|  See
chrisstout.co.uk
also: celticconnections.com
Review by Chris Silver
The name on everybody's lips at the end of Chris Stout's
concert last Sunday was Ryan Young. This 17 year-old opened
the concert with a remarkable unaccompanied set that held
the audience entirely enthralled. The sight of this shy,
awkward schoolboy-come fiddler in front of a room full of
800 people, was perhaps one of the best illustrations of
the importance of Scotland's relatively new found ability
to train its young people in the traditional arts. Young's
overall mastery of his instrument was as consummate as any
I have heard, young or old. Thankfully he is just about
old enough to escape the albatross of 'child-prodigy' and
will no doubt be in the ranks of Scotland's fiddle playing
elite by the time he reaches 20.
Emily Smith was not really to my taste. It was a case of
all the right boxes being ticked but the overall experience
lacking. Essentially I found that despite good musicianship,
a good voice, and a good choice of tunes there was something
that I look for in folk that was missing. It was angst.
The songs, and this was particularly obvious with the self-penned
songs she played, were all a bit too shiny and nice. 'Go
to town' and another one about a 'room full of love' were
too polished and had an overdose of the feel good and not
enough of the spontaneity that I associate with a direct
emotive performance.
However her interpretation of the traditional 'Caledonia'
demonstrated how the Emily Smith approach can work, but
at the same time there was not enough grit and rawness in
her performance to make it worthwhile.
Chris Stout was as ever resplendent, and despite the numerous
projects the man has been involved in his quintet is one
of the most interesting and undoubtedly the best showcase
of his musicianship. With Fraser Fifefield on saxophone
Stout had an ideal partner to take off on brilliant improvisational
flights with. At the same time the two instruments managed
to amalgamate to a degree I had hardly thought possible,
this combined sound provided an ideal vehicle for the re-interpretation
of traditional tunes.
Stout's ability to start off with a relatively simple reel
and lightly lift it into the realms of experimentation and
back again is seamless. It creates a musical experience
that is both a thorough and unique take on the traditional,
and at one with the contemporary. At several points the
quintet are like a bunch of jazz musicians after hours,
with all the enjoyment, spontaneity, and freedom of expression
this suggests. However their music is fundamentally grounded
in the traditional and therefore the archaic problems associated
with improvisation is cancelled out. The Chris Stout Quintet
is the most groundbreaking group working in Scotland today.
<< Back to REVIEWS
page
|
