Gig at the lovely Cromarty Old Brewery on Friday 14th March ’08:
’Great band, great show, great night!
A full house roared and cheered an acoustic set played in candle-light by Bellevue Rendezvous on Friday night.
Rarely has a power cut been so much fun.
Many thanks to everyone – band and audience - and yes, we might do it again (but we’ll plan it next time!) 
’
Edinburgh-based Bellevue Rendezvous might be a newish name on the folk scene, but the individual members’ sheer musicality and years of experience on the traditional scene make for a recording of real beauty. Ruth Morris took up the nyckelharpa after attending the luthier’s festival at Saint-Chartier in Central France and her playing reveals warmth and depth. Superbly expressive fiddler Gavin Marwick is also a member of Scotland’s mighty folk orchestra the Unusual Suspects. Cameron Robson is known for his detailed bouzouki and guitar playing with bands including Deaf Shepherd. This is a sparkling collection of beautiful, lively traditional tunes garnered from the UK, Serbia, France, Macedonia, Poland, Canada and Scandinavia. Gavin contributes a superb set of his own tunes too, including the moving ’Tribute to Joe Scurfield.’ These musicians have soaked up the traditional influences of many countries for years, and tunes by the likes of Donal Lunny, Eric Olsson and Farquhar MacDonald are lovingly handled here.
Together, the three instrumentalists combine to create a detailed, vibrant and expansive sound, and there’s an ocean of lyricism here. I witnessed this band as being a key part of the hardworking Scottish contingent at the Festival InterCeltique de Lorient this year; their beautiful playing delighted the Breton audience just as it captivates the listener in this high quality recording.
Bellevue Rendezvous are an important part of a thriving UK Celtic music scene that has spawned an innovative wave of musical expression, including the so-called ’Nu-Nordic’ scene, a musical ’bridge’ spanning the UK and Scandinavia. Boundary-crossing collaborations such as Donald Shaw’s Harvest extend an equally receptive hand towards the musicians of France and Spain. The rules are gradually being re-written, and bands like Bellevue Rendezvous are helping to lead the way with their exquisite interpretations of tunes collected on their travels.
Debbie Koritsas - Songlines
World Music World review:
..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>
..tr>..table>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..>..tr> I was very pleasantly surprised when I listened to Tangents by the Scottish group Bellevue Rendezvous and in fact have listened to this album 5 days in a row since receiving it.
Part of the surprise was that it contained a number of traditional Swedish pieces I’ve played myself and had never heard anyone else perform before. The whole album has a gorgeous rolling feeling which reminds me of the playing of the well known Irish Fiddler, Martin Hayes - the pieces just seem move under their own energy without ever being too slow or too rushed - it’s like waves overlapping. The instrumental lineup of Bellevue Rendezvous is also quite interesting with Fiddle (Gavin Marwick) backed up by Bouzouki & Guitar (Cameron Robson) and the Swedish keyed Violin, Nyckelharpa (Ruth Morris). The combination of these three instruments gives the band an incredibly lush sound which suits their repertoire really well and gives it a somewhat Mediaeval sound. They play a variety of pieces from Europe such as Slangpolska and Låt Till Far from Sweden, Durdevka and Zbogom Selo from Serbia, a Breton Hanter An Dro as well as a few originals.
The mixture of pieces work together well and even Donal Lunny’s Tolka Polka which is normally performed quite fast blends in well with everything. I can’t recommend this album highly enough to anyone who enjoys European music or for that matter Mediaeval music and for those who’d like to get their feet wet with something a little different that’s still very accessible. www.worldmusicworld.com
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HOTPRESS MAGAZINE:
"Bellevue Rendezvous is a Scotland-based trio composed of fiddler Gavin Marwick, guitar and bouzouki player Cameron Robson, and Ruth Morris on the nyckelharpa, a traditional bowed Swedish instrument whose wooden keys have "tangents" (hence the title of the group’s debut album) that reach up and stop a string to generate a particular note. Before you question the absence of a singer – or indeed of any instruments outside the string family – consider whether such queries would even be raised where classical and contemporary string ensembles are concerned. The musicianship of this group is stunning, and they’ve clearly done their research when it comes to the material, which spans the full spectrum from Serbian tunes to Finnish schottisches. The majority of the tracks run upwards of seven minutes, blending the music of different nations with astonishing smoothness. The overall effect is of one continuous suite; you barely notice the gaps between the tracks. Rounding off the album are three lovely originals by Marwick – ’Tribute To Joe Scurfield’, the intriguingly named ’Despite The Cat’ and ’Another Time Another Place’.
Sarah McQuaid
fROOTS REVIEW:
BELLEVUE RENDEZVOUS
"Tangents"
Bellevue JYM 001
Now here’s an interesting trio that’s going to turn a few heads. Gavin
Marwick has been around for quite a number of leading bands. Here he
seems - like Aly Bain before him - to be transforming himself from fiddler into
Scottish violinist. By that I mean that the emphasis of his playing has
gradually changed to give more attention to expressive tone and emotion
rather than fiddle pyrotechnics.
Not that the Bellevues are playing a Scottish repertoire; far from it.
We are told that most of the tunes have been brought back from the St.
Chartier Festival by Ruth Morris. Her playing of the nyckelharpa brings a
powerful middle to the band’s sound and she and Gavin play together with a fine
empathy, and wherever the origins of these pan-European tunes, they all
take on something of a Caledonian feel in the hands of these two.
The third contributor is Cameron Robson who is the ideal accompanist of
bouzouki and guitar on this evidence - always lifting the music and
never intruding.
Self-produced debut albums don’t get much better than this.
www.birnamcd.com
Vic Smith - for fROOTS
LIVING TRADITION Review:
Bellevue Rendezvous
Tangents
Self-released, JYM001
Bellevue Rendezvous are a three-piece acoustic band, who play an unusual blend
of predominately European music. The result is an interesting,
eclectic-sounding album, flavoured with various European traditions. It
is Ruth Morris’ nyckelharpa that gives the band their distinctive
sound, combining effectively with Gavin Marwick’s fiddle and Cameron
Robson’s guitar and bouzouki.
Morris’ nyckelharpa gives a dynamic sound and is largely responsible for the European flavours that
permeate this collection. In particular, a number of lively Nordic
polska’s provide an enticing sound with the nyckelharpa driving along
the infectious rhythms -- it really is hard not to burst into
spontaneous dance! A pairing of traditional Serbian tunes, "Durdevka,"
and "Zbogom Selo", are positively brimming with Eastern European
mystique, with exhilarating melodies that border on frenetic.
Some well chosen contemporary compositions are well intermingled; the
opening tune is Donal Lunny’s sprightly "Tolka Polka," blended with a
traditional Breton tune, "Hanter An Dro" and a brooding French
mediaeval piece. The album closes with a set of three tunes composed by
band-member, Gavin Marwick, making a fine job of absorbing the many
flavours and accents that permeate this collection.
After several plays, I totally fell in love with this recording; its
diversity is both enthralling and engaging. I do have one gripe -- it
would have been nice if details about the tunes were included in the
sleeve notes. These tunes really fired my curiosity, and a bit of
detail and history would have left me feeling a little more satiated!
Mike Wilson
10:08 PM
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