ALASTAIR SAVAGE & ALICE ALLEN
Where the Good Ship Lands

According to the sleeve notes (more of which later), this double CD is to be enjoyed sat in your favourite chair with your favourite cuppa or dram. Whilst suitably positioned, you will be treated to musical explorations, combined with a history lesson, delivered with playing virtuosity from a masterful violin and cello duo.

The pairing are Alastair Savage, a classically trained, folk oriented violinist, composer and cultural historian, sharing his seventh release with cellist Alice Allen, their first such issue after nearly a decade of collaboration, reflecting their work together over that period. This comes after a particularly productive period for Alice, skipping across genres accompanying the likes of indie darlings, The Libertines and singer-songwriter Hannah Rarity, becoming a Strathspey Queen alongside Patsy Reid and debuting her own ‘Bass Culture’ work at Celtic Connections.

Across the CDs, we are taken through time and across continents, both in the musical styling, to some extent recreating a historic relationship between violin and cello, as well as in the source material, which is garnered mainly but not exclusively from Scotland, as is the inspiration for the original compositions.

The first CD has more of a focus on the past, the traditional tunes, such as the opening O Kenmure’s On And Awa’ surrounded by jigs, strathspeys and reels that represent the past masters of the forms, William Marshall, Nathaniel and Neil Gow, with links to Robbie Burns never too far away. The music then travels further afield, visiting Ireland via what has become known as O’Carolan’s Welcome and across the ocean where the violin and cello celebrate the claw hammer banjo associated with American classic Black Eyed Susie. The disc is brought to a conclusion by Railroad, a Savage piece inspired by the underground network established to help escaped slaves move towards the safety of Canada.

At the start of Disc 2, we hear a reflection by Savage on his hometown, the port of Ardrossan, and the 18th Century movement from there via Ireland on to America and the consequential mixture of melodies and instrumental styles, which leads us on to the more familiar subject of drinking, with Distillery March followed by Brewery Reel, two Savage penned tunes written to celebrate people and events linked by a common theme and a joyful feel.

The other main composing contributor to is the “Strathspey King” James Scott Skinner, represented by 7 tunes and divided between 2 tracks. The valuable, educational sleeve notes suggesting that the first two tunes combined act as an overture for the second set of five, taking us from the slow, tender air of The Flower O’ The Quern via an evocation of tumbling waters in Spey in Spate. Active later than the Gows and Marshall associated with the first disc but highly influential in Scottish traditional musical development as a consequence of his over 600 published works, plus recordings made as early as 1899.

Given the mixture of tempos across the previous nearly 90 minutes, the question then becomes, on what sort of note does the collection draw to a finish? The reflective closer is another alcohol related offering from Savage, as it describes his tradition of sipping of a whisky (presumably without an ‘e’) in an Edinburgh bar at the end of the festival, allowing him to collect his thoughts on the previous week, whilst enjoying the sight of the scurrying crowds making their way homewards. Once again, we are encouraged to take a dram of our own while we share the moment.

The seven years of musical togetherness is reflected in what I be a signature stylisation, a percussive element to their interplay that adds a further level of interest, the familiarity and virtuosity also sees them capable of swapping roles within a tune, one instrument leading with the other underpinning.

For those with knowledge of the duo, the set will act as confirmation of both their respect and love for tradition along with an inventiveness in its presentation, for the rest of us, an introduction to both a duo and a genre that bears further investigation – so be prepared for more seated comfort, along with tea and drams – and who wouldn’t want either or both of those?