The timing couldn't have been better for Kendra MacGillivray's and Patricia
Murray's Christmas Ceilidh at Halifax's St. Matthew's United Church on Sunday
night. On the first truly wintery day of the year, with a fresh fall of snow on
the ground, MacGillivray's sprightly fiddle and Murray's expressive voice went
straight to the heart like a shot of hot cider.
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The warm audience reception was a nice treat for the performers, who already
received an early Christmas present last week in the form of East Coast Music
Award nominations; roots/traditional solo artist of the year for the P.E.I.
vocalist, and female and instrumental artist of the year for the Antigonish-born
fiddler.
Making the evening a family affair were MacGillivray's siblings Troy on piano
and fiddle and champion highland dancer Sabra adding fancy footwork and bodhran.
Renowned Celtic guitarist Dave MacIsaac was also on hand, enhancing the show's
all-star lineup.
In the old rules of etiquette, it was a gentleman's duty to open a door for a
lady, and MacIsaac and brother MacGillivray provided that service by playing a
slow air to set the scene. It was especially gratifying to see Troy playing a
concert grand on this particular evening, which is far preferable to the
electronic keyboards accompanists often rely on as an alternative to lugging a
real piano from show to show.
Then Murray and Kendra MacGillivray came out to perform a Gaelic Alleluia, which
suited the sacred setting, with Murray's voice soaring to the church's wooden
roofbeams, followed by a lively set of fiddle tunes powered by Troy's jaunty
chording and by MacIsaac's driving guitar runs.
Murray also charmed on The Wexford Carol, sung in warm, willowy tones,
accompanied at first only be piano, with MacIsaac joining in on the final
verses. Her flowing take on the English folk nugget Johnny Has Gone for Soldier
shone even without the glossy production of her CD Primrose. The song had the
visual bonus of Sabra performing her own nimble choreography in a red petticoat,
matching the song's lyrics of a forlorn lover who follows her man to the
battlefield.
Next Kendra went back to her first CD, Clear the Tracks, pouring the power of a
locomotive into her bow arm for a set of strathspeys and reels filled with
infectious energy. She knows how to keep her playing entertaining, varying the
inflections throughout her tunes, and including a broad range of styles, from
familiar jigs and reels to a set of polkas in honour of her grandfather, famed
Antigonish fiddler Hugh A. MacDonald.
Murray lent a more contemporary feel to Yonec, based on the Rapunzel-esque tale
of a maid locked in a tower and visited at night by a handsome hawk-knight, the
sound of the young Kate Bush came to mind. But switching to Gaelic on a tune
about Scottish sailors homesick for the Isle of Lewis, she relied on delicate
phrasing, full of feeling, to put across the meaning in a more traditional
manner.
After a vigourous guitar solo by MacIsaac, Kendra and Murray reteamed on a
lively Deck the Halls, before calling on MacGillivray mom Janice to join in on
piano for a set of strathspeys and reels. "It wouldn't be a Ceilidh if we didn't
pull someone out of the crowd," said Kendra, and it didn't look like her mother
needed much prompting to join her talented kids in the spotlight.
