Search - Cucanandy :: Contented Minds

North Carolina based group Cucanandy announces the release of Contented Minds, a recording of songs and tunes from Celtic traditions. The band is Stephanie Johnston (vocals, guitar), Mike Casey (Irish flute, guitar), Malke Rosenfeld (Irish flute, percussive dance), and Jason Cade (fiddle, mandolin). Some tracks include guest musicians on double bass, fiddle, vocals, and harmonium. Contented Minds resumes the exploration of ensemble playing and song arranging within a traditional context that Cucanandy began with its "wonderfully inventive" (The Washington Post) debut recording He Didn't Dance. After two years of touring extensively, the band's material is more firmly grounded in the Irish tradition, but the group continues to have fun satisfying its creative muse. The resulting Contented Minds is enjoyable to a range of listeners, reflecting both respect for innovation and tradition. The songs on Contented Minds, gathered from Ireland, Nova Scotia, Scotland,and North Carolina, are mostly about loss and suffering, but the thoughtful arrangements and emotionally rich vocals make listening to them uplifting too. In the heart-rending ballad Helen of Kirconnell, two lovers meet their untimely demise. Tha Mi Sgith Dhen Fhogair Seo is a Scots-Gaelic song of exile written in North Carolina more than 200 years ago by Scottish emigrant John Macrae. The cathartic final line of Yon Green Valley, "a contented mind bears no slavery," warns about the possibility of deception in love found too hastily. The opening track Maid on the Shore is a unique arrangement of a well-known song about outwitting a crew of dastardly sailors. Johnston's expressive singing and the intricate interplay between flute and fiddle are propelled by driving guitar and foot percussion. Here and throughout the album Rosenfeld significantly raises the standard of recorded dance, employing rhythmic sensitivity, a variety of sounds, and warm tones to add lift to both songs and tunes. Exuberant, tightly choreographed step-dancing bursts with energy in The Casey Set, while feet, double bass, and guitar provide supporting grooves for the melodies in The Hunter's Moon and The Hunt for Wild Flora. Other tune sets are just as compelling with no foot percussion, like the explosive I'm Waiting for You and the unhurried, older sound of the West Coast Reels. Produced by Pete Sutherland, Contented Minds creatively echoes a time when tunes, song, and dance were all part of the same experience.