OK, let's talk a little bit about two great fiddlers from successive generations.

Natalie and Buddy MacMaster are Cape Breton royalty. Buddy, who died in 2014 at age 89, was rightly revered as the grand master of Cape Breton fiddle music. Natalie, his niece, has carried the family name even further, touring extensively and helping to bring Cape Breton music to a global audience. I consider myself fortunate indeed to have seen both of them perform on numerous occasions.

The first time I saw Buddy was, in fact, in Judique at the Celtic Colours International Festival in 2000, when he performed first with pianist Joey Beaton, then brought the house down with a pair of duets with acclaimed Irish fiddler Sean McGuire. Natalie, on the other hand, I saw perform for the first time in York, Pennsylvania, in 1995, when she was touring with guitarist Dave MacIsaac and pianist Tracey Dares. I've lost count at the number of times and places I've seen her since.

In 2005, they released Traditional Music from Cape Breton Island, a CD featuring both MacMasters, accompanied only by MacIsaac on guitar and Natalie's aunt (Buddy's sister) Betty Lou Beaton on piano.

"It occurred to me one day that Buddy and I should record some of those tunes together in a studio, as we had never done so before. The music would be a keepsake for our family," Natalie explains in the liner notes. She says she wanted "a permanent imprint of a family tradition passed down from uncle to niece. ... I have predominantly listened to Buddy's fiddling throughout my life -- on home recordings, at square dances and live at family gatherings and parties. He has influenced my fiddling immensely."

Although the recording was, apparently, intended at first just as a private gift for their family, they soon decided to share it with the world. I'm so very glad they did!

The album includes, if I counted correctly, 66 tunes spread across 13 tracks. It's certainly a generous playlist -- these are not short sets. Throughout (excluding the seventh track, which is a solo Buddy set, and the final track, which is just Natalie), Natalie and Buddy play in perfect synchronization. Neither breaks stride or rises above the other; they perform together as a well-regulated, perfectly timed machine. (Although, amusingly enough, they apparently started the ninth track on different tunes, earning a surprised comment from Natalie.) Sometimes, the enthusiasm of the audience lucky enough to be in the room with them when this was recorded is an audible reminder that, in Cape Breton, music is a social occasion.

I don't usually list every track on the albums I review, but what the heck. Tunes included here are: "King George the Fourth," "The Old King's Reel," "The King's Reel," "Miss Lyle Reel," and "The Bridge of Bamore"; "Pet of the Pipers," "The Little Pickle," "The Rosewood Jig," "The Road to Skye" and "Scotty's Fitzgerald's" (Sandy MacIntyre); "MacKenzie Hay," "Scourdiness" (Charles F. Sherritt) and "Miss Baigrie"; "Welcome to the Trossachs" (Wilfred Gillis), "Miller O Drone," "Miss Lyle Strathspey," "The Devil in the Kitchen," "The Margaree Reel," "The Yetts of Muckart," "Mrs. Margaret MacDonald's Delight," "The Red Shoes" (Dan R. MacDonald) and "Bonnie Nellie​"; "Mom's Jig," "The Soldier's Cloak," "Come Haste to the Wedding," "The Inverness Jig" (J.D. Kennedy), "The Man on the Moon," "Tipperty Jean," "Miss Campbell's" and "The Dougall Creature"; "Niel Gow's Lamentation for James Moray of Abercairny," "Miss Ann Moir's Birthday," "The Duke of Gordon's Birthday," "The Primrose Lasses" and "The Bear in the Buckwheat"....

(Deep breath.)

"Iona House" (Wilfred Gillis), "Daft Willie Dawson," "Willie Fraser's" (Donald Angus Beaton), "Lady Mary Stopford," and "The Lasses of Stewarton"; "The Stage Hornpipe," "The Tara Brooch," "Laybourn's Hornpipe," "Blind Nora O'Neill," and "The Bonny Lass of Fisherrow"; "Jessie Ann's Favorite (Gordon MacQuarrie)," "The Rose Burn" (Dan R. MacDonald), "Bain's Jig," "Mrs. A. MacGlashan," and "The Leg of the Duck"; "The Warlock," "Bog an Lochan," "Flora MacDonald," "The Nine Point Coggie," "Malcolm Finlay" and "Johnny Sullivan's"; "The Bonnie Lass of Headlake" (Gordon MacQuarrie); "Wilfred's Fiddle Jig" (Dan R. MacDonald), "The Clay Pipe," "Sandy McGaff," "The Unfortunate Rake" and "The New Fiddle" (Dan R. MacDonald); "The Bald Headed Bachelor," "The Sunshine Hornpipe," "The Ten Pound Fiddle" and "Mrs. Smyth of Methven's."

Criminy, that's a lot of music. And all of it is expertly played, with a great deal of skill and passion.

Traditional Music from Cape Breton Island might have started life as a MacMaster family keepsake, but it evolved into a love letter to Cape Breton music that everyone can enjoy. We are lucky to have it.