Search - Kevin Macleod :: Springwell

Springwell by Kevin Macleod

Jim Mackie | Dalkeith, Midlothian United Kingdom | 07/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a delight. Kevin Macleod obviously cares about the music he plays and the instruments he plays it with. His influences go well beyond his native Scotland. As well as the more traditional jigs and reels there are tunes from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, a Tex Mex polka and even a Hawaiian melody, all played on a collection of stringed instruments, mostly from the mandolin family and its` relatives. The Greek Bouzouki sounds as if Scottish Pipe Marches were composed for it and the National Steel Tenor Guitar puts a new slant to everything from jigs to waltzes. Add to this some wonderful guest musicians, Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn from the legendary De Dannan on fiddle and bouzouki , John Martin of the Tannahill Weavers on fiddle, Malcolm Jones of Runrig on guitar and Freeland Barbour of the Occasionals on accordion and piano and you have a CD which any fan of acoustic music would love in their collection. To quote a review from someone who really knows what he is talking about, "The opening sets of jigs and reels establish beyond any doubt Kevin Macleod's rare fluency on the mandolin, as he confidently stamps his mark on a joyous tour of (mostly) Scottish fiddle and pipe tunes. But he's also capable of capturing the stately beauty of the slower material - The Waltz from Orsa and Faeroese Waltzes coming off particularly well. The lack of a bass instrument even the grand piano is low in the mix - lends the CD a light, spacious feel that pushes the melody right to the fore, and there are many memorable ones here." Review of Springwell by Simon Mayor in Folk Roots, April 2000, page 56"