Jarlath Henderson and Ross Ainslie

Strathclyde Suite, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 17 January 2010

IT IS THREE years since the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust began raising funds to commemorate the life of a piper ranked as one of Scotland’s most innovative musicians and composers in recent times. Tunes for Gordon is the title of their annual concert held in Perth, for which new tunes are commissioned; this concert showcased the classes of 2008 and 2009, performed by members of the Treacherous Orchestra and Mairearead Green.

Mairearead’s 2008 compositions, ‘Baby Morgan’, ‘Expecting’, and ‘A House’ were first on the programme, as she was due on stage elsewhere with The Poozies almost before the last typically lyric, understated accordion note faded. John Somerville’s dramatic and poignant ‘Otherland’, showcasing both players’ formidable accordion skills, continues to impress, as do Jarlath Henderson’s trio of tunes.

Innes Watson opened for the Class of 2009, batting his complex, newly soundscaped ‘Quest of the Gentlemen of Folk Fortune’, which voyages into the open sea where traditional music meets jazz and modern classical. Edgy, brave, and very interesting.

Savage breasts were soothed by some lovely works for four flutes (composer Kevin O’Neill, Bo Jingham, Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton), accompanied by guitar and percussionist, ending on a decidedly Latin note. Duncan Lyall’s tune for Ainslie and Hutton, ‘The Eigg Men’ has already become a rousing Treacherous Orchestra staple, heavy on the pipes and all the better for it.

The eye-opener of the evening was the closing work, Adam Sutherland’s magnificent, challenging wall of sound with Arabic overtones, full of contrast, textures, extraordinary chords and time signatures. It demands repeated listening.

Support band Tyskie, last year’s Danny Kyle Awardwinners, had earlier played their equally innovative take on Sutherland’s ‘The Pig’, despite having been warned off it by the composer himself as too difficult for the clarsach. Heather Downie’s skills proved equal to the challenge, in a set which marked this very talented young trio as ones to watch.

© Jennie Macfie, 2010

Links

• Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust
• Celtic Connections
• Jennie Macfie