Kimberley Fraser and Troy MacGillivray Dance, at the Canadian-American Club

[Victor Maurice Faubert]

[A typographically richer and therefore more readable version of this
posting is available at
      <http://homepage.mac.com/vicmf/ne/2009/24_apr/24_apr.html>
along with photos taken at the concert.]



This past Friday, ECMA winners Kimberley Fraser [1] and Troy 
MacGillivray [2] played for a dance at the Canadian-American Club [3] in 
Boston. This was not the regular Cape Breton dance, which is held there 
on the second Saturday of each non-summer month, but an extra one added 
to take advantage of Troy's presence in the area and held on Friday 
rather than Saturday in order to fit in other venues over the week-end. 
Since both Kimberley and Troy are as talented on the piano as on the 
fiddle, they switched between the instruments as the evening progressed. 
The crowd, alas, was small, with from thirty to forty people, several of 
whom, given the regular Friday night playing session with Ludger Lefort 
taking place concurrently downstairs, came and went as the evening 
progressed. And there were not many dancers--only three Inverness sets 
were danced during the entire evening and there were no step-dancers, 
though there were several couples dancing for the waltzes that were also 
played at various points during the evening. With such gifted players as 
Kimberley and Troy, it was clear that most were there, as was I, for an 
evening of the very best Cape Breton music.

And that is precisely what Kimberley and Troy delivered, in spades! Troy 
opened on fiddle with Kimberley on keyboards playing two fairly short 
sets, the second one of jigs. Kimberley then took over the fiddle and 
Troy the keyboards and played three very long sets during the next 
thirty minutes, giving us a selection of the great tunes in the Cape 
Breton repertoire, whose names, alas, I do not know even though I've 
heard them hundreds of times. Troy's keyboard accompaniments were 
absolutely spot on, during these sets and throughout the evening, with 
subtle sequences of treble notes, occasionally doubling the melody but 
usually adding beautiful counterpoint to it, inserted from time to time 
into the rollicking rhythmic stream of notes that so beautifully 
undergirds the fiddle in the hands of the best piano accompanists in 
this style. These perfectly unobtrusive but enchantingly distinctive and 
delightfully decorative fillips detracted in no way from the tunes 
themselves--one had to listen very closely to even detect them--but they 
greatly added to my enjoyment of Kimberley's beautiful fiddle playing.

After switching again, with Troy now on fiddle, dancers took the floor 
for the first Inverness set of the evening. There were only five couples 
in the first figure, but three more were added for the second and third 
figures. They clearly enjoyed themselves and it was great to see folks 
of all ages on the floor together, as one sees in the family dances in 
Cape Breton. After a waltz and a gorgeously played jig set, Troy and 
Kimberley again switched places. Another group of dancers then took to 
the floor for a second Inverness set, dancing this time to Kimberley's 
fiddle. After the dance had ended, Kimberley launched into another set 
of great fiddle tunes, even longer than those she had played earlier. 
There could have been no one there whose toes were not tapping to this 
superb music. She followed with Jerry Holland's waltz "In Memory of 
Herbie MacLeod". And then came another attempt to coax dancers back to 
the floor: she played at least five jigs to no takers, so she changed 
tempo into several strathspeys and continued with several more reels, 
with a number of key changes to heighten the musical excitement. It was 
an amazing tour de force indeed, with lilt and drive and gorgeous 
sonorities from her fiddle throughout, matched by Troy's marvellous 
accompaniments.

Troy then took over the fiddle once again and played a set of jigs to 
still no takers, though by the end of this set, one determined couple 
was on the floor soliciting others to join them. By the end of that set, 
they were still there. Troy then started another set of jigs and this 
time seven more couples came out on the floor for the third and final 
Inverness set of the evening; a ninth couple joined the dance at the 
second figure. After another waltz, with a gorgeous piano accompaniment 
from Kimberley, Troy played a set consisting of the "Trumpet Hornpipe", 
J. Scott Skinner's "Madam Neruda", and his "James D. Law Reel" [4] 
Troy's fiddle playing is as masterful as his keyboard accompaniment and 
always a joy to hear; his rock-solid rhythm, drive, and phrasing make 
him a widely sought-after dance player, but hearing him in concert mode 
is an especial delight.

By then, it was eleven and Troy took a break, inviting Doug Lamey [5] to 
the stage while Kimberley continued on keyboards. Doug gave us a 
beautifully played set consisting of an air, strathspeys, and reels. A 
second long set, including the "Wedding Reel", [6] was equally 
impressive. Kimberley then left the stage for a break. With an empty 
bench at the keyboards, Doug launched into a third set: I am not much 
enamoured of solo fiddle, but I found Doug's unaccompanied playing 
absolutely gorgeous and compelling, a feat few players can accomplish 
for me. Troy returned to the stage halfway through and beautifully 
embellished Doug's fine playing. Doug is certainly more than able to 
hold his own in this august company.

Kimberley then picked up the fiddle, with Troy remaining on keyboards, 
and gave us another long set, starting with a gorgeously phrased and 
beautifully played slow air followed by strathspeys, including "Devil in 
the Kitchen", [7] and finishing with reels, all superbly played on both 
instruments. Another great set of strathspeys and reels followed. I had 
earlier requested that Kimberley play "Aberdeen", the beautiful air 
which I first heard on track six of her "Falling on New Ground" CD, so 
she finished the evening with a stunning rendition of that gorgeous 
tune; the tone she got out of her fiddle sounded at times like a cello 
or viola and the phrasing was perfection itself. It was an incredible 
finish to a wonderful evening of the very best Cape Breton music.



[1]	<http://kimberleyfraser.com/>
[2]	<http://www.troymacgillivray.com/>
[3]	<http://www.canamclubofboston.com/>
[4]   	I am indebted to Marcia Palmeter for these tune names.
[5]	<http://www.douglamey.com/>
[6]   	I again owe this tune name to Marcia Palmeter.
[7]   	This tune name identification is again from Marcia Palmeter.