By CHRIS MacKENZIE
There was a time when a Gold Medal, and a few decent results at the big events, would guarantee that the record companies would come knocking, and the piper would find themselves added to the roster of the Pipers of Distinction or World’s Greatest Pipers series of recordings. The LPs/CDs popped out regularly and the solo piping fan had an ever-expanding collection of the piping gods doing their stuff.
Those days are long gone and a true solo piping recording, i.e. one without the world and it’s auntie playing along on everything from kazoo to digeridoo, is as rare as a whisky free ceilidh. That fact alone makes the new CD from PM Stuart Liddell MBE something to be treasured. That it comes after perhaps the most annus mirabilis in piping history just piles on to its value. Yet as connoisseurs of the old piping recordings will know, those recordings may have been done by esteemed names, but ultimately, some were worthy but a little staid – for many reasons that there isn’t space to go into here. Ultimately, after a couple of listens they slowly moved to the back of the shelf. Thankfully, the last word you would use to describe this CD is staid.
Stuart has not scrimped on the tracks, and you get a full hour’s worth of music across a wide range of time signatures, including 12/8, 6/8, 3/4 and 4/4 as well as the expected MSR, hornpipes, jigs and piobaireachd. This gives the CD a very melodic and hum along feel, this is enhanced by many of the tunes being well known favourites such as The Battle of the Somme, The MacNeils of Ugadale, Father John MacMillan of Barra, Dr Flora MacAulay of Carradale, The Jig of Slurs and every jig with a bird connection you’ve ever heard off. Hum along but watch out for those little ‘Liddell’ touches that he pops in to just lift a phrase and add a hint of sparkle to it. Good tunes with added panache, that doesn’t drown the original melody, is the order of the day. Liddell’s ear for a good arrangement comes to the fore with the hornpipes set featuring the Highland Wedding and The Cameronian Rant, both as arranged by Alen Tully. This set is sheer enjoyment from start to finish, and if the playing doesn’t make you smile then you need to loosen the stays on your tweed waistcoat. As the set gets deep into the Cameronian Rant notes are coming so fast and furiously all you can do is nod along in awe and wonder. Liddell follows that set with a set of well kent jigs, Dr Flora MacAulay of Carradale, the Jig of Slurs and The Mason’s Apron as a jig. Familiar they may be, but they all get the Liddell treatment and bounce along infectiously.
The melodies keep coming with a beautifully expressed Hector the Hero, two minutes fifty-four seconds of J. Scott Skinner’s masterpiece exquisitely played. The waltzes and jig set sees Stuart’s own waltz arrangement of the Scot’s song ‘As I was kissed yestreen’ and Troy’s Wedding also as waltz, before Mark Saul’s The Stonecutter’s Phoenix jig. The Canadian Barn Dance set pairs Carradale Bay and Father John MacMillan of Barra together while the Bird Jigs has The Seagull, The Duck, The Geese in The Bog, The Skylark’s ascension, The Hen’s March and The Curlew all together in one big flock. The tunes may be feathered but there is nothing featherweight about the playing, it’s just joyous class from the first seagull’s squawk to the final cry of the curlew.
The obligatory MSR has The Duke of Roxburgh’s Farewell to the Blackmount Forest, Glentruim and The Highlanders Institute, while the piobaireachd is the Lament for Alasdair Dearg McDonnell of Glengarry which at six and a half minutes is one of the shorter tunes in the canon but it is a delightful tune and is delightfully played. One to convert the piobaireachd sceptics.
The penultimate set on the CD sums up the entire recording. Maggie Cameron gets played ‘straight’ then ‘Cape Breton’ style before the Brown Haired Maid, The Stirling Mossie and Liddell’s Fancy, flourishes abound, notes fly and as the late Terry Wogan would say ‘Skin, teeth and hair go flying’. It is infectious piping that excites every sinew, doubtless there are already some young blades trying to get this off as their party piece. Good luck to them. Liddell’s sense of fun which pervades this recording is epitomised with the ending to the set, let’s just say you wouldn’t have heard it on a World’s Greatest Pipers recording.
This is an outstanding CD, that surely ticks the piping boxes for all but the clinically dead. Those looking for a late Christmas present for a piper, or piping fan, will have to look long and hard to beat this as a gift. Those looking for a conversation starter over the turkey can discuss where this sits in the pantheon of Great Highland Bagpipe recordings. The competition for top spot can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.