Grammy winning fiddler Natalie MacMaster brings her Visions from Cape Breton to the Basie stage, in a Thursday night concert appearance.
Here on the greater Red Bank Green, where the season of St. Patrick’s Day tends to extend for several weeks in either direction, the Count Basie Theatre has traditionally done its part to whet the appetite for the March festivities with some savvy schedulings in February. This coming Thursday, February 26, the venue that’s brought area audiences the world’s finest Irish tenors, Riverdancers, tin whistlers and uilleann pipers offers a look and a listen at one of the best Celtic fiddlers in the business — Natalie MacMaster.
The niece of the late and legendary “King of the Jigs” Buddy MacMaster actually hails from that other Emerald Isle — Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; a preeminent bastion of Celtic culture in North America, and the inspiration for Visions from Cape Breton, a touring show that mixes the Grammy winner’s “fiddling fireworks” with ” foot-tapping rave-ups, heart-rending ballads, and world-class step dancing.”
It’s an eclectic olio of trad and trending that’s allowed MacMaster to match musical wits with everyone from The Chieftains and Alison Krauss, to Paul Simon and Luciano Pavarotti. Tickets to the 8 pm performance ($25 – $45) can be reserved right here.
