No cheeze or schmaltz on this CD!

I've been meaning to post about Jori Chisholm's new CD "Bagpipe Revolution" since I purchased it on Oct 23. I had not intended to write a whole "review". I used to write record reviews professionally and the reason I stopped is that I found a) my opinion really isn't important, it's just my opinion, b) once in print a review becomes "forever", so if my point of view changes it's hard to correct, and c) if someone doesn't like what I wrote, a year or two later, they come to me and say "how could you write that! How dare you!"

That caveat aside, I'll just briefly say I quite like Bagpipe Revolution. The CD has a wide variety of expression, given the use of Highland pipes, small pipes, and concert tuned pipes, accompanied by piano, steel pedal guitar (a great touch), electric guitar, and percussion.

Jori avoids many of my personal pet peeve pitfalls of pipe recordings (I know, too many peas) that attempt to incorporate other instrumentation. You won't hear any cheezy Casio keyboard accompaniment here. Nor will you hear any overbearing disco bass drum pounding. And thankfully the folkish settings are absent that schmaltzy bean sprout-stuck-in-the-teeth-folksy-wolksy vibe. You know what I mean, and if you don't, rent "A Mighty Wind". But being the purist I am, I would have liked a couple more tracks of solo piping without extra instruments.

Most impressive to me is the rendition of the piobaireachd "Too Long In This Condition". On it's own it's a feat to lay down a perfect tune that's over nine minutes long. There are ample opportunities for error and for the pipe to go out of tune--you did do this in one take, right Jori? What makes this so impressive is that Jori recorded a harmony part. That doubles the chance for error and potentially complicates the recording process. But the tuning stays sweet and the execution perfect throughout, resulting in a beautiful version of this tune.

So, enough on the opining. I'll leave it to those more qualified and just say congratulations to Jori on releasing the first recording by a Seattle based bagpiper. Piping recordings are unusual in that, for example, any and every local rock band releases their recordings. Many are awful. Pipers, however, seem to have some level of humility, or fear of humiliation, or just the good judgment, not to foist their mediocre recordings on the world.

Jori has the good judgment--and piping skills to back it up--to have released Bagpipe Revolution. Now click on the link and support your local piper. And I'll get back to keeping my opinion to myself.

G i v i n g _ B a c k

Something I consider very important is giving something back to the community. Now, I haven't always felt this way, and used as an excuse that I didn't know what I could do. We can all do something if we put a bit of thought into it.

I donate my piping services each year for a select group of charities I feel a personal affinity toward. In each case, I came upon them not exactly by accident, but through serendipity or synchronicity. I know, two big words that simplified could just mean 'chance.' But I don't believe there are any accidents.

Camp Korey is a place for kids suffering from serious and life threatening illnesses to go and have some fun. It is one of Paul Newman's (pictured above at Camp Korey) Hole In The Wall Camps. Korey Rose was an inspiring young man who died from cancer in his teens. I played at his graveside service in Enumclaw in 2004. What blew me away about this service, is that usually a small gathering of family and friends of the deceased attend a graveside. This one was attended by well over 300 people. Korey's father, Tim Rose, a Senior Vice President at Costco, worked with Newman to purchase the old Carnation Farm from Nestle to create Camp Korey. It was a moving experience to visit there and pipe for Leanore Curran's Highland dancers to entertain the kids.

Back in the summer I was hired to play for a gentleman's 50th birthday party. 50! Wow! Now THAT'S old! When I arrived at the home where the party was I was introduced on the way in to the the son of the Half Centurian. M.R. was in one of those fully loaded motorized wheel chairs. He looked to me to be about 22 years old. What, I thought, befell this beautiful kid to put him this spot?

I had to go play, so I went around to the back yard, made my surprise entrance, congratulated the guest of honor at having endured a half century and played some more tunes to entertain the gathered friends and family. As I spoke with one guest, she told me that M.R. (Michael Ryan Pattison) had suffered a severe spinal injury a few years ago diving into shallow water in Lake Chelan, and that he had started a foundation to raise money to support therapy for those with spinal cord injuries. Are there really no accidents? We went and had another conversation with M.R. and immediately I decided to volunteer my services to play at the upcoming fund raising auction at the Glendale Golf Club in Bellevue, and offer myself as a live auction item. A no brainer.

A Cure Is Coming is the Michael Ryan Foundation's website. The auction raised some $70,000. The experience of being part of such an event is always gratifying, humbling and extremely rewarding. Try it sometime!

Again, how I came to be connected with the other organizations I support were completely random. With Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing - KITH - the piper who normally played their event was ill. So I filled in and have played the 7 Hills of Kirkland bike ride every year since. I've also played their annual fund raising banquet the past 2 or 3 years. KITH provides housing to people facing homelessness on the Eastside. It's a worthy cause.

Same with The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I play at 2 or 3 Luminaria ceremonies at the relay each summer. All of us know someone who's had cancer. It's too damn common.

I met the wife of Chris Elliott, of CEF, a non-profit she started to help people with glioblastoma, a nasty brain cancer, at the birthday party of a friend of Chris's wife. In October of this year I played for their auction at the Newcastle Golf Club.

So if you're wondering where you can be of service, where you can chip in, where you can do something that will make a difference for someone whose life is not as easy as yours, these places are a good start. Or you may already have an organization you support; if so, good on ya. If not, it only takes the slightest glance around, or a seemingly 'random' moment to find a way to help out. You'll be amazed how gratifying it is.

Amazing Cake, How Sweet The Sound

A few weeks ago I had the honor of playing for Matt Carrithers' 40th birthday. It was a pretty special night all around. The venue, Schmidt House, in Tumwater, the home built for the founder Olympia Brewery, is beautifully restored. The friends and family gathered shared some heartfelt and hilarious stories about Matt.

But it was the birthday cake that everyone will remember. Even to my eye it looked like a real bagpipe, and didn't at all look edible. It was made by Mike's Amazing Cakes, in Redmond. Not only was it accurately reproduced down to an authentic tartan and clan crest, but it was delicious.

A Day of Music and Art

I will be performing at a celebration of Benaroya Hall's 10th anniversary this Sunday Sept 14. I will be playing outside the hall in the Rememberance Garden at the corner of 2nd and University from 12:15 to 12:45.

Be sure to stop by and say "HI"!

KEITH 3rd AT WORLDS!

The Keith Highlanders Pipe Band placed 3rd of 53 bands in Grade 4b at the World Pipe Band Championships, held today in Glasgow, Scotland. This is the band's 4th trip to the Worlds, and the best finish yet!

The band finished 1st in the morning qualifer--getting the 1st from both judges. They played 2nd of 12 in the final, which is not an optimum place to be in the order, but had great scores from the judges: 3rd from both piping judges, 10th from the drumming judge (yikes!), and 2nd in ensemble.

Another Seattle band, the Northwest Junior Pipe Band played in the Novice Juvenile grade and came in 5th overall after a 3rd place finish in the qualifier.

Simon Fraser University Pipe Band was 1st in the elite Grade 1 contest. It is SFU's 5th 1st place finish in 12 years.

Overall, a great day for Northwest pipe bands!

Complete results of all grades are available at the RSPBA's website.

Now, if I could just get my effin computer to play BBC Scotland's stream of the contest....

Kudos to NWJPB

The Northwest Junior Pipe Band took 1st in Grade 4 at yesterday's Perth, Scotland Highland Games. At least one of my former students is a member, so I'm really happy they've done so well this summer. This a perfect trajectory going into the Worlds on Aug 16th.

That said, as a member of the Keith Highlanders, I'm pulling for them even harder. KHPB wound up 5th out of the 24 bands in Grade 4 at Perth.

Many members of the Keith arrived in Scotland around 10pm the night before the Perth games, jetlagged and tired from the long journey from Seattle. Having done that a few times I know that other-worldly, disoriented feeling going out to compete in Scotland a few hours after stepping off the plane. They'll be in better shape for the Worlds.

It's been a very wet week in Scotland, but apparently the weather eased up a bit yesterday at Perth.

I'll be writing a bit more about the Worlds this week.

Olympic pipers

The other night while watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games, I was quite surprised to hear a pipe band playing off and on as the athletes paraded into the stadium.

At first I said "they must be there in person" then I thought "it's just a recording" because they were never seen on TV. Poking around the net today looking for results from the Perth, Scotland highland games, where the Keith Highlanders competed today, I came across this story on BBC Scotland about the Mains of Fintry Pipe Band, a Grade 4 band from Dundee, Scotland (home of marmalade). It said they were seen by Chinese officials who saw them on a tour of France and asked to go to Beijing to play. At first they thought it was a practical joke, as would I. Riiiiiight....a Scottish band playing in France, asked to go to China. I think I ate at that restaurant. Just once.

One of the pipers in the band said "never in a million years" would he have thought the band would do something like this.

Never say Never!

Good on ya boys!