This five-piece line-up of pipes, whistles, twin fiddles, guitar, bouzoukie and hand percussion plays a fascinating mix of Scottish traditional music with dashes of Celtic, Scandinavian, Basque, French and East European material. The ensemble playing on track 10 - the Cantrip - set is great with a particularly lovely arrangement of the poignant "I must go home to Kintail".
Media Reviews
With tracks ranging from bagpipe and guitar solos (Highland Pipe Set and All The Seasons In One Day) to several brilliantly effervescent ensemble romps, the arrangements, too, are as diverse as the calibre of musicianship is consistent.
AFTER a splendid album-launch performance at the recent Fiddle 2002 festival -- in addition to this very fine debut CD -- Edinburgh-based quintet Cantrip are certainly an outfit to watch. Fronted by fiddlers Gavin Marwick (ex-Iron Horse) and Jon Bews (also of Malinky), along with piper/whistle-player Dan Houghton, their line-up also includes percussionist Ian Willis, and Cammy Robson on guitar, bouzouki and banjo. Cantrip's unique selling point is the international mix of their material -- from Scandinavia, Brittany, eastern Europe and the Basque country as well as Scotland and Ireland -- alloyed with rhythmic nuances borrowed from funk, jazz and blues. Such is their fluency across these various traditions that there's no hint of contrivance about their sound.
"Please pass on my best wishes to "CANTRIP" for the launch of their album next week. I heard them on Travelling Folk this week. I like the arrangement they have of my tune "GOOD DRYING"...... one of the best to date."
a confident debut disc
FIDDLERS Gavin Marwick and John Bews are likely to be the most familiar names in the line-up of this new Edinburgh band.
They’re joined by piper Dan Houghton, guitarist Cammy Robson and percussionist Ian Willis on a confident debut disc.
Scottish tunes are the backbone of their material but, like most young bands these days, their reach is eclectic, taking in tunes and styles from Ireland, Brittany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Basque country and even a Yiddish wedding reel. KENNY MATHIESON, The Scotsman
..tunes played with much skill and a touch of mischief.....
Finnish, Yiddish, Swedish, Irish, Basque and Breton tunes are all grist to their mill, played with much skill and a touch of mischief - the album opening with "Whiskey, Garlic Fried Rice". The five-strong band comprises members of Malinky, Sandy Brechin Band, Iron Horse and other outfits. The varied all-instrumental music, both traditional and self-penned, is propelled by the djembe and other hand- percussion of Ian Willis and Cameron Robson's guitar, banjo and bouzoukie. The melodies jink and roll off the interweaving fiddle styles of Gavin Marwick and John Bews, and take off under the outstanding fingers and phrasing of piper Dan Houghton.
...collection of sizzling instrumentals.....
“Whiskey, Garlic, Fried Rice” is not the most likely song title to trip off the tongue of a DJ, but it does illustrate the eclectic tastes and slightly off-the-wall stance of Cantrip, a new band fronted by fiddlers Gavin Marwick and Jon Bews, aided and abetted by Dan Houghton on bagpipes and whistles, Cammy Robson with an assortment of largely guitar-derived strings, and Ian Willis on percussion. Silver, the collection of sizzling instrumentals, takes us to Hardanger in Norway, Irish graveyards, Finland – a track called “Pirsta”, meaning Silver – to Jewish weddings in Romania, dances from Brittany, and much much more. It’s nice to find a band with a twin sense of humour and entertainment so well developed. The Scots Magazine……March 2003
Compositions mix self-penned with traditional, as you might expect from such an eclectic display of musicianship. And what musicianship!
Enterprising Scottish label Footstompin' Records never lets us down! Their latest release comes from a new five-strong outfit arising from the Edinburgh session scene, Cantrip, which comprises John Bews and Gavin Marwick (fiddles), Dan Houghton (Border and Highland pipes, flutes, whistles, bouzouki), Cameron Robson (guitar, bouzouki, banjo) and Ian Willis (percussion). Names that will be familiar in other contexts too I'm sure - think Iron Horse and Sandy Brechin, while John's also ppeared on Malinky's latest album Three Ravens - so their personal credentials aren't in any doubt. Silver is a spirited and sprightly collection of tracks gathering up sources and influences ranging from trad Scottish and Irish through to Scandinavian and Breton, blended together really naturally and with buckets of wit and skill much in evidence in both the playing and the arranging. The aptness of the group name is everywhere conveyed on Cantrip's disc - it's a Scots word meaning an antic or piece of mischief, as the insert puckishly mentions in the notes to track ten. Compositions mix self-penned with traditional, as you might expect from such an eclectic display of musicianship. And what musicianship! - the weaving of the twa fiddles is a particular delight, while Ian's drumming syncopates delightfully yet fair keeps the listener's feet a-stompin', and the well-judged rhythmic and melodic input of the stringed instruments perfectly counterpoints the agile whistles and pipes. And even when the pace gets quite fast the playing's lyrical rather than frenetic. Three of the tracks are solo performances - All The Seasons In A Day pairs together two delicate guitar pieces by Cameron, while Dan's pipes provide the focus for the lament Cumha Gun Ainm and (naturally) the Highland Pipe Set. It's hard not to fall for Cantrip's infectious and individual brand of folk and roots musics.
Rendons hommage aux formations écossaises qui passent bien trop souvent
inaperçues. La pratique du fiddle là-bas y atteint des sommets de
raffinement et de richesse qu’on attribue à tort qu’aux irlandais.
Rendons hommage aux formations écossaises qui passent bien trop souvent inaperçues. La pratique du fiddle là-bas y atteint des sommets de raffinement et de richesse qu’on attribue à tort qu’aux irlandais. Stigmatisé par une scène écossaise débordante d’initiative voici Cantrip constitué par 2 superbes violonistes, John (sic.) Bews et Gavin Marvick (sic.) – ex Iron Horse — qui rivalisent très allègrement d’une surenchère de crin et de cordes, de Dan Houghton (scottish border pipes, flûte, whistles, voix, bouzouki) de Ian Willis (percussions) et de Cameron Robson (guitare, bouzouki, banjo). 12 morceaux très diversifiés où les violons 4 et 5 cordes conjuguent en canevas gracieux ou en rythmes échevelés des mélodies scandinaves, bretonnes, basques, yiddishes…mais surtout écossaises à souhait. Prodiguée à satiété la cornemuse se meut dans cet écheveau de notes avec une vivacité déconcertante. Quant à la guitare, le bouzouki, le banjo et les percussions, ils forment le cadre rythmique et mélodique d’un grand groupe en devenir à la forte personnalité. Ils seront à Lorient cette année. Disponible en France chez tous les bons disquaires........Alain Hermanstad
|