Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, Monday 8 September 2003

ROBERT McFALL first put together a group made up of his string colleagues in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with the aim of taking “their” music into the kind of venues “young people” frequented. That agenda has shifted – Mr McFall’s Chamber now take largely non-classical music into classical venues, and if the Inverness crowd was typical, to not-so-young classical audiences.

The group’s celebrated eclecticism was entirely evident in this concert. They began with singer Dave Brady, violinist Robert McFall, viola player Brian Schiele and cellist Su-a Lee playing a 17th century Scottish Psalm at the back of the auditorium while lights played over the stage, populated only by instruments.

Violinist Greg Lawson, pianist Graeme McNaught, bassist Rick Standley and guest drummer James Mackintosh took the stage mid-number and took up a purely instrumental version of the tune, while the others made their way on stage. It was an emblematically unconventional start for a group who pride themselves on pushing aside established demarcations and boundaries.

Their actual music is rarely all that radical in itself, but takes on its unconventionality from context. A group of largely classical musicians playing and singing music by rock artists (Little Steven, Lowell George, Richard Thompson and King Crimson), jazz bands (Jaco Pastorius and Weather Report), and folk singers (Trevor Lucas) is not your average fare, and they do it with both conviction and skill.

Singer Dave Brady is an old folkie (he recalled playing at the Inverness Folk Festival three decades ago) turned roadie for the SCO. His robust but unsophisticated delivery and broad Yorkshire accent suited some songs better than others, and worked best on Lucas’s lusty ‘The Ballad of Ned Kelly’.

The playing was excellent throughout, as were their arrangements of music by ‘new tango’ master Astor Piazzolla (a bridge into this weekend’s concerts – see below), King Crimson (‘Discipline’, long a staple of their set), and Joe Zawinul (the elegant ‘A Remark You Made’ from the Weather Report repertoire). Raymond Scott’s jokey ‘Portafino’ provided an outlet for Su-a Lee’s skills on the musical saw, while the same composer’s high-energy ‘Powerhouse’ incorporated a quartet of kazoos.

The group conclude the first part of their Highland tour in Findhorn with this programme, then switch to an entirely different one and a modified line-up for weekend concerts, beginning with a second gig at Findhorn, then moving on the Wester Ross Festival. These concerts will feature their programme  of diverse Latin-American music, with singer Valentina Montoya-Martinez and guitarist Galo Ceron replacing Brady and Mackintosh. The latter pair will be back in action when the group returns for its October dates (see below).

Mr McFall’s Chamber will perform at the following venues:
Village Hall, Aultbea, Tuesday 9 September 2003
Universal Hall, Findhorn, Wednesday 10 September
Universal Hall, Findhorn, Friday 12 September
Village Hall, Ullapool, Saturday 13 September
Village Hall, Applecross, Sunday 14 September
Lochaber Music Club, Fort William, Monday 27 October
Village Hall, Ullapool, Tuesday 28 October
Town Hall, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Wednesday 29 October
Lionacleit Community Centre, Benbecula, Thursday 30 October

© George Mackay, 2003