditional, many recovered from 18th or early 19th century collections. The band line-up – 2 accordions, fiddle, keyboard and drums – produces a pleasing, rounded sound with strict tempo and accurate, sometimes virtuoso, playing, although it would have been nice to have more variety of texture with the main tune taken over by different instruments more often. Also we felt on occasion that the music did not match the moment in the dance, e.g. in The River Cree there is no noticeable distinction between bars 17-24 where 1s lead down the middle and up and bars 25-32 where 2s wake up and both couples leap into a lively poussette. Regarding the pace, the strathspeys are played relatively fast (though not quite as fast as on the LP version!), and the reels and jigs – including Lassie wi’ the Yellow Coatie, which is played slowly on a well-known Muriel Johnstone recording - are taken medium-pace. The strathspeys also have a very strong, driving beat (so no problem about spotting when to do the "urge"!) and some haunting renderings of the lead tunes. The two jigs are very lively (The River Cree set is particularly swinging), and one of them has an 8x16 format, useful e.g. for beginners or children. Likewise the music for Calver Lodge, being an 8x24 reel, could be useful for other dances with 24 bars. Of the remaining reels (including one hornpipe), we particularly enjoyed the set for Jessie’s Hornpipe. The pace of the music should make the recordings suitable for inexperienced dancers, especially as the quick-time dances include four with very simple figures, Calver Lodge, The River Cree, The Lass o’ Livingston, and Off She Goes. Having said that, not a single one of the Book 8 dances is on the RSCDS core list, nor do they appear to include any very popular ones. This new, extremely danceable, recording should change all that, so don’t be put off by the plain brown wrapper! Roger Picken, International Branch, and Sue Willdig, Lisbon Telheiras Group