The fourth album by pianist Fergus McCreadie‘s trio is titled after a Gaelic word referring to a homemade shelter of stone and earth that protects shepherds during the summer pasturing season. Here, it’s an extended metaphor for the intimate cottage in Lochmaddy, in North Uist, in the Scottish Outer Hebrides where the band ferried from their Isle of Skye homes to record this set in five days with producer Laura Jurd.
Since releasing 2021’s Cairn, the trio — with bassist Dave Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson — has delivered a nearly trademark sound that draws equally on contemporary jazz, spectral post-bop, and Scottish folk traditions. The later nature-themed outings — 2022’s Forest Floor and 2024’s Stream — further integrated…