Boxing Banjo "Round 2"
Own Label, 2022
Weighing in at almost exactly the same weight as their debut, Round 2 sees this band moving from mostly instrumental to a much more even mix of songs and tunes. Still punching above their weight with Mick Healy on banjo and Dara Healy on button box, the line-up is unchanged but everyone has added vocals to their CV with guitarist Sean O'Meara taking the lead and even fiddler Joseph McNulty giving the old tonsils an airing. Think Moxie crossed with Westlife and a splash of the Rubber Bandits, and you won't go far wrong. Accents from the Wild Atlantic Way suit traditional classics such as Star of the County Down and their own take on the currently popular story of Diarmuid and Gráinne, and even stretch as far as the Mumford/Dylan ballad Kansas City. Two more of the band's own songs shift between Ireland and America, upbeat and contemporary in a New Country kind of way.
The lads lash into six of their own tunes here, and several favourites from the tradition too: Finbarr Dwyer's Beare Island Reel, The Teatotaler, Mother's Delight, Palmer's Gate, Whiskey Before Breakfast and of course The Humours of Westport are joined by the new compositions North Beach (a nice gentle jig) slipping into East End, the twisting hornpipe Dog's Bay paired with the rapid-fire reel Silver Strand, and the hauntingly played Goat Island. No guests are credited on Round 2 - this quartet is more than able to fill the acoustic space with their own creative arrangements. The final Pleckin' About sums it all up neatly: a catchy tune, great fun and superb musicianship, a bit of the showman's art and a lot to enjoy. Still ten rounds to go unless there's a knock-out, but I'd say Boxing Banjo are definitely up on points at this stage.
© Alex Monaghan
Con Cassidy "Traditional Fiddle Music from Donegal"
Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí
Over two hours of music, and a few stories, from one of the central figures of the Donegal fiddle tradition. Performer, teacher, composer and preserver of the music of his home place, Con Cassidy didn't come from a musical family but he was surrounded by fiddlers and took to the fiddle like a Donegal duck to water. Con passed away in 1994, and luckily was widely recorded while he was still a good player. From Teelin in south-west Donegal, Con had a wide repertoire from travelling musicians as well as local fiddlers and he had spent a few years in London although almost all of his 85-year life was lived in Donegal. These recordings were mostly made when Con Cassidy was in his fifties and sixties - tapes people had requested were made on a home cassette recorder, and later various tune collectors recorded Con's music on reel-to-reel machines. The audio quality varies, and it's fair to say that Cassidy never aimed for a polished concert performance in any case - he was very modest about his prowess on the fiddle, and took some persuasion (and possibly lubrication at times) to play. Nevertheless, these two discs are pleasant listening and a treasure trove of tunes and versions which Con had amassed in the years when Donegal fiddle music was hardly recorded at all.
There's a 32-page booklet with this collection if you want to know more, so let's consider the music now. As you might expect, it's mostly reels and highlands, many of which are the less elaborate Donegal reels and the adapted Scottish strathspeys popular for dancing in Donegal. The fiddle was often more in demand for dancing than for listening. However, there is a surprisingly wide range of tunes here: jigs and marches, waltzes and barndances, hornpipes and polkas and more. There's also Con Cassidy's take on many pieces from the core of the Irish tradition - The Sligo Maid, Sean sa Cheo, The Boyne Hunt, Rakes of Kildare, The Centenary March presumably learned from a ceili band, a lovely rendition of Bean a'Tigh, and several more with a Teelin twist. The majority are unaccompanied, but some feature guitar and there are a number of duets with Dermot Byrne or Dermot McLaughlin on fiddle. Audio quality on CD1 is generally better, but there is a lot of interesting material on CD2 including Con Cassidy's Jig and Con Cassidy's Barndance, well-known worldwide these days, as well as the slipjig Doodley Doodley Dank, a couple of fine waltzes, and a great reel Dear Tobacco to finish with. Musically and historically this collection is a great achievement and will be a source of inspiration as well as entertainment.
© Alex Monaghan
Fara "Energy Islands"
Own Label, 2022
A third offering from this Orkney-based quartet is welcome indeed. Fara embody that peculiar island eclecticism found in Shetland and in the Western Isles too, a willingness to mix traditional and contemporary styles, particularly Scottish and American influences, from local tunes and songs to swing and country sounds. It must be said that Energy Islands is more focused on Orkney, in concept and content, than this band's previous two releases - which is slightly surprising since the line-up now includes a mainlander!
Rory Matheson replaced Jen Austin on keyboards some time ago, and his influence is strong but strictly in keeping with the Northern Isles vibe. From Assynt up near Kylesku, Rory is the only male member of Fara and the only non-Orcadian, playing piano like a young Lochinvar behind the front line of fiddlers Jeana Leslie, Cat Price and Kristan Harvey. Mr Matheson also contributes his fair share of compositions here, with names which celebrate geography from Stoer to Bermuda, and a touch of West Coast Gaelic in Allt a'Mhuilinn. As well as great music, Energy Islands celebrates language with puns (West Tide Story and Broom Power) and fine lyrics on four songs, drawing on Orcadian poets as well as one of Jeana's compositions.
The theme of natural energy runs throughout this album, from the Northern Lights known as Merry Dancers locally, to the wave energy celebrated by White Horse Power. Titles such as Solar, Wind Dancers and Excess Electric tell the story of renewables on Orkney, an embarrassment of riches at times. The powerful Harvey fiddle tune Sunkiss contrasts with the slow beat of Leslie's Chinook Winds and with the urgency of Turbine Down. Jeana's song Fair Winds is strong and engaging, a great sing-along number. Matheson leads on his own piece before the more cryptic Orbital O2 pays tribute to one of Orkney's many energy innovations. A beautiful slow air remembering the sinking of The Hampshire in 1916, and a pair of power reels from Price, bring us at last to the title track: waves of music, building and rising, and finally ebbing away in a potent ending to Energy Islands. The force is strong with these four.
© Alex Monaghan
Nathan Gourley & Laura Feddersen "Brightly or Darkly"
Own Label, 2022
Two fiddle-players based in the eastern USA, both brought up with a mix of Irish and American music, Feddersen and Gourley have collaborated on a couple of previous recordings and played together in Boston sessions for many years, so there is an impressive depth of understanding and complementarity to their duets. On this album they branch out a little, playing almost entirely Irish or Irish-American material but with the flexibility of fiddle tunings found in American and Scandinavian music. Only two tracks here are in standard tuning - the others range from Eb to B, with some dropped bass and some raised bass. As well as lending an Appalachian resonance to the tunes, the richness of harmonies and double-stopping calls to mind the drones of the Irish pipes at times.
You know you're at the heart of the Irish tradition when two thirds of an album is reels. Nathan and Laura throw in a couple of jigs, a barndance or two, a pair of polkas, a fling and even a waltz, but you can tell their first love is the reel. They start with a Scottish classic, Sir George Mackenzie, but after that its the Emerald Isle all the way: The Monaghan Twig, Sean sa Cheo, Ah Surely, Callaghan's, The Leitrim Thrush and The Spike Island Lasses are all handled with skill and creativity, twin fiddles giving a great fullness of sound. Nathan takes a solo on Matt Peoples' and The Rookery, tuned up to Eb, while Laura plays three reels in standard tuning including the currently in-vogue Return to Camden Town which has lost its attribution to either Bobby Casey or Raymond Rowland.
Some of my favourite pieces here are The Maids of Mitchelstown which always makes me think of cheese, Joe Bane's Barndance beautifully played by this duo, and that waltz The Humours of Glynn which really stands out among the faster tracks. Gourley adds guitar and bouzouki accompaniment on many tracks, but the fiddles are what you hear, which is just as it should be. Notes on each track are informative and entertaining, giving tunings and provenances for each piece, and the CD is tastefully presented. Brightly or Darkly ends as it began, with classic reels: The Collier's and The Bucks of Oranmore, the perfect finish to many a session and an energetic finale to a very fine recording which is a definite bright spot in life's flow.
© Alex Monaghan
Brendan Hearn & Dakota Karper "Hemlock & Hickory"
Own Label, 2022
Hemlock seems surprisingly popular at the moment - I'm told it doesn't make a good end, but maybe it's a great way to start! This debut CD from oldtime duo Karper (fiddle and banjo) and Hearn (cello and guitar) blends the Appalachian music of West Virginia with a bit of Celtic, a bit of Classical, and a lot of raw energy. Take the opening track, six times round the old favourite Coon Dog on grinding fiddle while the cello plays back-up, then takes a solo, then sits back into low harmonies, all the while pushing the toe-tapping beat, earthy and primal. We hear a sweeter side to Dakota's fiddle on the charming country waltz Benny & Bea's, benefiting from bowed cello, before Coyote Howl conjures the backwoods again in an almost bluegrass showpiece. Brendan and Dakota's composition Jack in the Pulpit combines powerful octave harmonies with a lyrical melody, Brittany Karlson's bass underpinning the duo. Three vocal numbers are strewn among the tunes, including the Karper original Mist on the Mountains which features Conor Hearn on guitar alongside banjo, cello and bass. Both Dakota and Brendan sing strong and clear, somewhere between country and gospel, over attractive arrangements. The final Big Eyed Rabbit throws everything into the pot - snatches of song, slap bass, guitar, cello and fiddle, a catchy ending for an impressive first recording.
© Alex Monaghan
Susie Lemay & Denis Pépin "Deux"
Own Label, 2022
A first duo recording from this Quebec husband and wife pair is a treat indeed. Both Susie and Denis have performed and recorded widely, and are respected box-players in the Quebec tradition. Here they step slightly outside the core one-row accordion repertoire: playing a 3-row ADG box and a D/C# box with D on the outer row as favoured by Joe Derrane, Lemay and Pépin rattle through classics such as Set Américain and Kimmel's Homeward March, two pieces by the great Philippe Bruneau, the Skinner strathspey Little John's Hame and the great Irish-American reel The Old Grey Cat. Most tunes are attributed to a composer, or at least a source for the version here, and while there are a few Scots and Irish numbers the majority are from the French Canadian tradition.
Starting with Quadrille Jos Bouchard, the music on Deux is generally very suitable for dancing: 6/8s, reels, marches, lovely waltzes by Manuel Puig and Yvan Brault, all are accompanied by great chord arrangements which defy the limitations of the bass buttons on these small accordions. The melodies are rhythmic and engaging, often with elaborate ornamentation in the Québécois style or perhaps following the lead of John Kimmel, Jerry O'Brien and others. The sound is full and sweet with relatively dry-tuned reeds and tight duet playing. I particularly enjoyed La Ronde des Voyageurs, Vieille Branche, and Hommage À Stéphane Landry paired with Reel Provençal which is a composition by Denis Pépin. Deux is Quebec accordion with a difference, delightfully played, and should appeal to a wide audience of listeners and dancers. Their Facebook page gives an email address if you prefer: lemaypepinaccordeon@gmail.com
© Alex Monaghan
Les Fireflies "Day by Day"
Own Label, 2022
A second album from these three New Brunswick ladies, Day by Day maintains the balance of songs and tunes, old and new material which was so enjoyable on their debut release. Louise Vautour and Samantha Robichaud are mainly known as fiddlers, although both sing and serve as occasional fashion icons. Christine Melanson is most familiar as a keyboards player but is also a demon on fiddle or guitar with an equally devilish wit and a comic genius in song, word and deed. Together they create a full and wide-ranging sound: their own fiddle tunes mix with many from Ireland and Cape Breton, their songs range from country ballads to contemporary folk, and all three switch smoothly between English and French in both vocals and violin styles.
The opening Up on the Old Mountain Road is an oldtime nonsense song jointly written by our protagonists. Three girls, a gin-soaked mother, a dog and cat and mouse make for a classic story of backwoods folk. Comme s'Envolent les Outardes is more serious, another song of the hard life of touring musicians, as transient as the Canada goose, never home for long. The title track takes a slightly more positive view of the travelling life. These vocal numbers are surrounded by great instrumentals - a medley of Irish dance music starting with the three-part Carolan classic Blarney Pilgrim, four reels finishing with John Morris Rankin's composition Jack Daniels, the collaborative Canadian first change Les Lucioles, and Sam's gorgeous air Florence. Three fiddles fire up for Chick Fur Machine, a trio of tasty new reels showcasing each lady's style. The build-up to the big finish starts with a fine selection of Irish, Canadian and Scottish reels from different generations, and concludes with the ominous song Nos Noces Noires by Christine and Louise, bewitching indeed, paired with the B minor voodoo of Sleepy Maggie or Jenny's Chickens for a suitably scary finish.
© Alex Monaghan
Pat Fleming "Live Music from Sliabh Luachra"
Sliabh Luachra Records, 2022
A box-player from Sliabh Luachra playing polkas and slides isn't an unusual thing these days, fortunately, but recordings are still relatively rare so this CD of Pat Fleming and friends is a welcome addition. Pat plays the music he grew up with around Boherbue, between Ballydesmond and Kanturk in the north-west corner of County Cork. Ably assisted by his wife Maria Cotter on fiddle, friends Tim Browne and Gary O’Brien, and special guest Timmy O’Connor on additional box, Pat recorded this debut album just up the road in Newmarket: it might have been enlivened by a few drinkers and dancers, as the hall sounds a little empty, but the tunes speak for themselves.
Live Music from Sliabh Luachra kicks off with a version of Mairi's Wedding which is recognisable as the Hebridean song morphed into a Kerry polka with a fine traditional introduction. Slides next of course, and the topical Oh My Love is it Cold you Got? No it's COVID you Eejit!, followed by the modern modal polka Johnny O'Leary's Pound Note given a good spin in Fleming's washing machine. There's a set of reels in the characteristic sparse Sliabh Luachra style with a good swing to the rhythm, then it's back to polkas for The One I Know which was actually only vaguely familiar to me.
There are well-known names aplenty here alright - Billy Mahony, Padraig O'Keeffe, Tom Billy, Johnny Micky Barry, and of course Johnny O'Leary all make one or more appearances in tune titles. The Road to Dingle is honoured in a set of two jigs ending with The Mouse in the Cupboard, and Pat Fleming's live performance ends on a fine pair of polkas from colder times with As I Went Out Upon the Ice. Punchy button box and strong accompaniment make this a great example of Munster dance music, and the material locates it firmly in the Sliabh Luachra tradition. Composing credits go to Timmy O'Connor for three pieces, and to Tim Browne for one, but otherwise this repertoire is little changed since earliest recordings.
© Alex Monaghan
Draíocht "Tobar an Cheoil"
Own Label, 2022
It's been a while, but June McCormack and Michael Rooney are back with a third album of traditional Irish music on flute and harp - much of it contemporary compositions by Rooney. The pair have made quite a name for themselves since their 2004 album which gave this duo the name Draíocht - magic or sorcery - a richly deserved epithet. Tobar an Cheoil means the well or spring of music, and there's no questioning the purity of the source which this album draws on: Sligo flute and fiddle music, and the legacy of the Irish harp, are the frame in which this collection is cast, whether it's old tunes such as McGivney's Favourite and The Boys of Ballisodare, or the newer Ulster Reel and Planxty Castle Leslie.
Familiar and forgotten gems of the tradition open this collection: Drag Her Round the Road and James Murray's Number 2 from Sligo, The Lark on the Strand and The Boat to Bofin marking a memorable Connemara ferry ride. After that, it's mainly original material - more reels and jigs, but also plenty of slow airs, laments, marches, hop-jigs and slip-jigs. Harp and flute take the lead, but they are not alone - Jack Warnock on guitar, Maria Ryan and Lucia Mac Partlin on violins, Aoife Burke on cello and Seamie O’Dowd on guitar add depth and variety. From the frankly funky An Cruitire to the moving air End of an Era, the music flows and eddies with never a dull moment. There's a lovely pair of John Brady jigs, a dramatic march, two fine planxties, and a pair of grand old reels to finish with: almost an hour of the best of Irish music, magic indeed!
© Alex Monaghan
Alastair Savage "Tunes from the River"
Own Label, 2022
Fiddler Alastair Savage's sixth album is a collection of his own pieces composed over the last decade or so. They honour many elements of Scottish folk music and culture: whisky from Talisker distillery, the legacy of highland Black Houses, Whistlebinkies piper Rab Wallace, the Clutha Bar in Glasgow, and others. Rab Wallace is one of the guests on Tunes from the River, along with respected fluter Eddie McGuire, woodwind wizard Ewan Robertson, guitarist Euan Drysdale, bassist Iain Crawford, and renowned fiddler Pete Clark. There's a tribute to Finnish music with brief spots by kantele player Vilma Timonen and pianist Timo Alakotila, and the Finnish crossover provides a bridge to American influences on The Road from Chicago and Big Apple Monday, but most of the material here is firmly Scottish one way or another.
Mostly this is an outstanding album of Scottish music. The air Kinshaldy is breathtaking on flute and fiddle. Barry Robertson's Jig is infused with the classic Perthshire fiddle spirit of Gow and his followers, while Reel Time Rotterdam is a very fine modern up-tempo dance tune. The Rocks of Kilchoman and Rab's Rockin' Reel neatly bookmark the bagpipe spectrum, and the title track captures the grieving and gallus sides of Glasgow. Savage's arrangements are varied, engaging, and often deep and complex. The three live tracks from 2017 and 2018 show a brightness and vitality which is simply delightful. Just occasionally that liveliness of spirit gets lost, or is forced too far: examples which knocked me out of kilter were the abrupt switch into folk rock for Big Apple Monday and the ravelled melody lines on Morning Waves. The opening Summer in Skye Suite illustrates both aspects of Alastair Savage's fiddling for me: if all four pieces here are to your taste, you will love the whole CD, but if at some point you blink then be wary of the points I mentioned.
© Alex Monaghan
The Fitzgeralds "A Canadian Christmas"
Own Label, 2022
Three star-quality siblings from Ontario, The Fitzgeralds will be familiar to many of you. Julie, Kerry and Tom have released several fine albums collectively and individually, and have brought their brand of Celtic-based Canadian fiddle music and traditional stepdance to stages around the world. This CD is somewhat different, inspired by the winter festival of Christmas and containing some specific Christmas items, but also ranging across acoustic music from multiple Canadian cultures. A recording for all seasons, A Canadian Christmas makes a timely gift as well as a lasting source of enjoyment and entertainment.
Starting contrarily with the jig End of Winter by local composer Brian Pickell, there's plenty of dance music in this collection. Christmas in Killarney takes us from Ontario to Ireland, before Christmas Across Canada puts us straight back in the frozen north with a waltz, a jig, and several reels spanning from New Brunswick to Alberta. Joe Phillips and Eric West provide bass and percussion repectively, but everything else is delivered in perfect unison by The Fitzgeralds: fiddles, piano, stepdance, mandolin, guitar, and a couple of vocal numbers. Joni Mitchell's River and Stan Rogers' First Christmas are sung by Tom with strong arrangements.
In the Bleak Midwinter, probably my favourite carol, and O Holy Night are both performed as instrumentals, joining Kerry's Winter Walk and a spot of Tschaikovsky: Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without sugar plums! The trio wrap up (warmly) with I Saw Three Ships on fiddles and guitar, no words, ending a fine selection of music which celebrates the season in broad terms. This inclusiveness is underlined by the album cover: outdoor ice-hockey with Tom, Julie, and a surprisingly hench Kerry! Whether December for you is a time of serious contemplation or joyous relaxation - or both - A Canadian Christmas fits the bill nicely.
© Alex Monaghan
Joe MacMaster "Joe MacMaster"
Own Label, 2022
This is no ordinary Joe. Admittedly he had some advantages - practically born with a fiddle under his chin, into a respected musical family on Cape Breton Island, sessioning with the best of the best from an early age - but Joe MacMaster has made the most of his gifts. This young fiddler now presents his debut album as an outstanding dance musician and a proud bearer of the Cape Breton tradition. Joe adds eight of his own tunes to the rich repertoire of Nova Scotian fiddling, and there are a few waifs and strays of Irish music here too, but the bulk of this recording comes from grand old Scots fiddlers, with pieces by Scott Skinner, Dan Hughie MacEachern, Dave Greenberg, Howie MacDonald, Dan R, and other well known composers alongside many whose names are lost in antiquity.
Strathspeys and reels start us off, of course, and most of this CD is the Cape Breton music of reels, jigs, marches and various tempos of strathspey. There are often half a dozen or more tunes to a single track, but there are no monster medleys - each arrangement is under seven minutes, with some much shorter. The three slow airs which break up the dance music bring the average track length down considerably, and add sparkling interludes of fiddle sensitivity and keyboard creativity. Hector MacAndrew's Mrs J H Alexander is an unfamiliar delight. Captain Simon Fraser's Wail for Neil Gow is better known, given a fine interpretation here with delicate touches of guitar from Elmer Ferrer.
The contribution of Mary Frances Leahy on other tracks is remarkable, another young star in the Cape Breton firmament who excels in her introductions to a couple of pieces and provides perfect accompaniment throughout, bringing an awareness of both Scottish and Irish traditions to bear. Joe MacMaster finishes with his own air A Heart Undivided, swapping fiddle for piano in the manner of many fine musicians before him, to end on a gentle and slightly more contemporary note. I have to say this album flew by, every moment a joy, and it is up there with some of the best debut recordings I have heard: certainly one of the finest releases of 2022. Email joemacmaster29@gmail.com for details.
© Alex Monaghan
"Paddy O'Brien - 1922-1991"
Own Label, 2022
Solo recordings from the legendary Tipperary accordion player and composer, this collection has been digitised and restored from 1950s recordings and presents the distinctive style of Paddy O'Brien playing traditional tunes - reels, jigs, and hornpipes - from the core of the Irish repertoire, with just one of O'Brien's own. This is an excellent representation of the best Irish accordion music of the time, and as well as being a fascinating historic document it is also great entertainment and dance music. There are three short solos by Paddy's father fiddler Dinny O'Brien in the middle of this CD, and the rest is accordion, mostly unaccompanied with piano backing on a few selections. Tastes have changed in the accompaniment of Irish music, and it's interesting to hear Paddy O'Brien's left hand technique on several tracks.
About half this material is reels, with hornpipes accounting for most of the other half, and just four tracks of jigs. The newer compositions are reels and hornpipes, so perhaps jigs were out of fashion: The Moving Cloud, Paddy Kelly's O'Brien's Dream, The Hunter's House and Fisherman's Island are all widely played today, while Paddy's own Swan on the Lake and James Hill's High Level Hornpipe like many of the hornpipes here are less often heard in sessions or on modern recordings. Another unusual aspect of this collection is the number of tracks devoted to a single melody - eleven, nearly half, mostly quite short. I'm not sure if this was again a fashion, perhaps deriving from the time limits of very early recordings which were no longer a constraint in the 1950s. There is also quite a variation in tone and clarity of the recordings here, leading me to suspect they were recorded on different instruments as well as in different studio and home locations: certainly the photos show two distinct accordions. None of these details interfered with my enjoyment of Paddy O'Brien's exceptional talent, from the start of Dr O'Neill's Jig to the lat note of College Groves.
© Alex Monaghan
Arthur Coates "Trapdoor to Hell"
Own Label, 2022
A hugely talented young fiddler, Arthur Coates has performed and recorded solo and with various groups since his early teens. With a background from the North East of Scotland, he has mastered many aspects of Celtic music but his passion is for the fiddle traditions of Quebec. Arthur shot to prominence with online performances and competition success during the COVID lockdowns, a time which allowed him to participate in global fiddle events in a way which was not previously possible. This new album is a step up from his previous releases, enlisting some big names from Quebec and spanning many styles of music. From Montreal to Manchester, Meldrum to Monpelier Vermont, Trapdoor to Hell rocks the socks off Scottish, English, and a wide range of Canadian tunes and songs, including half a dozen Coates originals. Vocals on six tracks, fiddle and foot percussion on another eight, and bouzouki sprinkled with guitars, Arthur Coates is justified in calling this a solo album despite almost a dozen guests.
The heart of Trapdoor to Hell comes from that Québécois tradition of driving dance music, but this album sprouts arms and legs stretching into Scottish airs and several song genres. The Lancashire Lads and Pills of White Mercury from the English folk catalogue, Monymusk Lads from Aberdeenshire bothy ballads, and three more contemporary songs from New England and Canada about road building, old locomotives, and the slow march of climate change - well not a lot happens in most of North America so the choice is limited! Each of these is given a stirring arrangement: Pierre-Luc Dupuis and Mark Insley on harmonicas, Alex Walters on keys and Douglas Barber on percussion, with stalwart Kerran Cotterell swapping his trusty guitar for an accordion. Kerran and Pierre-Luc also play a big part in the backing of Arthur's instrumental tracks, reels and jigs in the French Canadian style, a couple of his own slow airs, an Irish set, and two towering fiddle medleys to top and tail this collection. Jaw harp, foot percussion and accordion add to the Quebec feel, but the fiddle is king here as the energy and dexterity of this rising star strike sparks from great tunes old and new.
© Alex Monaghan
Chaimbeul, Ainslie, Byrnes "LAS"
Great White Records , 2022
Young Skye piper Brìghde Chaimbeul has teamed up with smallpipes superstar Ross Ainslie and ace Irish guitarist Steven Byrnes Haberlin for an album of striking pipe duets ranging across Scotland, Ireland, Bulgaria, Brittany, Asturias, and even England. The limitations of the Scottish smallpipes mean that there is necessarily a uniformity of sound and texture throughout LAS. However, genius will out, and this trio manage to make a humble instrument dance and sing and indeed shout from the rooftops in a way you have probably not heard before. Pitched in the unusual key of C, Brìghde and Ross' pipes sound in between the more familiar A-ish and concert D sets, making them a perfect compromise of resonance and penetration, if a little surprising when you attempt to play along. Not that there are many who can keep up with the intricacy and range of music here: little-known Breton Gavottes rub shoulders with lavishly-ornamented Irish reels, grand old Scottish marches and strathspeys brush against Balkan dance tunes and airs. With such a pair of composing talents, there are also some original pieces in the mix. Ainslie melodies top and tail LAS, and Chaimbeul's Badger and Weasel provide a nod to American oldtime with their hypnotic repetition. The possibilities for arrangements with this line-up are limited, but Brìghde and Ross take turn about to start each selection and add harmonies, while Steven's inventiveness on guitar keeps things fresh and lively. Memorable moments include Damien O'Kane's Castlerock Road, Brìghde's solo on the Bulgarian Lichko Lio, Ross' tribute to Doddie Weir's Tartan Punk Rock Trews, and a storming double pipes version of The Wild Irishman. It's all good, and bears repeated listening.
© Alex Monaghan
Elizabeth Davidson-Blythe & Daniel Quayle "The Coast Road"
Own Label, 2022
A very entertaining debut release of Irish, Manx and Scottish traditional material mixed in roughly two to one with new compositions by Boston fiddler Davidson-Blythe, The Coast Road is a breathtaking tour with much to recommend it. Some sections are taken at tempos in excess of R, Douglas Adams' useful measure of the maximum advisable speed in any situation, but everyone reaches journey's end unharmed and it certainly gets the adrenaline pumping! The fiddle is supported throughout by bouzouki and guitar from Daniel Quayle (not that Daniel Quayle), who is probably responsible for much of the Manx influence here: it's great to see Manx music front and centre, and the pioneering work of Tomàs Callister is acknowledged by his guest appearance on a couple of tracks as well as the inclusion of his fine grinding reel The Answerer. The world of three-legged tailless music is also repesented by David Kilgallon whose string arrangements on the air For Ewen are a bittersweet delight.
With just two slower tracks, Elizabeth and Daniel provide a whirlwind experience of jigs and reels, reels and jigs, and occasionally both at once. Speed merchant Ciarán Ryan joins them on tenor banjo for a romp through tunes by David Doocey and Martin Wynne. Quayle switches to piano for a trio of traditional Manx and Irish jigs or slides. The quality of Davidson-Blythe's compositions is such that her reels Córdoba and Kaighin's effectively eclipse Vincent Broderick's Ring Around the Moon - although he redeems himself with The Milky Way following Cairistìona Dougherty's evocative Drunken Shrew. There's Eroticon VI (named for the planet, not the event) by Adam Sutherland in a reasonable key, The Sunny Hills of Beara by the late John Dwyer, and a rhythm-shifting Estonian piece for variety. The Coast Road ends with the challenging Contradiction and Shona Newey's funky B Real. This duo packs a lot of music into forty minutes, and when you've caught your breath you'll probably want to hear it all again.
© Alex Monaghan
Jason O'Rourke "The Sunny Side of the Latch"
Own Label, 2022
Another album of new traditional music - a popular concept at the moment - this collection is by Belfast concertina master Jason O'Rourke, no stranger to the recording studio and equally at home in traditional sessions. His two dozen tunes here reflect a broad range of Irish music, from the polkas and hop jigs of Kerry to the highlands of Donegal. Reels are in short supply for once, barely a handful - perhaps they are harder to write, or maybe all the good ones are taken - but jigs, waltzes, hornpipes and more flow from the fingers of this prolific composer. O'Rourke subscribes to a familiar mantra, favoured by John Doherty and one I'm fond of myself: never play a tune the same way twice. While this makes the learning of these pieces by ear a little more challenging, it also sets a precedent for variation, the lifeblood of traditional music, and encourages individual expression.
The Sunny Side of the Latch is an enjoyable selection, with plenty of catchy melodies. Some of my favourites are The Ambapador Polka [sic], Andy Dickson in the Errigle, the sweeping Waltz of the Spirits, and the title jig. As always with new music in the traditional idiom, there are echoes of older tunes, new members of the family with strong resemblances to their forebears, and at times it's hard to say whether a jig or a polka is a variation on an existing piece or a new tune in its own right - but that's okay. It's all part of the natural evolution of traditional music, and has always been the way of things, with innovations from Padraig O'Keeffe to Micho Russell to Seamus Ennis or John Kelly. O'Rourke plays concertina in a relatively unornamented style, mainly monophonic, and he is accompanied here by a number of well known musicians from Ireland and beyond on guitars, bass, harp, bouzouki and the dispensable shruti box. The arrangements are full and foot-tapping, the performance on concertina is close to flawless, and the whole experience is highly satisfying.
© Alex Monaghan
Jocelyn Pettit & Ellen Gira "All It Brings"
Own Label, 2022
British Columbia fiddler Jocelyn Pettit teams up with Maryland cellist Ellen Gira for a dazzling duo debut. Both have spent years studying in Glasgow, and Ellen is now based in Scotland, which makes rehearsals awkward but explains why this album was recorded in Biggar and lends an authenticity to the Celtic material here to match their mastery of Americana and Western Canadian traditions. All It Brings combines pieces from across North America with Scottish and Irish melodies, plus a few new compositions. The opening track joins Michel Bordeleau's magnificent modern Québéquois reel Fleur de Mandragore with one of Jerry Holland's less well known tunes Gillian Head: Jocelyn adds step-dance to underline the Quebec spirit, and Adam Dobres slots in perfect guitar accompaniment here as elsewhere. Ireland is represented by the traditional Powder Room Jigs - no doubt named for the gunpowder museum in Ballincollig - and newer creations by Ed Reavy, Sharon Shannon and Gráda's Stephen Doherty.
The Scots repertoire furnishes the grand old strathspey Atholl Brose and the two rousing reels which follow it, as well as the stately 18th century jig Johnny McGill which allows Ellen's cello to shine on the melody line. Most tracks are fiddle-led with cello harmonies and rhythmic accompaniment: another exception is the Appalachian classic Cumberland Gap where the tune is passed from big fiddle to little fiddle in an inventive and compelling arrangement. There are two songs here, both ladies contributing strong vocals: the traditional emigration ballad Across the Western Ocean, and the title track which combines Pettit lyrics with a Gira melody and a spot of guest cajon. Ellen also provides the jaunty Invasion of the Houseplants, a sort of "Cello House of Horrors", and the perceptive reel Drenched in Tennent's which captures the glamour of Glasgow life - perfect for a Park Bar session or a Kinnaris Quintet recording! Jocelyn Pettit and Ellen Gira have expertly captured the spirits of several traditions here, and I am really looking forward to seeing them perform live.
© Alex Monaghan
Mark Sullivan "Promenade Home"
Own Label, 2022
Three-time champion in the early 2000s at the Canadian Grand Masters fiddle competition, Mark Sullivan specialises in Canadian oldtime and swing with a seriously smooth fiddle style. Promenade Home is close to his tenth album, and the title is a giveaway: most of the music here is for dancing, square sets or ballroom the Canadian way. All tunes were composed by Mr Sullivan for friends and supporters, in styles from Old World polkas to Wild West breakdowns and everything in between. It's almost all distinctively Canadian, recalling Don Messer and King Ganam and perhaps Graham Townsend. There are jigs and reels aplenty, a couple of gorgeous waltzes, a hornpipe, a schottische, a two-step and a foxtrot, all eminently danceable - but beware of Barrack McHardy's Air unless you can think on your feet!
While Mark Sullivan adds mandolin, guitar, bass and foot percussion to accompany his fiddle, he also enlists the aid of Paul Chapman and Adam Dobres on guitars, Andrew Collins on mandolin, Sabin Jacques on accordion, Jeremy Rusu on piano and other things, and Mike Sanyshyn on percussion - all top notch sidemen and accompanists, making the arrangements here sparkle. Whether it's the gentle mood of Cec & Zelda's Old Time Waltz, the finger-twisting arpeggios of Glenn & Judy's Jig or the rapid-fire rhythm of Johnny Luxton's Reel, every piece is delivered with flair. With one exception, each track is devoted to a single tune, giving plenty of scope for expression and variation. Mark's compositions are fun too, for listeners, dancers and players alike: Mr Brisson's Reel with its catchy runs and cheeky harmonies, Brian Murphy's Jig hitting the offbeats, and the slinky swing of Freda's Foxtrot are good examples. Mark Sullivan's music definitely deserves to be better known in Europe.
© Alex Monaghan
MacArthur, Plumb, Peach, Grey "Telluric Translations"
Own label, 2022
iTunes marked this one as "Unknown Genre", and for once I agree. Imagine a three-cushion sofa - one marked Celtic, one marked funk, and one marked oriental mysticism - and then go fishing for what fell down the back, and if you're lucky you might find something like Telluric Translations. Shooglenifty reprobates Quee MacArthur and Luke Plumb contribute bass and vocals, mandolin and guitar on this download-only release, while traditional Scottish duo Joseph Peach and Charlie Grey add keyboards and fiddle. From Hobart to the highlands of Scotland, collaboration during COVID produced some unusual ideas - structuring rhythms according to the spacing of random trees, The Waves of Loch Linnhe, a view from a lockdown window, the treeline on Flinders Island, ... but somehow it all works. It reminds me of Alasdair Fraser's story of a fiddler who struggled to compose her first tune, until he suggested looking out at the Cuilin hills on Skye and playing the contours on the horizon.
Speaking of Skye, it's but a hop and a skip - and a wee swim - from Glenuig, the inspiration for a couple of pieces here. The Red House Reel is one of Joseph's, almost a Scottish dance band piece if the dance happened to be Romanian and the band had a leaning towards jazz. The final Smirisary is named a particularly fine stretch of coast just south of Glenuig, and appropriately combined a gentle march with a Hebridean waltz. Working backwards, Lismore celebrates a rather smaller and flatter island where Charlie lives, a gentle piece on piano and mandolin. White Cart Water is one of Glasgow's other rivers, winding through the city behind houses and factories, through parks and pastures, to join the Black Cart before flowing into the Clyde at Renfrew. Norman's Law is a hill in Fife, the furthest east on this tour of Scotland, and the first track on Telluric Translations: a slow 3/4 beat with single-reed accordion over mystical guitars and explosive percussion like a distant battle, eerie fiddle and rumbling bass, finishing as these things so often do with the distant sound of sirens and a staggered final chord. A virtual walk on the wild side, no adrenalin but plenty of surprises, this album is one to muse over.
© Alex Monaghan
Finn Collinson "The Threshold"
Own label, 2022
Finn Collinson is on a path to firmly establish the recorder as a folk music instrument by choice in the English folk scene. Many of us will reminisce the shrill recorder playing at school – quickly forget about that image, as Finn‘s recorder playing is ace and perfectly placed in a folk context! Finn Collinson "The Threshold"
A very talented young recorder player, Finn Collinson's second album has been eagerly awaited in the English folk world. Ably adding to Collinson's recorders and fretted strings are Emma Beach on oboes and vocals, Archie Churchill-Moss on guitar and diatonic accordion, and Evan Carson on percussion. In six instrumental tracks and four songs, this band gives a very good representation of cutting-edge English folk - their PR suggests folk-rock, but really there's only so far you can go with a recorder!
Fiona J Mackenzie "The Fireside"
I'm very impressed by this release - not at all what I expected, but a very valuable contribution to Gaelic song and to folk music collections in general. I've long felt that it was a tragedy that singers and musicians were not recorded in their prime, that the folklore collectors only got to people in their sixties or seventies in many cases, when they were well past their best performances. Such is the material which has gone into archives and academic collections, and which is seen as definitive when as often as not it was a mis-remembered and fumbled rendition by someone who was caught on a bad day or was simply no longer at their best. Singer and archivist Mackenzie has taken a different approach, putting these old recordings in an informal setting and recording new fireside performances to complement them. Vocal and instrumental pieces, mouth music and work songs, and a few surprises - this collection includes a trio of old Spinning Songs, a beautiful rendition of the lament Ailein Duinn from Fiona, a lullaby from Uist which probably went to Nova Scotia during the Highland Clearances, the popular waulking song Ho Mo Leannan, and much more.
Tall Poppy String Band "Tall Poppy String Band"
Three well-known old-time musicians have got together here to see if their collective sound is greater than the sum of its parts - I'd say yes! In an album of almost all old material - a hundred years or more - fiddler George Jackson, banjoist Cameron DeWhitt, and guitarist Mark Harris deliver three songs, seven instrumentals, and two tracks with a splash of vocals over a rattling good tune. Tall Poppy String Band makes a decent fist of singing the classic Man of Constant Sorrow, the Ola Belle Reed ballad Springtime of Life, and the country swing number The Train That Carried My Man From Town - sure they can sing, but boy can they play!
Elephant Sessions "For the night"
Over the past decade Elephant Sessions has brought their trance inducing unique blend of Scottish trad funk dance music to festivals and concert halls up and down the county. “For then night” marks the 10th anniversary, and offers the usual heady mix of instrumental music – with melodies on fiddle and mandolin, with a modern bass, synth, drums and samples backdrop. As we are used from previous albums, the tunes of Elephant Sessions are very repetitive, but this is wanted and is part of the attraction of the band’s music and live performance. Perhaps some of the tracks go even further into the electronica/disco range than previously, but the essence is still the music we know and love of this Scottish powerhouse of dance music.
Elephant Sessions "For the Night"
This band, and a handful of others, have redefined traditional-based dance music in Scotland over the past decade or so. While accordion and bagpipes still have their place in ceilidh music appealing to a younger audience, Elephant Sessions' hallmark front line of fiddle and mandolin has been equally powerful in taking "teuchter music" off the croft and into the club scene. The Scottish roots of this material are still intact, but they have been layered with more modern influences - and the result is new, exciting, dynamic dance music suited to generations who grew up with garage and grunge and electronica as much as pipes and drums and reels. For the Night is the fourth album from this Glasgow-based quartet, and it shows the polish and professionalism which they have brought to a new genre.
„The Threshold“ is the second album of this young talented performer, and is once again highly commended. Largely original music, the album features six tunes and four songs. The instrumentation not only features Finn‘s recorders, but also, equally unusual in a folk band, the imaginative oboe playing of Emma Beach. Two of Sam Kelly‘s Lost Boys (and of multiple other bands and collaborations), percussionist and bodhran player Evan Carson and accordionist Archie Churchill-Moss complete the band - and their influence is clearly evident in many of the tracks. The tunes are clearly folk music, with Celtic inspirations, but beautifully take in classical influences - in fact one of the sets of tunes features a Gavotta from a sonata by Martino Bitti. The songs showcase that Finn is also an excellent folk singer and songwriter - two of the songs are his compositions; one of the others is the classic traditional “Banks of the sweet primroses”.
Am inspired Album which may well become a classic, for its brilliant introduction of the recorder and oboe to trad and folk music.
Old School Music, 2022
The opening two tunes ease us into Finn Collinson's world, misty and liminal, light slanting through curtains of continuo to catch a contemporary reel. Much of The Threshold is Finn's own composition, but there's a thick slice of traditional English dance music in Pool's Hole and the punchy Northumbrian Sir Charles' Rant as well as early baroque pieces by Purcell and Bitti. Fiddler Chris Leslie contributes The Gravity Reel, followed by the somewhat out of character Roddy MacDonald's Fancy from the Scottish piping tradition. Collinson originals 8pm and John William's Schottische are fine additions to English music.
The four vocal tracks are an equally mixed bag. The traditional English Banks of Sweet Primroses in a canonical folk rendition contrasts well with Finn's own powerful Jerry Bundler inspired by an Edwardian ghost story. Both are strongly sung. On the other hand, Collinson's adaptation of The Ship that Never Returned adds nothing new to either stories or music in the Anglo-American tradition, and Finn's musing Twelve Floors has little substance although its melody is pleasant enough as an instrumental: the sustained notes don't really suit his voice. The title tune wraps up a varied and entertaining album with a catchy number, brightly played. This recording certainly merits a seat in the parlour of English folk, rather than standing on The Threshold.
© Alex Monaghan
Greentrax Recordings, 2022
Fiona J Mackenzie's recording takes Hebridean archive material, rightly valued as the best record we have in many cases, and sets it alongside similar recordings in the present day - around a friendly hearth, with interruptions and with no pressure to perform, children and dogs running about, imperfections aplenty but capturing the spirit of the music. This is a very brave thing to do, and I hope it will be the start of a movement to get out and record musicians in their normal setting in the 21st century, before they become forgetful or enfeebled: people in their forties and fifties, or even younger, not on the concert platform or in a studio but in their community, playing for the pleasure of music and company. Before it's too late - because the biggest tragedy is that our cultural treasures are still being neglected until the eleventh hour. Who is recording Irish sessions in Belfast or Boston or Birmingham these days? Who is travelling round Shetland or Sliabh Luachra to record the local musicians? Not all folk music is on the festival stage or the streaming platform.
© Alex Monaghan
Own Label, 2022
Fiddle and clawhammer banjo solos jump right out at you, with guitar kicking up the dust in places too. DeWhitt's voice enlivens Cumberland Gap and their own crooked reel Gonna Make a Killing, while the trio pours its relentless energy into every piece from Old Cow Died to Kentucky Winder. The music here is chosen for its unusual beats and licks as much as anything: Go Away Pharaoh is a tongue-twister of a tune, low-slung and irregular in its phrasing and cadences, the 19th century air Pride of America adds and subtracts beats as freely as any country fiddler, and the John Snipes version of The Coo Coo takes more liberties with bars than a Prohibition bootlegger. It's probably no accident that there isn't a strictly straight tune in the whole album. There are plenty of memorable performances here though, from the weeping fiddle on Last of Sizemore to the thunderous ensemble sound on Kiss Me Quick My Papa's A-Coming. This is old music with a new soul, and vice versa too - a real treat.
© Alex Monaghan
Own Label, 2022
Own Label, 2022
There's little doubting the Celtic roots of a piece like After Hours or the transparently Hebridean Taransay, following on from the pioneering work of The Easy Club, Shooglenifty, Ceolbeg, Treacherous Orchestra, Sketch and others. The thinly veiled disco of Rebirth is more like Niteworks or HEISK: contemporary dance with a whisky chaser perhaps. The gentle waves of Ebbe, and the more relaxed passages of Moonwake, conjure the beauty and mysticism of Scottish music, while the final audio collage FM romps through styles from drum'n'bass to bebop, subtle fiddle to poignant mandolin, reels to rock and roll. As if to emphasise that this is music for the streaming generation, For the Night ends with a dramatic cut to the next track in the playlist - except there is no next track, no playlist for some of us. If you want to get a sense of this album, try Is This a Vibe - a rhetorical question I suspect.
© Alex Monaghan
