Review from CELTIC CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL 2008 City Halls, Glasgow, Jan 26, 2008
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas in Concert
Fraser appeared in his favoured current pairing with the young American cellist Natalie Haas, continuing to pursue their resurrection and reinvention of the classic musical marriage between big and small fiddles, a familiar feature of Scottish music in the 18th century. The duo’s near-telepathic interplay was dazzling both for its breathtaking technical prowess and its boundless dynamism, be it in tunes from that same golden era, the age of Burns and Gow, or Fraser’s own memorable compositions.
Sue Wilson, Hi-Arts Journal
THE NEW CD IS HERE!!!!
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas In the MOMENT Bringing a Fresh Sound to an Old Tradition
"Traditional music has always been a connective tissue between cultures, communities, and generations. Witness the duo of Scottish fiddle star Fraser and cello prodigy Haas. He is from Clackmannan, a small town in Scotland's smallest county. She is a Juilliard grad from California. When they met, he was teacher, and she was student. And yet on a new CD, "In the Moment," you would think they'd been playing together for centuries. While his fiddle dances, her cello throbs darkly or plucks puckishly. Then she opens her cello's throat, joining Fraser in soaring sustains, windswept refrains, and sudden, jazzy explosions. Their sound is as urbane as a Manhattan midnight, and as wild as a Clackmannan winter." Scott Alarik, Boston Globe
"The musical chemistry between Scottish fiddle legend Alasdair Fraser and young cello ace Natalie Haas is a rare, felicitous thing". Daniel Gewertz, Boston Herald
Quote from Fraser, Haas light fires with a fiddle "He's what the music is all about -- traditional music as an avenue to your soul, it wakes you up from the inside and gets you in touch with ethnic roots and deeper cultural images." Honolulu Star-Bulletin May 2007