I recently read a book about the Celtic Colours International Festival in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and it made me nostalgic for the music of a place that has been one of my favorite destinations since I first visited for the festival in 2000. An obvious choice to slip into my trusty desktop CD player was Fit as a Fiddle, the 1993 recording by Natalie MacMaster that introduced me to Cape Breton music, which she sent me prior to a telephone interview I did with her in 1995 to promote an upcoming performance in York, Pennsylvania. (It was actually her next CD, No Boundaries, that introduced me to Celtic Colours, which she mentioned favorably in the liner notes and piqued my interest in attending.)

Anyway, it took only a few notes to transport me back to those early days, when I first discovered Cape Breton fiddling in general and, more specifically, Natalie MacMaster as its fiercest ambassador.

Her musical horizons have expanded greatly in the years -- oh my god, it's been more than three decades!! -- since Fit as a Fiddle was released, but here Natalie is still at the heart of the musical tradition that spawned her career. The album offers 44 tunes spanning 13 tracks, mostly traditional pieces with a few covers by the likes of Jerry Holland, Dan R. MacDonald, Charles Sherrit and Phil Cunningham scattered throughout. Natalie, of course, plays fiddle on every track, adding piano on one track and stepdancing on another.

Joining her on the album are Dave MacIsaac on acoustic and electric guitars and bass and Tracy Dares on piano and synth -- the two musicians with whom I usually saw Natalie perform in those early years -- along with Howie MacDonald on piano, Tom Roach on drums and percussion, Jamie MacInnis on Highland pipes and Sandy Moore on Celtic harp.

It's no-frills Cape Breton excellence from start to finish. I can't name a favorite track, because they're uniformly solid. She injects pure joy into every note.

This is exactly why I fell in love with this amazing subset of Celtic music, and I definitely should revisit its roots more often.

If you're not already a fan -- of Natalie MacMaster in particular or Cape Breton music in general -- you have a lot of good stepping-on points to begin your musical journey. Fit as a Fiddle is a great place to get your feet wet and experience a young artist whose star is just starting to rise. (And, if you like what you hear, Natalie later married into the musical Leahy family and started raising an entire clan of talented musicians, so there's a lot more music to come.)

[ visit Natalie online ]