Troy MacGillivray, Jake Charron, and Brent Chaisson at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston (Maine)

[Victor Maurice Faubert]

[A typographically richer and therefore more readable version of this
posting is available at
      <http://homepage.mac.com/vicmf/ne/2009/20_oct/20_oct.html>
along with photos taken during the concert.]



I had originally planned to return from Celtic Colours on Monday, 19
October, but when I learned that Troy MacGillivray would be touring in
New England this week, I decided to stay a bit longer so as to catch his
show on my way home. In fact, I had my choice of Lewiston (Tuesday),
South Carthage (Wednesday), or Unity (Thursday), all in Maine venues on
or close to my normal return route.[1] Since the weather gods in Cape
Breton were still in a funk on Tuesday morning, I left then, concluding
what had been three fantastic weeks of nearly non-stop music, great
fellowship, and vivid fall colours (though, sadly, almost completely
bereft of the sun needed to show them off to their best advantage).

It was my first time at the Franco-American Heritage Center/"Le Centre
d'Héritage Franco-Américain" [2] in Lewiston. This cultural institution
now occupies the large and beautiful St. Mary's parish church in
Lewiston's "Little Canada" that served, until the diocese closed it in
2000, both the Francophone French-Canadian immigrants, who were drawn to
and worked in the thriving mills of early 20th century Lewiston, and
their descendants. The nave has been transformed into a performance hall
with tiered comfortable seating and superb acoustics; the remainder of
the building hosts a museum, a French book and music library, and
facilities for business meetings, conferences, and family celebrations.
It was in the basement that Troy led a jam session of local musicians,
where it became obvious that the Québécois musical heritage remains
alive and well in the area.

Joining Troy on fiddle for the concert were Brent Chaisson on guitar and
Jake Charron on keyboards. I had seen Brent, a member of the Chaisson
clan in eastern Prince Edward Island, perform this and previous summers
at the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival, though not as much as I would have
liked; a multi-instrumentalist as well as a traditional composer, he has
been touring with Troy since 2004. I had not heard (nor heard of) Jake
previously: hailing from Barrie (Ontario), he has been the house
accompanist at the Canadian Old-Time Fiddle Championship in Shelburne
and has been in demand as a piano accompanist on Ontario's old-time
fiddle circuit. This evening was to show off his skills on whistles and
guitar as well as keyboards. Troy had met him while touring in Ontario
and invited him to play with him on this tour. Other than the
afternoon's sound check, it was the first time all three had played
together; even so, their professionalism and fine musicianship brought
them through this initial concert with barely a bobble.

The concert's first set began with "Take It Easy" [3] and continued with
some strathspeys and reels. The second set was of jigs, beginning with
the "Tea Gardens" [4] jig. Next came a very fine Québécois tune set,
with Brent starting on snare drum and finishing on guitar; needless to
say, this set was well received by this audience. It showed me a side of
Troy I hadn't seen before and I really hope he considers putting it on
his next CD, along with some other sets from this tradition. Troy then
moved to the keyboards to give us the lovely "Niel Gow's Lament for the
Death of his Second Wife" [5]; Jake joined Troy on whistle, adding
another dimension to the air I had not previously encountered. Troy then
launched into a right-hand-only set of Celtic tunes and wowed us with
his technical proficiency and blazing speed; halfway through, he added
his left hand and, with Brent on guitar, gave us a tour de force
performance that was breathtaking to witness and a joy to hear. Troy
then took a break, leaving Jake and Brent to play a jig set (including,
if I heard correctly, "Anna's Jig" and "The Idle Jig") on dual guitars:
fine toe-tapping music in the style of a mini guitar summit! Troy
returned to fiddle, Jake to keyboards, and Brent to guitar for a great
jig set, including one by Andrea Beaton whose name I did not get; Jake
added foot rhythm "à la québécoise" to his keyboard accompaniment and
the playing of all three was wild--it was a memorable set! The final set
of the first half was formed of tunes Jerry Holland composed; it began
with his "Old Faithful" march and continued with strathspeys and reels.
This audience knows Jerry's music well and the superbly played set was
very well received.

Troy began the second half with a set of reels played on solo fiddle.
With Jake on guitar and Brent on banjo, Troy then played a set of three
Irish reels. Next was a set from Troy's CD "Eleven", beginning with
Brent's tune "Knittin' and Drinkin'"; for this set, I think Jake was
back at the keyboards and Brent on guitar, but I do not have the
instrumentation in my notes and so may be misremembering. Troy then
returned to the keyboards and gave us a selection he had prepared and
played at the "Piano Summit" concert during this year's Celtic Colours
Festival; Jake joined in on whistle mid-set. Troy introduced this
selection as "a tune you will know"; I took it to be variations on the
"Londonderry Air" [6]. Remaining at the keyboards, Troy next gave us a
solo piano set he had also prepared and played at the "Piano Summit",
this one very different from the previous one. Most of the tunes in the
first two thirds of this set were not familiar to me, though I judged
them to be Celtic-based. The piece was a technical tour de force with a
blur of hands and fingers; while Troy's incredible playing veered from
the traditional well into what I would call Celtic jazz (Troy was in the
jazz music program at St. F. X.), a genre I don't normally much like, I
still found Troy's music quite enjoyable, though I was not unhappy when
it returned to a more traditional style to end with tunes I did know.
Returning to his fiddle, Troy then gave us, with Jake on piano and Brent
on guitar, a marvellous final traditional set beginning with Wilfred
Gillis' "Welcome to the Trossacks" [7] and ending with John Morris
Rankin's "Jack Daniels Reel" [8], during the conclusion of which Troy
step-danced while fiddling. This end of the concert was greeted with a
standing ovation and the audience insisted on another set, which the
three musicians duly gave us, choosing another one from Troy's CD
"Eleven", this time "The Road to Errogie", including Gordon MacLean's
"The Mortgage Burn" [9].

It was one *very* satisfied crowd that left the performance hall after
congratulating the musicians for the fine program they had given us.
Indeed, I was sorely tempted to stay in Maine another day to catch them
again at the Skye Theatre on Wednesday, but it was more than time that I
got back home. Anyone in driving distance of any of the remaining venues
in the tour (which continues on to Vermont, New Hampshire, and then back
to Maine: see his schedule [10] for details) should definitely take in
this show: you will encounter three very talented multi-instrumentalists
and a musical feast you will long remember!



[1]   This is no coïncidence: in order to attract larger audiences for
       the world-class talent he brings to the Skye Theatre in South
       Carthage, Phill McIntyre has initiated programs at the
       Franco-American Heritage Centre in Lewiston, at the Rangeley
       Theater in Rangeley, and at Unity College in Unity; join the
       mailing list at <http://www.necelticarts.com/> to be kept up to
       date on all of Phill's Celtic Music evangelization activities,
       which deserve everyone's full-hearted support.
[ 2]	<http://www.francoamericanheritage.org/public/>
[ 3]	<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/TA.htm#TAKE_IT_EASY>
[ 4]	<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/TE.htm#TEA_GARDENS>
[ 5] 
<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/NI.htm#NIEL_GOW'S_LAMENT_FOR_THE_DEATH_OF_HIS>
[ 6]	<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/LON_LOP.htm#LONDONDERRY_AIR>
[ 7]	<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/WEL_WEZ.htm#WELCOME_TO_THE_TROSSACKS>
[ 8]	<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/JA_JACKS.htm#JACK_DANIEL'S_REEL>
[ 9]	<http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/MORN_MOT.htm#MORTGAGE_BURN>
[10]	<http://www.troymacgillivray.com/gigs.htm>

-- 
                                                      Vic