Reviews / Yule Gadderie delivers a magical ‘full body musical massage’
I HADN’T been to Mareel in ages and was very much in the mood to enjoy some seriously tasty music, writes Carol Jamieson.
I already knew Norman [Willmore], Amy [Laurenson] and Ross [Couper] were fantastic musicians so I had no doubt it would be good. Thank you to Ragged Wood and Shetland Arts for putting the show together.
As 7.30pm came round, we all settled into our seats as Claire White glided onto the stage eliciting a cry of wonder from us all. She was wearing the most sparkly, floaty, Christmassy frock I have ever seen. The lights danced off the sequins like a reel in itself.
Always a pleasure to have Claire’s warm, personable approach to comparing. First up she welcomed to the stage Fraser Jamieson from Vidlin and George Spence from Unst. This is the third time I have seen them recently, so they are keeping themselves very busy.
To get the show moving they started off at break-neck speed with a set of reels, demonstrating clean, crisp and clear playing as well as sneaking in some Peerie Willie chords. A good use of dynamics and a beautiful guitar solo in one of the slower tunes. They finished their set with a fast and furious frenzie of notes leaving us impressed and exhausted.
It’s good to see the youth of today staying true to the standard uniform of the young Shetland male, jeans and a checked shirt. The boys have just completed the recording of an album which will be out soon.
Next up came Norman Willmore and Amy Laurenson. Related through an Unst connection, Amy is Norman’s niece. Norman has had many accolades and recently has been nominated for no less than three Scottish jazz awards including Instrumentalist of the Year. He has also been playing regularly with the Peatbog Fairies.
Having just the two players onstage enabled us to hear and appreciate Norman’s mastery of circular breathing. This allows him to play these long, long phrases in folk music which most wind players can’t attempt.
Amy has already garnered much interest with her original approach. She crafts music with tools from traditional, classical and jazz. Her first album shortlisted for Scottish Album of the Year prize and also was Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2023.
Together they demonstrated a huge range of emotions from fast and exciting to rich and beautiful with broad dynamics and sensitivity in the phrasing and melodic texture as well as imaginative and harmonically exciting arrangements.
The duo was joined by Ross Couper and played a wonderful arrangement of the Unst Bridal March using stunning and complex polyphony and harmonies (by the way, have you noticed a strong Unst theme running through the show?).
Next onto the stage was Sam Amidon. Hailing from Vermont, he now lives in London and keeps himself busy with live gigs and recording. He was on Jools Holland earlier this year and has just recorded his seventh album and a film score History of Sound. He has also played with a variety of classical musicians including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
His old-style American songs accompanied with either fiddle, banjo or guitar, were hugely entertaining and by his commitment to riffs and repetition, kept us mesmerised. The songs had a meditative effect on me; I could have listened to him for hours.
Norman joined him for one of the songs, an unusual but successful mix of sax and guitar. Norman is not afraid of dissonance which reaches a place consonance cannot go. Like scratching an itch.
Sam’s timing was remarkable. He kept a steady rhythm on his accompanying instrument while singing the songs in a very loose, rubato style. He also had a nice way of using the audience in participation while keeping a calm and relaxed atmosphere.
After the interval, Ross and Amy treated us to a selection of more tunes with interesting improvisations and rhythms spun into them, masterfully done. Ross’s energetic and fired-up presentation style kept the buzz going as we enjoyed their virtuosic playing.
Norman joined Ross next, this time playing the piano. A pure gossamer treatment of Mimmie O Sherva’s Cradle Song. Rare to hear such a perfect musical representation of the type of beautiful emotions we have toward a sleeping child. The notes were like ions dancing in the air.
Everyone was back onstage again and after we were treated to somewhat rare Shetland jigs, the musicians welcomed Claire and Yolanda to the stage for the last toe-tapping flurry.
Claire commented: “Hit wis a honour to be among some o Shetland’s finest danicht an drink in da beauty o dir fleetin, speechilly-created musical interactions. Dey wir simply magical, an a winderfil wye ta commence a saeson o gratitude an celebration”.
I couldn’t agree more.
We started on a high, we were taken to many places musically and we finished on a high. What a great night. It was like a full body musical massage and judging by the audience reaction, everyone enjoyed the evening.
