#NATALIE MACMASTER VOLCANIC JIG MAC#

The second set picked up where the first left off, mixing traditional tunes from Cape Breton with holiday songs. Sharing stories about her grandparents’ love of “jigs,” MacMaster launched into the aptly-named “Volcanic Jig,” which closed out the first set. She followed that with a solo step dance number, tapping with wit and boundless energy, later joking that it was all part of her “post-maternity workout.” Without missing a beat, she introduced three of her children – two played fiddle, and all three danced and sang (“SantaĬlaus Is Coming to Town”) – prompting an ovation from the crowd. MacMaster took a breather to offer the hilarious back story to the three centuries old lament for a second wife (“booze”) by Robert Cormac she, Morin and Smith interwove the melody lines with the ease that comes from countless jam sessions.

#NATALIE MACMASTER VOLCANIC JIG MAC#

After she offered greetings from Cape Breton, MacMaster jumped on to Eric Breton’s drum riser for a Dougie MacPhee “clog.” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” was jaunty, not schmaltzy likewise, “Silver Bells” was invigorated by an imaginative arrangement and fine piano playing by Mac Morin and “Winter Wonderland” became a spry, jazzy ode to the season, with MacMaster tapping into her inner Stephane Grappelli. MacMaster sprinted out, fiddle in hand, to lead the band in a medley of traditional reels and jigs. Master cellist Nathaniel Smith opened with a plaintive take on “Greensleeves,” as the other band members took their places. A favorite of audiences at The Egg in Albany for a decade, MacMaster brought her talented band and three surprise guests on stage for two engaging sets billed as “Christmas in Cape Breton,” complete with trees and modest holiday lighting.

A virtuoso fiddler, exuberant bandleader and deft step dancer (the latter explains how she’s kept a perfect figure despite five children, the latest born just a few months ago), she embraces her Cape Breton traditions and yet is not afraid to add in a contemporary wrinkle or two. Natalie MacMaster is a walking endorsement for all that is good about music.

Natalie macmaster volcanic jig