A Month of Sundays

No one can call the Battlefield Band's Mike Katz a bog-standard piper. A native Californian (now Scots by inclination), he's always taken an eclectic approach to the instrument, which shows through all too clearly on this solo debut. In many ways, it's a summation of his career thus far, drawing on tunes he's played with the Battlefields and earlier with the Gas Board Pipe Band — there's even one learned from the L.A. Pipe Band. Add to that some striking pieces from his own pen and others lovingly discovered in old collections, and you have a wide musical range. That's made even wider by the jazzy guitar backup of Kevin Mackenzie, with contributions from several other artists, including bandmate Alasdair White. Katz even indulges in a little bass playing to take himself back to his very early punk days. It's the kind of disc to appeal even to those who don't like piping. Katz is a master at what he does, and his joy in presenting it is palpable.