Colin Stetson and Brìghde Chaimbeul announce collaborative alternative sax and pipe album

Two artists Higher Plain Music is already a fan of are collaborating to create an alternative saxophone-and-pipe album. Colin Stetson is a multireedist, but is best known for his monumental saxophone performances, often taking the instrument way out of its traditional settings. Brìghde Chaimbeul is a piper who turns her Scottish smallpipes into quirky drones and gives alternative renditions of traditional songs alongside original compositions. When two wild horses get together, both innovators in their field, sometimes you get a kid-in-the-sweet-shop playfulness from the creativity that spirals out from the collaboration. That sounds like what’s happened with Stetson and Chaimbuel.

‘Dirt Dance’ is the lead single from the newly announced ‘All the light in the world’. The album is due for release on 11th September, but the psychedelic single is out now. It features the F mezzo soprano saxophone and the Scottish smallpipes intermingling and playing off of each other in various ways. Early on, the two instruments pulse on and off like twinkling lights, creating a reedy dance with a finger-slap beat. It’s tuneful and reminds me of modular synths, only as a duet between two reeds. As the song progresses, Brìghde Chaimbeul brings in longer wails of her smallpipes, but the dance beat continues with Colin Stetson’s sax switching to a breathless shimmer of notes. The song concludes with a beautiful cascade of notes from both players, as if the dance is having its finale serenade and celebration. It’s a bright, upbeat piece, and I love how percussive the instruments feel at times. ‘Dirt Dance’ is definitely an abstract song, so you won’t find a traditional Scottish melody here, but the precision of the performance is outstanding.

Colin Stetson and Brìghde Chaimbeul will be touring the album in North America to support its release in September. You can preorder the album on Bandcamp. I’m excited to hear what else the duo has in store for us.

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