Open Canvas Creativity

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy let the music lead

The turn of a new year, a change of season, the beginning of a new day: any of these might be compared to the idea of an open canvas, ready for adventure.

For musicians Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, their open canvas came about in a sudden and unexpected way. At the start of the pandemic, these two busy touring artists, who share their music across the world through packed concerts, had to shut down their travels and their concerts.

She is an award winning Cape Breton fiddle player; he’s the leader of a long running and highly regarded family band based in Ontario.

They headline concerts each in their own and at times they perform together, as well, and sometimes with some or all of their seven children, who range from pre school age to late teens.

All that performing came to a stop. At the time, no one knew how long that stop would be, either.

One result of that is their duo album, Canvas.

While staying anchored Celtic fiddle tradition, the music finds the couple drawing on Latin, rock, pop, classical, and folk influences and brining in HGaelic song as well.

“We didn’t plan on making it quite so varied,” Natalie said, “but as Donnell often said, ‘Let the music decide.’

“Creativity comes when there’s space for it. That’s one thing Donnell and I were given in in 2020, the space and time to be creative, to think and focus and find what was in side us.”

What that turned out to be was a range of original fiddle music, many fast paced tunes along with several quieter ones as well.

In addition to original tunes from Natalie and Donnell, they chose to bring in two classic James Scott Skinner tunes from Scotland and music from contemporary composers, among them New England based Hanneke Cassel and the couple’s eldest daughter, Mary Frances Leahy.

Tunes from those two musicians pair up on the track Colour Theory. The set finds Natalie and Donnell having the best sort of musical fun and adventure.

“Colour Theory is a track consisting of two reels; one. Leila’s Birthday, from friend and fellow fiddler Hanneke Cassel, and the other, Colour Theory from our daughter, Mary Frances. It did take us some sorting through many reels, new and old, to come up with this combination,” Natalie recalled.

Working out the tune, they decided it needed another sound, too -- the voice of flute and whistle, they decided The music of flute and whistle player Brian Finnegan from Armagh in Northern Ireland came to mind. He agreed to add to the mix.

“Although we’ve never met, Brian was enthusiastic and trusting of our big picture,” Natalie said. “He sent us some absolutely beautiful flute and whistle performances. The combination was magic.”

Another bit of magic came when cellist Yo-Yo Ma agreed to add cello to one of the more reflective pieces on the album, So You Love.

Galicia, a tune Natalie says came to her in about ten minutes, has a lively Spanish/Celtic mix in its sound, as the title might suggest. Choo Choo, featuring Mary Frances, finds the family rocking out in jazz and swing style.

The two Scott Skinner tunes allow the fiddle duo to apply varied aspects of their gifts to music from the canon of Scotland’s tradition

East Neuk of Fife is a high stepping tune which calls to mind images of fast flying dancers, while The Laird of Bermersyde holds a stately feeling evoking quiet landscapes.

Then there is the magic that Rhiannon Giddens adds to the track Woman of the House.

Natalie had written the tune, beginning with ideas from a guitar riff she heard from album producer Elmer Ferrer (who said he got it from Montreal based piano player Rachel Aucoin -- music travels).

As they began to work on the tune, the idea came to make it into a song “but Donnell and I aren’t singers, we’re instrumentalists,” Natalie pointed out.

She began to write lyrics, though. She though to honor her grandmothers, both Gaelic speaking women who lived on Cape Breton, women who held things together when men of the family traveled far away to find work.

Thinking of them and the Gaelic speaking idea, she had the words put into Gaelic by her friend Jeff MacDonald. Then Natalie remembered the powerhouse performance that Rhiannon Giddens had given sining in Irish Gaelic at the Celtic Colours Festival on Cape Breton a few years back.

Giddens is an Americana, folk, blues, and bluegrass player. Her former husband is Irish, though, and she is based in Ireland, raising their children through Gaelic medium education. Irish differs from Scottish Gaelic, but still..

Natalie, Donnell, and Rhiannon met long distance over zoom, and made the connection. The vibrant song Woman of the House finds all musicians in top form.

Another somewhat understated highlight among the tracks features a yet another aspect of Cape Breton and Celtic music: the sound of the dancer’s steps. Dance Arnold Dance is a lively combination of fiddles from Natalie and Donnell and steps from Mary Frances, each adding sparkle to the music.

There are more gems to discover on Canvas, as well. It is not your straight ahead Cape Breton or Ontario or Celtic fiddle album. It offers those elements as creative throughlines as these gifted musicians let their creativity loose to explore new facets of their work.

Side note: Mary Frances Leahy will be bring out her own album soon; she has decided to make music her career. I had the chance to see her offer a concert on her own at Celtic Colours. She’s inspiring and creative. Mary Frances is certainly an artist to watch.

Photographs by Rebekah Littlejohn

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