reviews •

Compass • Root2

Compass and Root2
Stewart Hardy and Frank McLaughlin

A tasty pair of releases from an inspired duo, Compass offers a polished studio set with attendant layering of sound, guest musicians and even a touch of subtle electronic whizzery - though generally not so much as to frighten the sheep - whilst Root2 strips things back to the bare bones of fiddle, guitar and Scottish smallpipes.

Hardy has built up an enviable international reputation for his fiddle playing, venturing easily across genre boundaries, as beautifully exemplified in the Balkan twists of ‘Mwche’ and the Middle Eastern flavour of ‘Angus Dei’ on Compass, though drawing mainly on the traditions of Scotland and the North East of England here.

McLaughlin, too, is no slouch, having previously brought his considerable skills on pipes and guitar to bear on compendious projects focusing on the songs of Burns and Tannahill. The studio work, as rich in atmosphere as in melody, displays why they are in such demand for television: close your eyes and the pictures appear.

Lush soundscapes abound but, and I’m first to admit it’s probably the die-hard traddie in me as much as the music itself, Root2 has a more direct line to the heart. The one tune common to both albums, ‘Joy Together’, steps altogether more lightly in its fresher guitar and fiddle arrangement and sets the tone for the easy yet never complacent interplay between these fine musicians.

Whether drawing from the Scottish and Irish piping repertoire, from Tyneside’s rich heritage of tunes, or forging their own compositions from these traditions, Hardy and McLaughlin show themselves to be players of immense empathy and spirit.

Oz Hardwick

Ropt2
Stewart Hardy and Frank McLaughlin

North-East England fiddler Stewart Hardy and Scots guitarist and piper Frank McLaughlin take an unhurried yet masterly approach in this sweet-sounding album of traditional and self-composed tunes. Hardy's fiddle sings in airs such as Bonnie Dundee, while he takes an agile and affectionate delve into the great Irish tune book in Sgt Early's No 1, and does indeed root himself back in his heartland with skittering tunes associated with the Tyneside hornpipe King James Hill. McLaughlin's guitar can chime with a delicacy reminiscent of Tony McManus, or work up powerful drive, while his small pipes sound crisp melodies around which Hardy's fiddle twines, as in the lovely development of a stark tuning phrase in Pig and Hannahs. There are some distinctly continental echoes in The Pilgrim's Way or the jaunty Clarology, while Long Wait has a stately, early music feel to it. The pair's sinuous lightness of touch and sense of enjoyment is a lesson for some of our more determinedly iconoclastic young players.

Jim Gilchrist

Ropt2
Stewart Hardy and Frank McLaughlin

The instrumental pairing of Stewart Hardy and Frank McLaughlin is one of traditional music’s great examples of cross-Border co-operation. Hardy is based in the northeast of England, although his fiddle playing on the Earl Grey strathspey here could place him as an Aberdeenshire native, and guitarist and piper McLaughlin lives in Edinburgh. When they get together, however, each belongs wherever the music takes them, be it in The Pilgrim’s Way’s Spanish dance steps or in the brilliantly mobile Irish set that culminates with Paddy Fahey’s Reel. Hardy brings a terrific range of colourful expression to his playing, from the gentle, poignant lilt of his slow airs, through the slippery hornpipe bowing that lights up The Locomotive and the swooping, steely poise of his own Thunderfoot, and McLaughlin is both an imaginative accompanist and an assured tunesmith, often transferring his piper’s phrasing to the guitar strings. All in all, Root2 is a treasure chest of traditional music making, with every listen revealing new riches.

Rob Adams