Up In The Air
Album: Moonshine
Label: JYM
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.gavinmarwick.com/upintheair

Up In The Air was formed in the mid-1990s by fiddler Jonny Hardie and guitarist/percussionist Davy Cattanach (both of Old Blind Dogs) and fiddler Gavin Marwick (of Iron Horse). They made a pair of acclaimed albums (Up In The Air and The Blue Lamp), whose followup has been slow in coming - but Moonshine proves worth the decade-long wait. It brings the threesome together again to deliver a spirited mix of material that gives a contemporary acoustic setting to a goodly selection of traditional Scottish tunes interspersed with more recent compositions from the likes of Johnny Cunningham, Brian MacAlpine and Michael Fennie and a handful from outwith Scotland.

Whether the mood is contemplative (the gorgeous slow air Braighe Lochaill) or lively (the march-strathspey-reel set at track 3), the togetherness of the playing is exemplary - especially when the twin fiddles get together in fiery combination. You're unlikely to encounter finer performances of many of these tunes, even though one or two touches here and there don't quite come off (such as the quasi-Latin fade to Fair Fa' The Minstrel).

What sets the seal on the disc for me, however, is the inclusion of four songs amongst the tunes: three (Today, The Witch Of Findrack and Spiked Your Drink) are by Davy himself, whereas Woe Is Me comes from the pen of Peter Stott. All are performed with insight and involve some pleasing harmony work between Jonny and Davy.

The recording is clean and crisp, with ample definition and good balance, mirroring the full-bodied nature of the playing and its skill and accomplishment. The whole disc is difficult to fault, and will bring no disappointment in its broad appeal to all lovers of quality Scottish traditional music.

David Kidman