Mhairi Hall Trio in Brodick Hall
On Saturday, 19th November, members the audience gathering for the monthly Music Society concert were slightly surprised to see the three instruments for the featured group arranged in bright light on the stage instead of at floor level as usual. What’s more, Jon Hollingworth and Andy and Nikki Surridge of Arran Events had set up a professional sound system. There were some glances of alarm. Was this going to be an event at disco volume? But no. Within the first few notes, everyone was reassured.
Mhairi Hall is a classically trained pianist, but from an early age was drawn to the traditional music of Scotland. She formed a trio with percussionist Fraser Stone and Michael Bryan on acoustic guitar, and together they play music that is both classic and rooted in tradition, highly inventive and yet evocative of time past. It’s an extraordinary fusion, exciting, skilled and often deeply moving. Mhairi writes much of her own material, but keeps a finger-hold on the silken thread of Scottish music that has for centuries had a powerful emotional effect on the people of this country. Born and brought up in Aviemore, the Cairngorm is her familiar territory. As she said during one introduction, ‘”A good winter” means a winter with plenty of snow.’ There can be joy and exhilaration in blizzard conditions for those who are out on the long, sweeping runs, enjoying the whistle of skis over fresh whiteness. Her piece called A Good Winter caught this feeling exactly, specially in its fade to nothing at the end, as a quiet, repeated riff vanished to nothing. Her Cairngorm Dance that followed was very different, a vigorous, jazzy jig that touched on rock but still retained its Gaelic roots. At all times played with beautifully controlled empathy despite the excitement, it featured sudden stops of brief silence that were powerfully effective.
After the interval, a new piece called Sea Eagle began with pianissimo guitar, beautifully played by Michael Bryan as the music soared into a strong lead then floated away into distance. Tullochgrue, a strathspey written by Donald Grant, who was born in Elgin in 1760, formed the basis for an extraordinary celebration of a house where ceilidh and craic ‘and the occasional dram’ were a way of life. The gentle start was as nostalgic as an old photo album, warming into easy jazziness then quietened into an open, easy happiness. Those watching carefully might have seen Michael quietly re-tuning the bass string for the last section while piano and drums continued. He did the same thing in the final piece, with an unobtrusive shift of capo up a couple of frets. It takes assurance to do that, and a faith that things will go on undisturbed. With the highly sensitive performance of Fraser Stone on drum kit, the music remained mobile and interesting throughout.
The final number, a sequence of four pieces called People and Places, was a triumph. Beginning with a hand drum, suspense was built up, then a pibroch tune took over on guitar, fast but steady, developing power as the keyboard came in like a dream sequence. The second section, Kinapol, named for Mhairi’s family home, had the steady rocking of childhood, while the third, written in the 18th century to celebrate Barbara Grant, who fought off a would-be kidnapper, was charged with urgency and highly simulating. The final section was written for Mhairi’s history teacher, David Taylor, who introduced her to traditional music and encouraged her to play it. This, with its all-out reel quietening sometimes into thoughtfulness then bursting into excitement again, had the audience in rapturous response, and there were cheers and whistles and stamping as the evening came to an end. As one listener rightly said, ‘It’s the Arran Music Society, not the Arran Classical Music Society. It’s here to promote all kinds of music.’ Certainly, the night had proved her right. As people went out into the dark from the Mhairi Hall Trio, they carried with them a warmth and happiness that will last long.
