Shetland-Music.com

Kevin Henderson, Jenna Reid, Kevin MacKenzie Da Hömin CD

IT'S A STRANGE state of affairs when two of our most outstanding musicians release an album and almost nobody gets to hear of it.

It's therefore my pleasure to alert you to an undiscovered gem, Da Hömin, by premier league fiddlers Kevin Henderson and Jenna Reid with pal Kevin Mackenzie from Edinburgh on guitar.

The seven sets of Shetland, Scots, Irish and Swedish fiddle tunes are delivered with the panache and elegance we've come to expect from the pair when solo or with their various and varied assortment of groups.

Kevin filled Aly Bain's tricky shoes in the old Celtic folk warhorse Boys of the Lough about five years ago and, when he's not touring the world with them, jets off with Fiddlers' Bid, Session A9, The Finlay Macdonald Band and many others.

Jenna is enjoying an ever-heightening profile with gaelic girl sensations Dochas plus Filska, Deaf Shepherd and others. She also contributes two songs to the album, Robert Burns' Afton Water and the traditional Fareweel tae Fiunary.

With Mackenzie firing them up with his percussive, driving guitar the fiddlers unleash stinging ripsnorters like Oliver Jack but equally can pull back on the throttle and share with us the most graceful and gentle of harmonies (Michael's Mazurka).

Launched in Sweden in the summer Da Hömin is available now at High Level Music in Lerwick and from the website footstompin.com.

John Robertson

Review courtesy of the Shetland Times