Hi there, Ciamar a tha sibh? We are back after the summer. My youngest is now back at the school – in his last year! Where does the time go! Anyway loads of great music for you to listen toooo! See you in September!
In 2001, concertina player, Simon Thoumire and pianist, Dave Mil- ligan released their first album to- gether, entitled ‘The Big Day’, a title that reflected the music having been recorded in a single day, due to the sudden availability of a recording studio.
‘Portraits’, however, took considerably longer, despite not having been conceived as an album in the first place. As was the case for many musicians, the pandemic forced the opportunity to create new music un- interrupted by gigs or touring. Such was the case for Simon Thoumire.
And with no real opportunities to collaborate in person, ‘Portraits’ consists of music sent to and fro between himself and Dave Milligan, each track representing a different person in Thoumire’s life.
The results can be heard across the album’s eleven impressive tracks.
Simon Thoumire was once an integral part of John Rae’s Celtic Feet, a band that were stalwarts of those early Islay Jazz festivals. His concer- tina playing is every bit as identifable today as it was over quarter of a century past.
Dave Milligan has appeared at several Islay Festivals and whose own album, ‘Momento’ was reviewed in these pages a few years past.
The collaboration between the two musicians is, to confine it to a single word, ‘seamless’. Thoumire’s more folk-oriented approach is matched, note for note, by Milligan’s jazzier feel. If nothing else, this particular album underlines that the Scottish folk/jazz experiments from John Rae, Colin Steele, Fergus McCreadie and more recently, Fraser Fifield, have a value that highlights them as more than just a passing fad or notion.
The opening track, ‘Come on, let us sway together’ was written as a Valentine’s Day present for Simon’s wife and sways as the very waltz you might hear at a village hall ceilidh.
‘Anastasia McAroe’s Waltz’, howev- er is a smidgeon more emphatic in its 3/4 swing. And, as a nostalgic reminder of Thoumire’s time with Celtic Feet, ‘King Bill’s Hornpipe’, though a con- temporary composition, brings back memories of ‘Beware the Feet’.
While not wishing to descend into clichéd ‘toe-tapping’ references, I dare anyone to listen to the en- tire album, while keeping both feet firmly planted on the floor, partic- ularly during ‘Louis DeCarlo’s 70th Birthday Strathspey’, (where Dave Milligan’s piano-playing provides one of the album’s finest moments), or ‘Misha’, a track dedicated to the Ukrainian pianist, the late Misha Alpern.
Ryan Corbett’s Slide with @carriandavid live from Norway! Check out my new album https://simonthoumire.ffm.to/findoutmore #concertina #musiclife #musicismylife #scotland #scottishmusic #thisisscotland #musicmaker #alba
Hi everyone, It’s great to be back with some more recent releases and one from 1984! All great music from Scotland I’m sure you will agree. Thanks again for listening to this podcast. We were looking at the stats the other day and you are truely listening worldwide! If you would like to support this podcast you can do so by going to http://www.patreon.com/handsupfortrad
We were very happy to make a Travelling Folk session with Anna Massie a few weeks back where we recorded and chatted about some of the tracks on our new album Portraits. Producer Emma Gryczka made a great job editing it all together complete with music from the people we have written about. You can listen to it world wide here.
In this video Simon and Dave Milligan talk about the inspiration for the tracks on our new album Portraits. You can listen to the album here https://simonthoumire.ffm.to/portraits
Janine’s Reel by the fabulous Jim Sutherland! Check out my latest album here https://simonthoumire.ffm.to/portraits #concertina #musiclife #musicismylife #scotland #scottishmusic #thisisscotland #musicmaker #alba
