★★★★★
Natalie MacMaster has been playing the fiddle for 30 years. She has toured with Carlos Santana, Allison Krauss, Faith Hill and Yo-Yo Ma, done two TED Talks about Cape Breton fiddling and sold over 200,000 albums. She really is the Queen Mother of fiddling...
- exclaim.ca
2012-01-05
★★★★★
There's not much of a built-in audience for music from Cape Breton, Canada, but fiddler Natalie Mac Master has created a worldwide fan base by touring relentlessly and continually keeping fans entertained with albums that alternate between traditional music and fusion. On her latest, Mac Master writes compositions that are rooted in Cape Breton's tradition, but also brings in subtle modern touches: both electric and international sounds...
- www.globalrhythm.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
If you've been wondering what the big fuss is about Cape Breton fiddler Natalie McMaster, it may be because you haven't had the chance to see her perform live...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Canadian superstar fiddler and dancer Natalie MacMaster's tenth full-length recording doesn't deviate much from her usual formula, but considering the fact that her "usual formula" consists of filtering traditional Celtic music through the open-ended sieves of jazz, rock, country and Latin, the results are far from predictable. MacMaster is a peerless player, and here she starts things off with a fiery opener, the appropriately titled "Volcanic Jig," which sets the tone for Yours Truly...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Since Natalie MacMaster is basically a traditional Cape Breton Island Celtic fiddler who sometimes adds more modern elements to her music, a traditional album is an ideal way to hear her in her most natural environment, and My Roots Are Showing, finally issued in the U.S. by Rounder in April 2000 after having been released by Warner Bros. in Canada in 1998, is that album...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
In the 1960s and '70s there was growing concern within Celtic music circles that the perceived lack of interest and participation could jeopardize the future of that tradition. With the arrival and subsequent success of artists like Altan, Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, and Ashley MacIsaac, those worries amount to nothing but a distant memory. The educational opportunities are now abundant, the development of talent is ongoing, and the fruits of these efforts are being harvested routinely...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27