Album Review: Fiddler's Bid - All Dressed in Yellow (Hairst Blinks Music)

I'm probably the wrong reviewer for this as I'm a long term believer in the 'less is more' concept, especially when it comes to fiddles. In fact I am pretty much grounded in the opinion that one fiddle is really enough in any context. Ok, maybe two as long as they're scraping along in harmony. Don't misunderstand me, I adore hearing a fiddle on any piece of music, whether it be a jig or a reel, or whether it accompanies a good song. Jackie Oates provides a soundtrack to my life at the moment, but a roomful of fiddlers gives me a nose bleed. Combos that have variations of the word 'fiddler' in their name (Blazing Fiddles, Feast of Fiddles, Fiddler's Bid) usually make me catch up on things in the beer tent at festivals and the opening piece on ALL DRESSED IN YELLOW provides precisely the reason. The Fiddler's Bid Ode to Joy has all the correct ingredients for a good old knees up on the Shetland Islands granted, but on the ipod, in the car or here in my cluttered manspace, it cannot escape its purpose, that of a dance tune, specifically to dance to.

It might be the fact that I'm blessed with two left feet that I avoid a good deal of instrumental folk music, but I'm also endowed with great patience and therefore I was pleased to persevere with the new Fiddler's Bid album as one and a half minutes into the next piece, the fiddles suddenly stop and Fionan de Barra's guitar bursts in like clouds opening to reveal the sun. Apo Fetiar Top abandons all that Beryl Marriott type strict tempo piano stuff that should only really be heard on New Year's Eve and with the help of Catriona McKay's Hendrix-like clarsach playing, I find myself surprisingly excited once again. Yes I'm aware that those of you who have a framed picture of Ali Bain on your mantlepiece might be rosin' up your bows to throttle me with, but the less is more concept is not only present in my love of folk music but also in jazz too. The Miles Davis Quintet any day over Count Basie.

At first I thought this album was an EP with just six tracks to go on, but then most of the pieces are pretty long, none more so than the album's epic closer, the title track All Dressed in Yellow, an astonishing fifteen minute opus that includes seven pieces, that steadily builds from Simon's Wart, with its sprightly fiddle and clarsach duet, by way of some traditional Swedish music Bingsjö lilla långdans and culminating in the sublime traditional Shetland air Aa Dressed in Yallo.

There is no question that Andrew Gifford, Chris Stout, Maurice Henderson and Kevin Henderson are incredibly versatile fiddle players and that the rest of the band, Catriona McKay on clarsach and piano, bassist Jonathan Ritch and guitarist Fionan de Barra provide sterling support to what is essentially complex instrumental music, so don't be put off by my initial comments. If you like Shetland fiddle music, you will love this.