A New Musical Project

I have been playing more these days, learning new tunes... sometimes I do not practice for weeks, but these days I am learning a new repertoire for concertina, Scottish small pipes, Northumbrian Small pipes and Spanish gaita. This increase in playing could be because of a new project I have started with a Spanish fiddler called Alba. She lives in Madrid and we have decided to play together and start performing in public. We have known each other now for a few years and have a repertoire already, so it is a case of finalizing it and practicing. 

We are playing familiar and unfamiliar tunes from Northern Spain and the Scottish and English Borders... some from Ireland too. But we hope we are “highlighting” our musical “accents” not copying a style but interpreting the music in our own way...  using our musical culture and nationality/s to change the melody... to add and take away something.

I am playing Spanish melodies in a Border/Northumbria style... (we are limiting ourselves to areas such as Galicia, Zamora, Asturias, Basque, Catalonia, Mallorca...) and Alba is playing Northumbrian/Scottish Border melodies in a Spanish style... so a jig is not really a jig and a jota is not really a jota... the Irish melodies are not played in an “Irish style”, but something “foreign” to both of us!

It is an interesting project, finding a name, exploring the music and trying to practicing while we are in our own countries and meeting when we can... but we hope by spring 2015 we will be ready and performing live.

We have a set list worked out and it is an interesting mix of music, this list will probably change as time progresses so it is interesting to record it for now:

Zontzico / Morfa Rhuddlan (Basque/Welsh)

Old Drops of Brandy (Borders)

O’Carolyn Set (Irish)

Alloa House / Romances (Scottish/Zamora)

Mr. Prestons Hornpipe (Borders)

Sir John Fenwicks (Northumbrian)

Newmarket Races (Northumbrian)

Jackey Layton (Northumbrian)

Ann Thou Were My Ain Thing (Borders)

Autumn Child / Rights of Man / Proudlock’s Hornpipe (Irish)

Morigana in Spain / Welcome to Vigo / The Spanish Cloak (Northumbrian/Scottish/Irish)

Redondela / Saddle the Pony (Galician/Irish)

Noble Squire Dacre / Go to Bewick Johnny (Northumbrian)

Basque melody / Roxburgh Castle / Hesleyside Reel (Basque/Northumbrian)

Bollero de St. Maria / Zamora Melody (Mallorca/Zamora)

Galician Melody / Frisky (Galicia/Northumbria)

Highland Laddie (Borders)

Loch Ryan / Bonny Millar (Scottish Highland/Borders)

This probably needs more Spanish melodies... or to take away a few UK melodies ... early days yet !!

The instruments will vary also, Alba plays violin and a Baroque violin, this depends if I am playing concertina (440c) or Northumbrian Small pipes (415c)...