LAWRENCE O'HEARN and
ANDRÉ MARCHAND
Si l'hiver peut prendre
If your
idea of a winter (l'hiver) album is a collection of
suck-it-up-and-pray-we-make-it-to-spring melancholia, steer clear of this
album. If, on the other hand, you want to get jiggy and reel with winter and
only occasionally lapse into wistfulness, this seventeen-track collection will
get you to crocus season in a much better mood. (Leroy) Lawrence O'Hearn is an
Ontario-born tin whistle and oboe artist who is perhaps best known for his
stint living in Galway, where he was part of the band Pangea. He moved to
Quebec a few years ago and has lately been collaborating with André Marchand,
the guitarist and foot percussionist from the seminal band La Bottine
Souriante. This is, however, mainly O'Hearn's showcase and a glorious one it
is.
The title
track is a Quebecois traditional covered by La Bottine Souriante on J'ai jamais tant (2005) and its lively
pace and upbeat melody signal O'Hearn's intent to confound our wintery
expectations. He does so further by using tin whistle on fast-paced tunes to
make them sharper, but not icy. When he wants the mood to be more forlorn, he
switches to baroque oboe. In still another switch, though, most of the pensive
or disconsolate pieces–"Liam O'Raghallaigh," "Bean Dubh An
Ghleanna," "An Raibh Tú Agan cCarraig"—come from Ireland, a land
of mild winters–as opposed to Quebec, where a February wind can rip the hide
off of a rhino. The Quebecois cope by heating up the hall with dance music, the
likes of which you'll hear on sets such as "Naphtalie Billet" and
"Reel á Castonguay." Both sets evoke beribboned May Poles rather than
parkas and jumper cables. Another frolicsome moment comes with O'Hearn's
original "Snorkel Jacket Jig," which is appended to Marchand's
"L'Échelle," a fun little one-two punch that will leave you wondering
if you should go deep diving or high stepping. And what better way to drive
away the darkness than with a bit of Wolfgang Amadeus? O'Hearn dusts off his
classical training for a stellar version of Mozart's "Bei Männern Welche
Liebe Fühlen" and, if by then, you've no idea what to make of winter we
can but say, "Well done, lads."
Rob Weir
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