Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 6 October 2011

WHILE the Peatbog Faeries fuse traditional Scottish music with dance, and Jim Sutherland’s True North Orchestra mix it with classical, The Unusual Suspects marries it to jazz.

When this works, as it did throughout the second half of this programme, it’s one of the most joyous noises you could hope to hear in a lifetime of concertgoing. Alas, in the first half the result was occasionally discordant to the extent of challenging even a jazz aficionado.

The Unusual Suspects (photo Dougie Cunningham)

It’s difficult to know why, as all previous concerts (like their Celtic Connections concert) have been catnip for this reviewer. There are always difficulties in assembling large numbers of talented musicians in one place and time for rehearsals and performances, leading to frequent changes of personnel and mitigating against the smoothness that comes from regular playing and touring.

There may have been technical difficulties in the sound department – particularly noticeable was the disparity in timbre between the two vocalists, bandleader Corrina Hewat’s voice rich and glorious while Breabach’s Ewan Robertson’s usually mellow tenor sounded harsh. Meanwhile Scott Mackay’s drums tended to overpower the complex subtleties of Donald ‘Drummy’ Hay’s percussion and, apart from one solo, it was hard to hear the always worthwhile bass of maestro Tom Lyne.

However, there was still much to treasure: Donal Brown’s dramatic pipe introduction, augmented by fellow piper Calum MacCrimmon and leading into some really interesting harmonies; solos by those fine jazz musicians Konrad Wiszniewski (sax), Colin Steele (trumpet) and Skye’s Rick Taylor (trombone); the always glorious piano work of David Milligan; the discovery that the harp really does work as a jazz instrument and that Corrina Hewat’s voice is maturing into something quite extraordinarily fine.

When, in the second half, the focus moved to fiddlers Anna Massie, Patsy Reid and Catriona Macdonald, the music blazed satisfyingly brightly and the audience responded with roof-raising cheers.

© Jennie Macfie, 2011

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