Finlay MacDonald Band

Bio:

.. .. The Finlay MacDonald Band,Brings together the tightest of Jazz,Funk grooves with blistering traditional and contemporary Tunes on pipes and fiddle. The band has been it's current line up for about three years and feature's Chris Stout(Fiddle),Kevin MacKenzie(Guitar),John Speirs (Bass) and Fergus MacKenzie(Drums).The Finlay MacDonald Band have been forging a reputation as one of the hottest live acts to come out of Scotland and are in demand all over Europe for Festivals,one off gigs and full tours. The new album "ReEcho" is now available from Greentrax or at all good record stores.

Member Since:

May 10, 2006

Members:

Finlay MacDonald Chris Stout Kevin MacKenzie Fergus MacKenzie John Speirs Anyone else that is up for the tunes!

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REVIEWS!


"FINLAY MACDONALD BAND - ReEcho Greentrax CDTRAX299

John Speirs and Fergus Mackenzie’s bass and drum on this CD is so funky, down and dirty, that you expect the godfather of soul, James Brown, to start singing Papas gotta brand new bag, any second.

Just when you think it can’t get any funkier Finlay blasts in with the Great Highland Bagpipe and things get seriously dirty.

Throw in the duelling fiddle of Chris Stout and Kevin Mackenzie’s guitar and the album is in danger of getting an X rating.

As the undoubted lead troubadour of this band of merry men, Finlay MacDonald leads from the front with some sparkling playing.
If Fred Morrison is the Hendrix of the pipes then Finlay is surely the Jimmy Page.

Using a rake of his own tunes and some carefully garnered from the likes of R.S. MacDonald (Elav the Terrible), Chris Armstrong and Martyn Bennett (the brilliantly named Ud the Duduk) Finlay weaves his pipes in and out of the rhythm.
This isn’t piping tracks with a backing, this is a band sound that just happens to have the pipes as the lead instrument.

Sparks really start flying when Chris Stout on fiddle or viola starts sparing with Finlay on pipes as the pace gets faster and faster as each player spurs the other on.

Throw the usual Finlay MacDonald Eastern European influence add some delightful low whistle playing, particularly on the beautiful and laid back Miss Elliot’s, and top with a band that are tighter than Jordan’s bra strap and you have a band that are a class act.
They sound like they enjoyed making this album it is certainly a joy to listen to.

Chris MacKenzie (The Living Tradition)."

Finlay MacDonald Band - Re-Echo (Greentrax)

Greentrax get seriously funky with this latest offering from young Highland piper/whistle player Finlay, who, with his crack band, lay down what I'd wager is probably the tightest groove on the scene at the moment.

His previous outing, Pressed For Time (on the Footstompin' label), was a really assured disc that demonstrated not only Finlay's formidable playing technique but also his respect for the tradition, while creating exciting settings for the tunes themselves.

ReEcho, which follows a period of intensive touring, also sees a small change in his band personnel, whereby John Speirs has replaced Quee Macarthur on bass, but if anything the band is tighter than ever.

This is apparent right away when the disc kicks off with the seven-minute funk extravaganza Back To Bergamo (melding together three of Finlay's own compositions), mean and dirty with edge-of-the seat rhythms and constant interest in all departments - the point when Finlay switches to the pipes (after starting out on flute) is one of those defining moments that stuns each time you play through.

What sets this disc apart from the crowd of jazzed-up, funked-up pretenders is the sheer excitement, the exhilaration, the amazing dexterity with which Finlay and his band encompass metres that surprise even in the context of the tunes' origins.

Their approach is innovative, the groove fiercely contemporary, yet not a programmed beat in earshot - and the result is all the more exciting for it.
That opening set is hard to beat, but in their own way the stirring, majestic pace of the Time To Dance set and the heavier tread of Abdoul's carry their own weight and the statelier Bulgarian tune midway through the disc provides a key staging-post.

Martyn Bennett's Ud The Duduk forms the basis for a robust workout where Fergus Mackenzie's hyperactive drumming and brother Kevin's electric guitar licks entice with their counter-rhythms.

Fiddler Chris Stout again more than proves his worth, every bit as much on the lyrical viola melody of Miss Elliott's as on the spinning, whirling-ever-faster sections where he seems to be duelling with Finlay's pipes.

The closing medley of a Breton tune and Finlay's piece The Sunday Club makes for a fittingly sparky finale. No disappointment here then, from any quarter.

David Kidman January 2008

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Record Label:

Greentrax