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MUSIC: THE CREMATION OF SAM McGEE
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The Cremation of Sam McGee
2009 |
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Michael Marra: narration
Christine Hanson: cello
Rick Taylor: trombone
Kevin Murray: guitar, mandolin
Bruce MacGregor: fiddle
Aidan O'Rourke: fiddle
Kevin McGuire: double bass
Brian McAlpine: piano, accordion
James Mackintosh: percussion |
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Introduction
Christine emerged triumphant from a very long fistfight sporting a Pinteresque keeker applied in instalments during
her formative years. She then decided to build a cathedral and could have used film, paint or the printed word,
but she chose music and went off with Sam McGee to fight amongst the Northern Lights. She rose up twinkling from
that scrap and her work is sublime. These delights are the first of many from a great artist.
Michael Marra
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 Notes
The recording of Sam was a bit of a lock in. The album was recorded in September 2005 at Watercolour Studios, Ardgour,
which is in a fairly remote part of the West Highlands – across Loch Linnhe from Fort William. My idea being that
if we were surrounded by beautiful scenery, a wee bit isolated, living and playing together, and not distracted
by things like mobile phones and email, some really great spontaneous music would happen.
 Over four days the band and I hung out, played music, and recorded
everything. I wanted the recording of Sam to be a performance, and as close in spirit to the original gig as possible.
The tracks that you hear we got in the wee small hours – sometime around 3am. We were about to call it a night
until, on a whim, we decided to go for one more take – it was magic. Something just clicked. We could all feel
it, and it went down in a oner. When you are listening to Sam images of the High Arctic and Northern Lights may
float through your mind, but perhaps now you can also imagine the session where these eight talented and creative
musicians and I recorded The Cremation of Sam McGee. To them I am grateful for their enthusiasm and intuitive work,
which made this recording the way I always wanted it to be. Enjoy ...preferably late at night with a wee dram.
Christine
Cellist Christine Hanson's New Voices piece succeeded brilliantly, not only in bringing the poem to life but also
in taking the listener all the way across the frozen landscape. Hanson made the piece as a whole, the sort of thing
even a worn-out reviewer could have sat through happily all over again.
ROB ADAMS, The Herald, Glasgow |
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