The Long Road & The Far Horizons (2014)

Gavin Marwick (double album)

Price inc P&P

 

CD 1
01. Firedance Parts 1&2
02. Roy Marchbanks/ Vodka/ Leo McCann's
03. Balkan Red
04. Dusk
05. The Minotaur/ The Scented Grove
06. The Pyrenean Jig/ Carmen Esperanza/ Il Conto/ Roberto Es Tu Tio
07. Desert Reel
08. Samarkand/ The Plate Smasher
09. October
10. Kenny MacEwan's/ The Oak Wood/ The Long Road
11. The Breadalbane Reel/ Queen Maeve/ The Perthshire Races
12. Marstein/ Lammermuir
13. Joel Turk's/ Salamander/ Grey Smoke From The Mountains

CD 2
01. Horse and Rider/ The Underdogs/ Left At Werewolf
02. The Valley Of Stairs/ Rêves De St Chartier
03. Davidson The Luthier 1
04. Lowrey's/ The Handsome Wave/ The Fly Half/ Jig For James
05. Between An Stac And Roisbhein
06. The Foot Of Ben Newe/ Carronvale/ The Loose Cannon/ The Oman Highland Games
07. The Concert Hall
08. Tullibardine Braes/ Victorian Values/ Findo Gask/ Back In Forth
09. St Christophe/ Along The Coast Of Norway/ The Jar Of Olives
10. The Granton Backstep/ The Second Granton Backstep
11. Out Of The East
12. Tune For Peter/ Le Courégant/ Madame Jeanette's/ The Jack Of Clubs/ Morag's No.2 
13. Davidson The Luthier 2
14. Pallbearers

 

‘Gavin Marwick is a fiddle player composer from Edinburgh. He has performed at hundreds of festivals and concerts all over the world, in numerous bands including Bellevue Rendezvous, Iron Horse, the Unusual Suspects, Ceilidh Minogue and the Yiddish Song Project. A prolific composer, he has been greatly inspired by the musicians and cultures encountered on his travels.
This is his first solo album: a double CD with over two hours of original music performed by a thirteen-piece band. It is an astonishing debut because of the sheer variety of musical style and texture. The rich, satisfying and ever-changing sound-palette draws on a wide range of different instruments (fiddle, nyckelharpa, cittern, saxophone, cajon, accordion, piano, low whistle, flute, bass, kaval, bouzouki, pipes, percussion guitar). Gavin’s compositions are influenced by folk styles and idioms from all over Europe. The Bulgarian-sounding Balkan Red has exhilarating saxophone from Fraser Fifield, and Minotaur/Scented Grove has a Breton flavour. You could imagine The Handsome Wave being performed by Basque maestro Kepa Junkera. There’s a Scandanavian quality to Marstein/Lammermuir and a klezmer touch to The Concert Hall, Out of the East, Samarkand and Desert Reel. We seem to be in Provence for the Le Couregant set, and there’s a mediaeval-European courtly elegance to Valley Of Stairs, Left At Werewolf and the graceful Davidson The Luthier. And there’s more glorious saxophone on Firedance.
Marwick’s compositions have an evocative depth and a dramatic unpredictability, and it’s not surprising to discover that several of these pieces were commissions composed to accompany theatre shows. Indeed, this whole double album could be the soundtrack to a really interesting, eclectic road movie by Sean Penn or the Coen Brothers.
This album was launched at Celtic Connections Festival 2014 to a warmly-appreciative capacity crowd who were dancing in the aisles. The same show goes on tour in April.’ - Paul Matheson, fROOTs

 

Scottish fiddler redefines modern Celtic folk

A double instrumental album of modern fiddle tunes built around Scottish trad-folk act Ceilidh Minogue member Gavin Marwick may be a little “specialist” for most, but Marwick injects real personality and innovation into the jigs, reels, polkas and any other traditional style you care to throw at the wall. At times as atmospheric as mist rolling through the gloaming, at others flying full pelt through shared solos such as Jig For James (a kind of Celtic Duelling Banjos but on fiddle ands border pipes), the range and scope of Marwick’s compositions are so vast and all-encompassing that they could stand as tutorials for budding fiddlers.’ - Q magazine

 

Many musicians have particular dreams relating to their careers and for Gavin Marwick The Long Road and the Far Horizons accomplishes one of his. The product of his ambitions are a self penned double album and tune book, where he brings together 13 talented artists to assist in making his dream a striking reality.

The collection hits on the head of something that not all composers can get right, and that’s diversity. Some composers and musicians can try too hard at making a signature sound that then just makes every tune repetitive. This is definitely not however the case here.

Whether it is the fast foot tapping of The Breadalbane Reel/Queen Maeve/The Perthshire Races or the Celtic bliss of Balkan Red, you know that you are getting a double album of diverse, exciting music.

One of the biggest attractions of this double album is the energy that you experience. You can see and feel the time taken with the album and the energy put into it. The old saying goes that you only get out what you put in and this certainly shows here as the amount of energy and excitement that flows out during tracks like The Minotaur/Scented Grove would not be possible without dedication and hard work.

The variety is even nicely split between the two albums themselves, we get many dancey tunes in The Long Road and some slightly slower, gentle tunes in the second album The Far Horizons. A good example would be The Granton Back Step/The Second Granton Back Step which slowly plucks away at you.

It is not only Gavin who should be commended for his work on these albums but also the ensemble of artists he gathered to aid him, as their talents also make this music as successful and powerful as it is. Davidson the Luthier 1, The Concert Hall and October are to name but a few that would not resonate quite as well as solo tunes.

A very careful balanced was reached in these albums. There has not been too much emphasis on any one style or instrument, which has helped to maintain the appeal of the albums and make it so the only option is to enjoy every aspect.

It is difficult in many ways to believe that these albums are from the same artist, you would be forgiven for thinking that they are Scottish collections that take contributions from many different sources, that is how varied Gavin’s composing is.’ - Bright Young Folk