Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To those that don’t understand the concept, the words of the free-thinking person are incomprehensible, strange, even bordering on the dangerous and threatening. The strangeness of the words, the very ideas, they act as if they were bonded in treachery, the straight-jacketed observance hearing only betrayal to the hive mind, the mantra that is constant being questioned; it is no wonder artists of all persuasions are adored but also feared, loved for the sweet release they offer for a while, afraid in some quarters because of the questioning hope they insist on releasing is not easy to translate.

For Norwegian based Scottish fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers, Owerset is that translation, a series of passionate virtuoso performances that capture the freedom espoused, that is required in an age where we are constantly failing to ask the right question, concerned only with shouting above everybody else in the belief it will make us heard, make us seem important.

If the free thinker is hard to translate, then the beautiful hybrid sound that is combined from the Scottish and Nordic traditions is easily and wonderfully recognised for all the right reasons. The marriage between different languages bound by the same appreciation of story-telling with music is to be acknowledged, and with additional musicianship from Bridget Marsden on fiddle, Hayden Powell on trumpet, Leif Ottosson on accordion, Juhani Silvola on acoustic and electric guitars and Mortien Kvam on double bass, Ms. Summers tantalises the listener with generous and observant examinations of what the freedom to explore means.

Across tracks such as Fitakaleerie, Rowk, the twin offerings of Owerset I and II, The Spey Wife and the finality of Greet, a lesson is proposed and one that is charmingly seductive but also righteous in its own belief, ready to question the standard it sets but also conceding that it is to those who witness the world through blinkered dictation to also make a move towards understanding, conciliation and awareness.

Some aspects of life are difficult to translate, not because the audience is unwilling to learn, but because society tells them it is not possible; for Sarah-Jane Summers, Owerset is proof-positive that it can be done and done with a heart held open.

Ian D. Hall