Spinning Wheel, Selection 1999-2005 (Spinning Wheel, 2004)
I took this CD out of the library one morning to play just on a whim. It was quite good, and when I looked on the Green Man Web site I discovered that no one had reviewed it, so I stepped up to the plate.
We received this CD from Bernhart Ruso, one of the members of Smoky Finish (check out Chris White’s review of Clear This Planet...Immediately! and my review of Tune the Speed in this issue). Although the two bands don’t sound at all alike, two of the members of Smoky Finish (Andreas Neumeister and Bernhart Ruso) were in both. The distinctive and delightful sound of Spinning Wheel is a consequence of the utterly scintillating vocals provided by Bernhart’s wife Danika, the band’s tasteful acoustic arrangements, and their choice of traditional material.
Selection 1999-2005 features fourteen tracks, running just over fifty minutes’ worth of music, selected from the band’s first three albums, The Spinning Wheel, This Time of the Year, and Live in Concerto. Danika Ruso is the primary vocalist. She also plays the accordion and tin whistle and does a bit of percussion work. Andreas Neumeister provides some back-up vocals and plays acoustic guitar and bass. Bernhart Ruso plays flute, whistles, and percussion. Guest artist Stephan Steiner appears on several tracks, playing nyckelharpa, accordion, and fiddle.
While the liner notes describing the band are not in English, the CD insert includes a full set of song lyrics, and many of the songs are in English, including splendid arrangements of ‘Bruton Town’ and ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’. Three songs are in Gaelic, one is in Spanish (with a melody I recall from a very old Kingston Trio album), and one is in French. Danika handles all these languages quite well and has a delicate, melodious voice that is a pleasure to hear. The instrumentation complements, but does not overwhelm, the vocals. I particularly appreciated the use of hand drums. The CD also includes two instrumental tracks, medleys of dance tunes rendered quite beautifully.
We feel quite fortunate to have this copy of Selection 1999-2005. I just searched the Amazon.com division in Germany and couldn’t find any reference to this or any of the other Spinning Wheel albums in the database. However, Bernhart Ruso tells us that the band (now Bernhart, Danika, and Markus Sauschlager on guitar) has two more albums in the works. The first, expected out in 2010-2011, will be called Maid on the Shore. That will be a compilation of traditional songs from England, Ireland, Asturia, and Bretagne. The second, due out the following year, will be called Book of Spells. As the title suggests, it will feature a collection of magic spells from Austria, Slovakia, Sweden, Scotland, and Poland plus a couple of traditional songs about spells and enchantments. Bernhart says they will be available through CD Baby. I can’t wait!
