Tag: Pablo Lafuente

Levack is a man to watch and to keep an ear on. The winner of 2020’s BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year, you’ll know his sound if not necessarily his name. Currently best known as the dynamic frontman for Highland acoustic power trio, Project Smok, he is doing for pipes and whistle what Mohsen Amini, of Talisk, is doing for concertina. Furthermore, he works a vibrant duo project, Glinn, alongside guitarist, Craig Irving and has quietly amassed as impressive a run of session credits as anyone anywhere right now, courtesy his seemingly effortless to combine the tradition into more contemporary influences.

Now, it seems this recording may be another relic from the back of our editor’s sofa, being released toward the end of last year, but that shouldn’t be any hindrance to the enjoyment it piles into the grooves. To be fair, I suspect the delay may be more to allow note of the available physical formats, to include both CD and vinyl. With a crack, or should that be craic, team of cronies, these ten instrumentals cross more borders than you’d believe the low whistle and highland bagpipes should, yet always remaining convincingly true to the geography of initial inspiration. It really is that good and could not be further from any shortbread box vision of Scotland. Unless you want it to, of course.

The set opens with ‘West Coast Superstars’, a title that might easily apply to the musicians involved. Made up of two tunes, ‘MacKinnon’s Road To 50’ and ‘Douglas Fairbairn Of Tougal’, the sound is immediately immaculately textured. Over a slow ripple of Rory Matheson’s echoey electric piano, it is Levack, on low whistle who first soars. A string section sings quietly to the side of him. An electric guitar, Chas MacKenzie, begins to flicker, and a subtle rhythm section of bass and drums, courtesy Ross Saunders and Greg Barry, enters the fray, just in time for the main melody to repeat, this time with Levack adding bagpipes. A couple of bars and it accelerates into the second tune, for an exhilarating dervish whirl. Tremendous.

If that start smacks of some of the jazzier fusions that Scottish traditions have embraced over the years, ‘Marrell’ is far less frantic, the sort of mellow tunage that Duncan Chisholm excels at. Back on whistle, it is a graceful meander, with acoustic guitar from Pablo LaFuente, and electric piano providing much the additional ballast. The string section are here too, Innes Watson, Roo Geddes, Feargus Heatherington and Su-A Lee, to seal the signature with their mellow balm.

But there are still more tricks and plenty more ponies up Levack’s stylistic sleeve, as any restfulness is then swiftly extinguished by the effervescent squelch of the acid-jazz-funk of ‘Cruising’. A syncopating keyboard riff and bouncy bass underpin a further joyous hurtle into the whistlesphere, Barry clattering about his kit with glee. If ‘Tang Point Slipjig’ channels Herbie Hancock, the second tune, ‘Alex And Frankie’s’ is more The Crusaders.

That 70’s mood permeates further into ‘Chill Out, Relax And Enjoy’, which carries all the effervescent vibe of any fondly remembered stateside sitcom theme, largely courtesy Matheson’s piano rhythm. After a whistle lead, MacKenzie peels off a guitar solo of effortless cool, sticking perfectly to the mood laid down. But, should there be any worry of forgotten heritage, Levack then returns to Highland geography for the paired ‘Elaine And Enya’. His whistle play here is exquisite with little runs of trill and lilt to keep attention, before Saunders and Barry crash in for the second half, replete with adept intricacies that have you again checking the skyline for Manhattan landmarks.

By now it is clear that this is no orthodox presentation of the instrumental traditions of Levack’s homeland. With most the album fashioned over a week of intense activity, by the core trio of Levack, Matheson and Saunders jamming their souls out in Gartymore, in Sutherland, these tunes came together to deliberately stretch the parameters of how traditional music might interact with other genres. There is no one single Gaelic word for funky, this record now suggesting a need.

And never is that more so for the next tune, ‘Gudgie Funk’, a frenetic explosion of exuberance on the dance floor. The string section somehow evokes the sounds of something far brassier, alongside wah-wahing guitar and bounding keys. Chanted vocal samples add additional stylistic focus and, at a touch over two minutes, it is neither a second too long nor short. Having said, I’ll wager it’ll get more repeats than its neighbours.

It’s fair to say you might need a rest after that one, with ‘Dolina”, an air written in memory of Levack’s late paternal grandmother, providing just what you might now crave, the string section again gilding the experience. Again, this sees Levack sticking to whistle, it increasingly the way of the world and with his fellow pipers. Audiences always go bonkers for the bagpipes, but the players seem to prefer the simpler and unadorned sound of the low whistle.

Possibly the most orthodox presentation of the record comes with ‘Kenny Gillie Of Applecross’, albeit with still a hefty folk-rock ambience filtering through, as Barry demonstrates quite how and why Elephant Sessions see him as their not so secret weapon, with MacKenzie throwing a few more elegant shapes on guitar. But these boys like their funky, returning again thataway, for ‘Clashnarrow,’ the evident enjoyment of the playing obvious to all. Matheson adds a splendid piano solo that again has you checking the windows.

Nary a second divides ‘Clashnarrow’ from closer, ‘NC Reel’, as in North Coast, with it hurtling off pell mell toward the horizon, in a welter of fusion tropes and tradscensions. With the band all locked so hard into the groove, thoughts immediately turn to wondering how and when this might ever hit the road, or, indeed, whether it has. Seemingly not, and, looking to the applicable website, there seems nothing imminent, either. Sure, these guys are all busy, multi-tasking aplenty elsewhere, but the festival circuit would cry out for this calibre of performance. (Please!)

As may be apparent, I rather liked this one. Levack really is a force to be reckoned with and, with this solo release, has thrown down no small gauntlet. Maybe a few more bagpipes next time, Ali, that something he promises, but this is plenty enough to be going on with.

Seuras Og 

Artist website: www.alilevack.co.uk

The Ali Levack Big Band on Piping Live: