Effervescent Americana Grooves With A Scottish Tradition – Delightful

Out of Boston this enthusiastic fiddler, performer, teacher, and composer who has played for over twenty years provides remarkable Scottish music with Americana edginess and just delightful tone that reaches into your soul.

The album “Trip to Walden Pond” (the place in Concord, Massachusetts where Henry David Thoreau built his original cabin) is an inspiring magical place. From this historical environment, Hanneke Cassel takes her inspiration as well from her own heritage. The opening track “Passing Place/ Silver Special” is uplifting and filled with the musical cross-bred richness of Appalachia and its European – British – Nordic cousins. This is the purest form of folk music and these melodies are infectious. Don’t be distracted by the fact that these songs are all instrumentals — they are well-recorded and arranged. It isn’t overpowering yet it is exuberant music.

There is a generous blend of contemporary and traditional threads through every note. And Ms. Cassell is quite rousing on her instrument. Her fingers and bow become one with the wood and strings. It’s as if her veins are the strings that run down and out of her wrists and onto the neck of the fiddle. Dramatic? Yeah, a little. But accurate.

According to the press release, the music is written from personal experiences and inspired by Scottish and Cape Breton tunes. While at times Ms. Cassel is exuberant this LP is soulful, sad and filled with celebration as well. Raised in Oregon, and a Berklee graduate Ms. Cassel is a multiple award-winning fiddler who has performed and taught in many foreign countries – she is that good. Ms. Cassell has many albums to her credit since 1998.

Track 2 starts slow and pensive with piano (Dave Wiesler).“Conchas Chinas/ Walks with Yih Wen/ Simon Desilets of St. Louis” – is played wonderfully but to fully appreciate the performance you must listen to the tone of her fiddle. It’s almost as if it has a life of its own and it speaks to the listener.  Mike Block (Ms. Cassel’s husband) provides the cello, and Jeremy Kittel (viola). The interchange is all instrumental but it speaks volumes. It did for me, and I am not a big lover of instrumental music. But, I was interested.

Hard to believe human hands are even behind any of this. As for the fiddle, maybe it’s how Ms. Cassel has it prepared: it’s a Bob Childs fiddle, with a Thomas Dignan bow and D’Addario Vivo strings. (OK all you inspiring fiddlers out there, run out and buy some of these items but, don’t forget the years of practice Ms. Cassell has probably endured).

The title track sounds more than one fiddle and it’s ignited.“Trip to Walden Pond” includes performances by Block’s cello, Jeremy Kittle’s fiddle and it joins Hanneke. This is a well-arranged piece.  Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbKRKUqw9Zc

Now, some instrumental albums can be taxing since no vocal ever surfaces. But it’s the diversity of the melodies and the skill of the performers that holds the attention of the listener. You don’t have to think hard here, you just have to listen. In some ways, this is a better stress reliever than any medication or alcohol.

“Yulianna/Carley’s Glenfinnan Wedding,” sounds a little like the music a chamber orchestra or the Brodsky Quartet would do at a lawn party, or prior to a church service. The focus should be on the exquisite arrangement of instruments and the layered sounds – always giving enough air to each so their rich tones reach out without being hard on the ears. The marriage of deep cello and windy fiddle is pleasant. I could suggest spiritual but it’s more ethereal. Nothing bombastic, nothing overwrought or heavy. This could be listened to intently and appreciated and it could be unobtrusive background music that psychologically can be soothing. Excellently performed.

As I mentioned, even though they are instrumentals and can wear an average listeners ear over time an attentive ear will hear the subtle differences. “Gretl in the Garden / Artsy Smartsy Phoebe” sounds very fable-like, Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Handsel and Gretl, Mother Goose etc). I especially enjoyed the pickup in the tempo three minutes into the tune. All very fairy tale oriented, at least to my ears. It almost reminds me a little of the remarkable Stackridge instrumental off the “Pinafore Days,” album called “God Speed the Plough.” That was an intense melody with fiddles.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P91xJmWca8U

“Buddy’s Strathspey (for the Cape Breton fiddle hero Buddy MacMaster) / Horse Tigers / Golden Locks” – steps away from the fable-oriented innocent melody and sounds closer to a saloon song from the days of Charles Dickens. I have my eyes closed and I see beer-slinging, bosoms bouncing, laughter and merriment, coins falling to the wooden floor, and another era entirely. This is the magic of music because anyone who listens is going to interpret it differently – so long as it’s vivid. And the music does offer vivid images. This has energy, grit, and vinegar as it strides and skips through the speakers and up to the ceilings. Some biting notes and energetic sawing at the fiddle. This is a little more dramatic than the other selections and a welcome one. Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF1ZdyHqNxI

A little sadder in tone is track seven: “De Oppresso Liber,” (written as the CD indicates for Russell “Buddy” Rodgers and the Army 10^th Special Forces Group and for all who selfishly gave their lives for our country). This is an ideal follow up to the previous two melodies. This settles down the mood and anchors the heart. Reminds me a little of the violin style of Richard Greene (Seatrain) and how he would just sprinkle some Celtic stylings into American folk-country-Americana songs. This tune has the added luxury of the beauty of Samppa Saarinen’s Uilleanne Pipes. Absolutely lovely as the final notes on the piano conclude it. Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPw86eqtlQ

Some tunes were originals. Others were traditional with some penned by Hanneke herself as commissions to benefit Many Hopes – a children’s education nonprofit based in Kenya she supports. Musicians giving back. This is what makes this industry so special. Many don’t even know that Elvis Presley was one of the first to contribute to Danny Thomas’ Memphis hospital St Jude’s – which is a cancer/ research hospital where children go and families are never charged. That Elvis’ world-wide Hawaiian Concerts was to raise money for the Kui Lee cancer fund. Goes without saying that even George Harrison (Bangladesh) and many others did the same through their careers. But a musician like Hanneke — who is not Elvis or George Harrison — goes about her humanitarian work silently and that’s to be commended.

“The Goblin and the Mouse / The Fiddling Twin” – is fiddle accompanied by piano and the sound is immaculate. It’s a sad melody but the power in the notes is undeniable. Quite inspiring. Excellent soundtrack music for a movie. Then, about three minutes into it an acoustic guitar bridges the two songs and the pace picks up. This little example of crossbreeding melodies and instrumentation is wonderful. It’s almost as if one friend puts his or her arm around the shoulders of another, hugs them close – and they don’t care what the world thinks.

The 49-minute collection was produced by Finnish musician Antti Jarvela and features many comparable musicians whose contribution was excellent. The music was recorded in Massachusetts with additional recording in Finland. The CD art is a three panel fold out in color. Though Hanneke has her back turned on the cover it suggests “what is she looking at…” and you have to open the CD to find out. Nothing is ever revealed thoroughly until you take a closer look…or listen. So, while the music may be joyful at times, there are moments of reconciliation, mourning, and remembering. And that is how it should be.

Website:  https://www.hannekecassel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannekecassel

Music Samples are available on the Website.

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John Apice / No Depression / November 2017