Canada’s fiddle wizard Shane Cook’s music has kept me going these past couple of weeks when the dying Finnish winter first turned into grey slush, followed by winter’s comebacj (of course) and then more slush, with the sun nowhere in sight. The gloomy scenes outdoors have been successfully countered by the Cook magic!
If you haven’t yet checked out his out of this world but feet on the ground fiddling (or his “hot-smooth style”, as Liz Carroll has described it), you should. It’s always uplifting and energizing when someone plays with jaw-dropping technique and radiant joy. It feels like seeing a human being fly: you can’t quite believe it and it makes you giddy with delight.
The difference is that humans can’t really fly but Shane Cook’s playing can make you feel like they can.
His fourth, self-titled album, from 2005, is mostly very faithful to Canadian oldtime and trad tunes and features Cook’s playing in all its youthful bravado and flash, totally infectious, totally joyful.
Almost a decade later, in 2014, his collaboration with Jake Charron (of The East Pointers), Head to Head, did not stray too far from that earlier release but covers a bit more stylistic ground and feels slightly more mature in a way I can’t analyze any further. It’s a brilliant collection of tunes played with fire and finesse; perfection, really.
The latest I’ve heard from him is Be Here For a While, the 2021 album by Shane Cook and the Woodchippers. It’s much more relaxed, even laid back, compared to those earlier works, with stronger shades of country and Western swing, also some cool jazzy bits. Very nice indeed!
I’m no expert in North American, let alone Canadian, folk music, but I don’t really care. Shane Cook is one amazing musician, the tunes he chooses for his albums are brilliant and his music is just so alive, it woke even me from my long winter sleep.
FolkNotes 