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Buy Pressed For Time by Finlay MacDonald
The Long awaited 2nd bagpipes CD from Finlay Maconald this time with his big band. Featuring Finlay on bagpipes, Lowland pipes & whistles, Chris Stout - fiddle (Fiddlers' Bid), Kevin MacKenzie - guitar (Sun Honey), Fergus MacKenzie (Sun Honey), drums and percussion, Quee MacArthur - bass (Shooglenifty). The Finlay MacDonald Band are a stunning group of musicians taking trad music to new and exciting levels when they combine their jaw dropping technical mastery of the instruments with young joyful rhythms so beloved of today's trad musicians. This band in live performance catapult their fans onto the dancefloor in droves whether it be their take on brilliant Breton music or when they take master bagpiper Gordon Duncan's tune "Pressed for Time" and play it with such brilliance at the speed of an express train. Heady and exhillarating bagpipe music indeed!
There have been a lot of really good bagpipe CDs released this year (Gordon Duncan, Chris Armstrong to name two) but the Finlay MacDonald Band CD could very well be the best of the bunch
I received the CD in the mail yesterday and I can confirm that it is indeed brilliant. There have been a lot of really good bagpipe CDs released this year (Gordon Duncan, Chris Armstrong to name two) but the FMB CD could very well be the best of the bunch. Thanks Footstompin......Tom Greuling USA
.....a boldly constructed, multi-faceted alloy of folk, rock, funk, jazz and dancefloor energies
COMBINING traditional with contemporary genres, piper and whistle player Finlay MacDonald is a hotshot prospect. With fiddler Chris Stout, guitarist Kevin Mackenzie, bassist Quee Macarthur and percussionist Fergus Mackenzie, he produces a boldly constructed, multi-faceted alloy of folk, rock, funk, jazz and dancefloor energies.......the calibre of musicianship and spirit of adventure on display are certainly an enticing taster for the full-blown live impact.
MacDonald's excellent band matches his own expressive and highly musical playing...
Finlay MacDonald is part of the new breed of virtuoso young pipers who grew up within the pipe band tradition but are also pushing the instrument in new and more contemporary musical directions. MacDonald's excellent band matches his own expressive and highly musical playing on pipes and whistles with Chris stout's fiddle, Kevin macKenzie's guitar and the bass and drum team of Quee macArthur and Fergus MacKenzie. The fusion of folk with rock and jazz is heard on traditional and contemporary material, as well as a handful of tunes which draw on Eastern European styles.
...You can just tell that they must be pretty awesome live, more than worth investigating.
Bit of a corking band this one with piper and whistle player Finlay joined by Chris Stout from Salsa Celtica & Fiddlers Bid on fiddle etc, Kevin MacKenzie (guitar) & FergusMacKenzie (drums)from Sunhoney and bass player Quee MacArthur from Shooglenifty. There¹s the sense of adventure you¹d expect from musicians of that calibre with a mixture of styles but rooted in traditional. You can just tell that they must be pretty awesome live, more than worth investigating.
It takes an exceptional musician to play Pressed For Time with expression and flair: Finlay goes one better, rivalling Gordon Duncan's own performance for style and inventiveness.
Ace young piper and whistler Finlay MacDonald has already made enough of a reputation for himself to front his own band. Since his eponymous debut album, he has gathered together a group of musicians from bands like Fiddlers Bid, Ceolbeg, On this CD, named after one of Gordon Duncan's most challenging compositions, Finlay plays Highland pipes, border pipes and low whistles.
The opening track should be taken as a manifesto: three powerful reels, two of them Finlay's own, ending with a bang. This is flamboyant, full-blooded music from one of the flashest pipers around. Finlay follows them with the first of many exotic tunes, a Breton medley with full band backing: drums, bass, the works. Next it's pipe jigs reminiscent of Wolfstone, quick-fire notes streaming out from Finlay's pipes and Chris Stout's fiddle.
Before the pace becomes overwhelming, Finlay throttles back for the first of two breathtaking slow tracks. This one was inspired by a bar, and it's beautifully played on the big pipes. The other one is a very slow reel called My Mighty Friend, a description Finlay clearly merits from the way he fits his composition onto the low whistle.
Reels again, including a Duncan Johnstone tune, with plenty of the trilled high A favoured by today's pipers. A slower reel from Macedonia is next, the name left in another bar. After My Mighty Friend, it's back to the pipes for more reels at a nice swaggering pace, this time with a drum solo in the middle. Charlie McKerron's offbeat tune Bulgarian Red builds up the pace for the big finish.
The title track is an inspiring rendition of an absolutely brilliant tune. It takes an exceptional musician to play Pressed For Time with expression and flair: Finlay goes one better, rivalling Gordon Duncan's own performance for style and inventiveness. This is a suitable climax to an outstanding recording: thoroughly modern piping full of skill, energy and bags of style. A must-hear CD.
............the overall theme of the album is best summed up by a track called Happy Jigs, included because "they make us happy". A splendid sentiment wich pervades the whole collection...
............the overall theme of the album is best summed up by a track called Happy Jigs, included because "they make us happy". A splendid sentiment wich pervades the whole collection...
Customer Reviews
Pressed for Time - The Finlay MacDonald Band Mark Walker
Outstanding, absolutely outstanding! Great tunes, fantastic musicianship and a very, very tight and contemporary sound.
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