J. J. Chaisson and Margie Waldrum at Agawam this past Saturday and Sunday

[Victor Maurice Faubert]

[A typographically richer and therefore more readable version of this
posting is available at
      <http://homepage.mac.com/vicmf/ne/2009/14_mar/14_mar.html>
along with photos taken at the concerts. My apologies for the lateness 
of this review—it has been a very busy week.]



In what has become an annual St. Patrick's Day tradition, J. J. Chaisson 
gave two concerts of the finest Scottish traditional music at the 
Captain Charles Leonard House [1] over the week-end. Joined by Margie 
Waldrum, of the New Jersey Celtic group "Sonas" [2], on keyboards, the 
exhilarating music delighted the audiences both days.

J. J., an extremely talented musician belonging to the well-known Bear 
River Chaisson clan on Prince Edward Island, won the 2009 Music Prince 
Edward Island [3] award for Instrumental Recording of the Year for his 
latest CD, "The Gift", released last summer. A composer as well as a 
multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, guitar, bass, piano), eight of his 
roughly thirty-six compositions to date appear on the new CD along with 
three tunes by his uncle Kevin Chaisson and one by his cousin Brent 
Chaisson. As well as a great helping of traditional Scottish tunes, 
there are a number of Cape Breton tunes composed by Dan R. MacDonald, 
Dan Hughie MacEachern, Donald Angus Beaton, Jerry Holland, J. P. 
Cormier, and Glenn Graham. J. J.'s two previous recordings, "In the 
Genes" (1997) and "Class Act" (2002), had long been favourites of mine 
so I snapped up a copy of "The Gift" last July at the Rollo Bay Fiddle 
Festival shortly after its initial release and have been enjoying its 
fine music ever since. Margie, who had never met J. J. before this 
week-end, used the recordings to familiarize herself with J.J.'s style 
and carried off both concerts with great aplomb; a previous student of 
Kolten MacDonnell's, she has become a fine  piano accompanist in the 
Cape Breton style.

J. J. opened both concerts with J. Scott Skinner's beautiful slow air, 
"The Rosebud of Allendale", often heard from Buddy MacMaster, and 
followed it with strathspeys and reels. A jig set in A minor then 
followed. Then came Dan Hughie MacEachern's "Kennedy Street March", 
followed by two strathspeys and two reels. Next came a guitar set, where 
J. J.'s flying fingers picked out on the guitar the fiddle tunes 
"Sheehan's Reel", "Princess Reel", and "Paddy on the Turnpike". 
Returning to the fiddle, J. J. next played "'Seas the Moment'", my 
favourite piece on "The Gift"; a lament written in memory of his older 
friend Charlie Campbell, like J. J. a lobster fisherman (the song's 
title is the name of Charlie's boat), who was killed while jogging by a 
drunk driver. Margie's accompaniment was especially fine, adding light 
and beauty to the darker sad tones of the fiddle--the overall effect was 
not unlike tolling bells over an organ. After a "Happy Birthday" was 
played and sung in honour of an audience member's birthday, J. J. played 
a set featuring "MacNab's Hornpipe", "Jingle Bells" ("Dashing Through 
the Snow"), and "St. Anns Reel". The first half concluded with the first 
track on "The Gift": a traditional strathspey; "Ella Rose's Reel", J. 
J.'s tune in honour of his daughter; "Karen's Reel"; and "Molly Maguire".

The second half began with another J. J. tune, "The Icing on the Cake", 
a waltz written in tribute to his wife, Julie, on their wedding day. The 
second set featured a clog and some reels. Another incredibly high-speed 
guitar set followed. Then, J. J. and Margie gave us Iain MacLachlan's 
beautiful pipe lament, "Dark Island"; again, Margie's accompaniment was 
both subtle and stunning. J. J. then launched into a blazingly fast 
"Tulloch Gorm", unaccompanied until the tempo changed to reels. J. J. 
then asked Zoë Darrow [4], who was in the audience, to join him on stage 
and he gave Margie a break by moving to the piano; Zoë played with great 
energy and vivacity a tremendous blast of fine tunes, giving J. J. as 
much of a work-out on the keyboards as he had given Margie. Margie then 
returned to the piano and the concert ended with J. J. and Zoë on dual 
fiddles playing another long set of great tunes, during which Zoë 
step-danced. A standing ovation and many Cape Breton yells greeted the 
end of the concert, forcing J. J. and Zoë to repeat with another fine 
set of tunes.

Sunday's concert was very similar to Saturday's, though J. J. played 
some different tunes and Zoë was not present and so did not play. The 
audience was also somewhat smaller--it was a gorgeous day outside--but 
no less enthusiastic over the very fine music we all enjoyed. J. J. 
invited us all to attend the 33rd Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival [5], which 
will be taking place 17-19 July of this year and features three days of 
fine traditional Scottish music and some of both Prince Edward Island's 
and Cape Breton's best players. After having a lot of fun accompanying 
J. J., Margie says she hopes to be at the festival this summer for a 
return engagement. For sure, it will be a great time!

I thank J. J. very much both for making the long trip down from Prince 
Edward Island and for his fine music; Margie for her great 
accompaniments; and Meg and Dan for hosting a superb series of house 
concerts at the Captain Charles Leonard House. Year after year, they 
provide an amazing cornucopia of live Celtic traditional music in 
Western Massachusetts and I am deeply in their debt for their dedication 
and follow-through.


[1]	<http://thecaptaincharlesleonardhouse.blogspot.com/>
[2]	<http://thecaptaincharlesleonardhouse.blogspot.com/>
[3]	<http://www.peica.ca/newsletter/article.asp?Feature=1871>
[4]	<http://www.zoedarrow.com/>
[5]	<http://www.rollobayfiddlefest.ca/>