NORTHUMBRIAN MUSIC
NIGHTS
What we said about
The PIERRE SCHRYER
BAND
Musical Families at Allendale
It was a game of musical chairs, and musical families in Allendale's Village Hall last Saturday night, when the Pierre Schryer Band from Canada arrived on a return engagement and played 'Pass the Mandolin'.
The music and atmosphere don't get much friendlier than this, when musical families get together in an international celebration of traditional music native, exported, and revisited again.
Nor was Peter Tickell the youngest musician in the show. Peter's featured support spot was warmly appreciated, after an accomplished set from regular Ian Brown on guitar. And Peter's simply amplified acoustic fiddle, ringing through the changes from deeply emotive aires, harmonising strings and jumping jigs, raised applause after applause from the audience eager to hear the best work of the recent Tynedale Festival winner. The clear sentiment of the crowd was that it was a real treat to hear this startling young talent on stage.
That sentiment was echoed by Pierre, himself no slouch in the awards category, who again dedicated one of his numbers, 'Lady be good', to Peter. Indeed, Peter's setting of such a high standard for the band meant that their efforts were doubled, both to accommodate the unexpected loss of keyboardist Julie Schryer, and to prove their own worth.
That they did so was a bigger credit to the combined musicianship of the truncated trio (with Brian Pickell on guitar, and Nathan Curry on mandolin and percussion) than might be casually supposed, so enthralled was the crowd. Tunes from the Shetland Isles, from Ontario, a song from a new Prince Edward Islander aching for home, all built upon each other so that the sense of the living tradition was never far from our minds.
How far can that tradition go? We caught a glimpse of one intriguing avenue, when Pierre's partner, Mary Codvic, stepped onto the stage with a shiny new trumpet. What's this then? A trumpet? In folk music?
Incredulity turned to delight, as the music developed. As one trumpeter remarked in the interval, 'And she didn't even have the decency to get red in the face on that long sustained opening note!' But what else could one expect from a classically trained trumpeter who makes her living with a symphony orchestra?
Truly, the trumpet captivated the audience so that there was at least one man with a tear or so coursing down his face by the time the number finished, so strong, so moving was the feeling inspired by the unexpected resonance of the brass against the soft sweet strings of Pierre's fiddle. There will certainly be a big market for the release of the band's new CD, 'Acoustique' which features several trumpet and fiddle duets.
I don't know how many women sighed when Pierre turned the full force of his smile, and his brilliant fiddle in their general direction, but he certainly played his way out of the Hangman's conundrum. The evening was merely inspired after that -- with devastatingly original compositions uniquely Canadian, arrangements for trumpet and Algerian Berber tunes, nods to Mary's Ukrainian heritage, a set of Quebecois tunes to finish off, before a double encore which went bouncing along on and on and on and on in a manner reminiscent of the increasing frenzy of La Bottine Souriante, with only about a quarter of that band's number on stage.
Pleading for a return engagement, and clearly enjoying themselves as much as the audience were, the band is sure to be invited back if they promise to bring both Mary (with the anticipated youngest musician in tow!) and (third time lucky) Julie on keyboards. Next year, with a growing family of fans and musicians alike!
