The Judique Flyer

about this album

The Judique Flyer was a steam driven passenger train that replaced the old stagecoach line running between Inverness and Point Tupper on Cape Breton's west coast. In 1938, fiddler Buddy MacMaster boarded The Judique Flyer to return home from Troy after playing his first dance. The Judique Flyer From that time Buddy's reputation as a fiddler spread up and down the Judique line. In 1943, Buddy took a job as a telegrapher and traveling station agent with the CNR (Canadian National Railroad) working in stations from Truro to Inverness. For the next forty years the railroad would nurture his reputation as a generous fiddler and today he is recognized as the world's leading exponent of the Cape Breton fiddle style. Joining him on this recording are many of the fine accompanists he has played with throughout his seventy year career as a master of the fiddle. Each accompanist throws a subtly different light on MacMaster's playing, making you even more aware of the inspiring lilt of his phrasing, his rock-solid timing, and the wealth of subtly-integrated graces that make his sound and rhythm sparkle. Stephen Pedersen : The Halifax Chronicle-Herald . . . a distinctive and infectious lift with an eminently enviable, absolutely solid rhythmic flair . . . he has to be one of the finest fiddlers I've ever heard. David Kidman : Rock 'n' Reel, England The Judique Flyer is one of this season's most wonderful CDs, an incredible and most historic recording. This is something that everybody

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