MORRISBURG – Saturday, March 1, the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage welcomed Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards to Upper Canada Playhouse where they put on a show that ranged from music with a loving touch of the “auld country” to pieces with their roots firmly planted in blue grass country. With themes as varied as love among the rhododendrons, and “electronic dreams and lightning songs” the trio thrilled the audience. This was a concert that did not follow traditional patterns and the audience was enchanted and joyfully swept along.
The entire evening opened with an exciting, energetic performance by young artist, Irish Millie, “who plays a sizzling fiddle for a freezing night” as Sandra Whitworth of the SLAS said in her introduction. Joined by her guitarist dad, Murray (easy to see where Millie gets her passion for music!), Irish Millie burst on to the stage. Her fingers literally flew over the strings of her fiddle. Her vocal range was strong: if ever a performer loved to be on stage, it was her. The audience was enchanted, often clapping along to her exuberant songs.
She is a teenage artist (who has already won several musical awards) and is not afraid to try different styles and approaches. Whether it was the reflective piece, written on PEI, ‘Mystery to Me’ or the Irish fun of ‘Big Red’, Millie loves to compose, loves to write and loves to connect with her audience. Frank Zappa’s ‘Directly from my Heart to You’ was ambitious, with its strong demands on voice and fiddle (and a Murray solo in the middle) requiring stamina and passion from a singer. Irish Millie definitely delivered. When she ended her set with the very Irish ‘Riley’s Reel,’ several members of the audience got to their feet and danced. Irish Millie started the SLAS concert off with a sense of humour, extraordinary fiddle playing, and a memorable play list of songs.
Then Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards – Valerie Thompson on cello, Isa Burke on guitar and fiddle – swept singing on to the stage. Their three part harmonies were wonderful. Laura has a powerful voice, dark and rich, which allows her to vary her musical approaches at a live concert. Her themes are thoughtful and intriguing. ‘Where the Fox Hides’ effortlessly segued into the song ‘ Dreaming’; her music may sometimes be romantic, sometimes fun-filled, sometimes touching, but always, it reaches out to, and connects with, the audience.
Although born in San Francisco, Laura makes her home in Belgium where she has taken part in the “biggest Folk Music Festival in Europe, which strongly promotes music by women.” Her song, ‘Hush Now Child’, a deeply personal piece, was written for this festival. As she said in an earlier Leader interview, “Music is about connecting and every show is unique.” Laura, Valerie and Isa definitely made that warm connection, as the audience was invited to sing with them, or clap along to the lively, Celtic flavoured pieces. And both Isa and Valerie performed wonderful numbers of their own, with Laura backing them with voice and fiddle.
From the Appalachian flavoured song, ‘Greasy Coat,’ to the Flemish children’s song, ‘Three by Three” (which had us all singing and clapping along), Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards presented a concert to remember. And then, in a beautiful, deeply moving finale, the three musicians, Laura, Isa and Valerie, dimmed the lights, put aside their instruments, stood close to the audience, and simply sang a cappella. Their three rich blended voices gave listeners a warm and wonderful memory to take home…and demonstrated yet again what outstanding singers and musicians Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards truly are.
With the warm exuberance of Irish Millie and the “bold, elegant and rich” vocals by Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards filling the hall, the audience rose to its feet cheering: people were truly sad to see this unique SLAS concert end.