Fraser & Haas Duo To Share Scottish Folk Music At The Freight

By John Roos

Alasdair Fraser is a curious sort. He fancies exploring, especially among kindred spirits with a shared enthusiasm. One of his biggest musical questions throughout his life has been this: Whatever happened to the cello in Scottish folk music?

Fraser, a revered, Scotland-born songwriter and fiddler now based in Nevada City, has been on a quest to answer this very question since forming a duo with cellist Natalie Haas 22 years ago. Fraser and Haas first met at one of Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling Schools in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1995. She was an aspiring, 11-year-old cello player and he was the camp’s founder who encouraged the youngster to “bend her cello” to explore new musical terrain.

The seeds were planted then for a remarkable musical partnership that eventually blossomed into years of worldwide touring and the release of six albums, from their 2004 debut, Fire & Grace, to last year’s Syzygy. But perhaps this unlikely collaboration would never have happened if Fraser--who grew up in Clackmannan, a small town located in the Central Lowlands of Scotland—had obediently fallen in line with the British government’s purging of Scotland’s cultural heritage.

That Cultural Cringe, as Fraser calls it, dismissed the Scottish language, culture and history as being irrelevant.

“We were taught in the local schools and churches that there was only one version of things,” said Fraser, 66, during a recent phone interview. “There was a deliberate attempt to suppress the Scottish language, our native tongue. There was nowhere we could listen to, let alone play, traditional Scottish music. So, I began researching the history of our folk music, and discovered these great fiddle-and-cello songs that were a written tradition going back to the 17th and 18th centuries. I just fell in love with them.”

For Fraser, the synergy of music, dance, and place is essential to the authenticity of Scottish folk music. He points to the term fiddle speak as an example.

“It’s a fluency of language, and creating a deep moment of connection between your instrument and the audience,” the soft-spoken Fraser explained. “That association between music and place is evident in the vowel sounds of certain regions in Scotland, and those translate into what accent—or dialect—you play your fiddle in. That vein of familiarity to the people who live where you’re playing is something you can savor together. And there simply is no music without dance.”

The Boston-based Haas, 37, is a classically-trained graduate of the Julliard School in New York. While many purists argue that the cello in folk music ruins the chamber technique, Haas counters that the technique is adaptable and her goals were never the same as the classical cellists. Most people don’t consider the cello to be a chordal or rhythmic instrument but Haas aims to make it both of those, and as close to the pure drop fiddle sound as she can. (For a sampling of the duo performing live in Spain, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htIwZ7oVN8Y ).

When Haas and Fraser began their musical partnership, they stumbled along with no road map to speak of. Haas was Fraser’s first student and there was plenty of trial and error. But now, Syzygy is a shining showcase of their assiduous evolution. It’s the duo’s first recording that features all original material, with Haas and Fraser each composing half of the 14 songs.

“We’ve always been driven to be creative and bring new ideas to the table,” said Fraser. “Natalie is a prolific force who’s established her place as a creator of original material. We’ve grown together as equals now quite organically, really. We have (musical) conversations with each other and we build on that duality.”

Syzygy is a solid collection of primarily slow- and mid-tempo instrumentals ranging in mood from somber and introspective to the lighter, more playful. One tune that packs an emotional punch, “The Dreamer and the Jester,” advances an underlying message about influence arising from unexpected sources.

“It’s a parable about how even though the King rules over his subjects, the jester can get away with just about anything and still survive with a wink -- now that’s having power,” said Fraser. “But then I thought about modern times and the media today, where there can be a sea of confusion so comedians have this responsibility to make sense of things using their humor as social or political commentary. Like the jester, they also can operate outside the (established) lines to find great truths--and get away with it.”

Fraser is excited to be returning to Freight & Salvage and sees this Thursday’s gig as an opportunity for a much-needed human connection.

“It is great to get back in the saddle after a year-and-a-half of contemplation,” he said. “Only it’s not just about us playing live music, rather we’re initiating a gathering . . . a chance for people to get reacquainted with their neighbors. It’s the social dynamic of a shared experience, and that’s good for us all.”

*Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas perform Thursday at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 644-2020; 8 p.m. $26-$30. www.thefreight.org. Subject to COVID-19 protocols for entry as updates appear on the venue website.