Anita Best, a Newfoundland native, is equally respected for her folklorist collecting of traditional Newfoundland songs and her performance of them. She is frequently a collaborator with other performers, such as Pamela Morgan and Baxter Wareham. Crosshanded, from 1997, is her first solo recording.

The term cross-handed is a regional Newfoundland expression that means "carrying out any activity alone rather than in a group"--Dictionary of Newfoundland English. This expressive term fits the album title, meaning solo singing, unaccompanied. Best has handed us a treasure with this album. She sings the songs on the album a cappella, the way they were sung in the oral tradition that still existed when she was a young girl in Newfoundland. As she explains, "when I was a child, and before my time, songs were sung without music. Music was saved for dancing."

Hearkening back to a time when singing was more deeply embedded in the fabric of our culture, from entertainment to simply passing the time, these songs are a sample of the ballads and ditties the settlers brought with them from England, Ireland and France. Best brings forth their unadorned beauty and humour. Produced by Pamela Morgan, Crosshanded is highly recommended.

Crosshanded *
1997 Amber (9804-2)

Lord Bateman; Tobacco; Blanche comme la neige; The Soup Supper in Clattice Harbour; Dríharín Ó Mo Croí; The Water Witch; Le jeune millitaire; Hush-o-bye Baby; Me Old Ragadoo; The Liverpool Pilot; The Spanish Captain; Gull Cove 60:29