João Diogo Leitão "Por onde fica a primavera"
Own label 2020
The Portuguese João Diogo Leitão performs classical music on the guitar, but he also develops his own compositions in the iconic viola Braguesa, the stringed instrument from the city of Braga, north-western Portugal. This is a guitar-shaped instrument, a bit shorter, with 10 strings in 5 orders. In his album “Por onde fica a primavera”, Leitão progresses in the challenge of taking up a traditional instrument deeply rooted in local Portuguese music, although carrying out a kind of ‘deconstruction’ exercise. This may not be the fairest way to describe it, but that's one of the first insights you get from ‘Por onde fica a primavera’ (‘Where the spring is’, would that be a propoer translation…?). All the cleanest sounds of the stringed instrument are there, perfectly executed by João's fingers in the way you'd expect them in any Portuguese classical or folk music composition, but here they're brought out one by one, disassembled from their original & traditional construction, and replaced again in a new open context. Relocated on a kind of bare canvas, without any other vocal or instrumental arrangement, wandering through a kind of erratic melodies, but not without intense & melancholic emotions, with intriguing and unexpected evolutions, and dreamlike reflections of a beauty that melts into the mist and the dark of the plucked phrases on the strings. The solitude of the Braga chordophone envelops you in a relaxing exploratory trance, with emphatic obstinate passages, nostalgic or haunting melodic turns, and expressive silences. The album is fragmented in two ‘chants’: ‘Canto Primeiro: Por onde fica a primavera’ (4 songs), and ‘Canto Segundo: Dos rituais perdidos (2 songs) + Da harpa do guerreiro (3 songs)’. The strings and body of the viola Braguesa are often treated by the fingers of João Diogo Leitão in the most delicate yet probably unorthodox ways in the nine tunes. The refined instruments are built by Diogo Valente Santos and Artimusica, in Portugal, a country with a prolific creativity in developing and preserving an amazing diversity of plucked string instruments, that even have descendants in its former colonies such as Brazil.
© Pío Fernández
The Craigowl Band "40 50"
Own Label, 2021
Classic Scottish dance band music, this album celebrates 40 years of the Craigowl Band, and 50 years of the National Association of Accordion and Fiddle Clubs from which the band was formed. Proceeds from this CD go to the NAAFC. 40 50 covers most of the core old-style ceilidh dances - Eva Three-Step, Barndance, Gay Gordons, Highland Schottische, and a general-purpose waltz - as well as country dances such as The River Cree Jig from south west Scotland and the stirring Baldovan Reel from the north east. Arrangements are accordion heavy with the standard line-up of two boxes, fiddle, piano, bass and drums, but there's a fiddle solo to redress the balance, and a medley of strathspey and reels which could well suit the stepdancers.
40 50 aims to recreate some of the great dance sets from the days of Jim Johnstone and Jimmy Blue, forty years and more ago. The Sailor's Wife is followed by a pair of Jim Johnstone jigs. The Durran Ranger opens a fine set of Shetland reels with a northern version of Durham Rangers which is probably a Northumbrian tune, but that's as far south as Craigowl stray from the Scottish tradition. West is a different matter, with The Irish Washerwoman scrubbing up nicely, and Sousa's splendid march Liberty Bell stamping its foot on the Military Two-Step. Gow, Cameron, and several more Jim Johnstone compositions join some great traditional tunes to provide familiar melodies and powerful lift for the dancers. Be aware that the sets here are quite short - most are just four times through the dance, and there is barely time for the banana reels of Wind on Loch Fyne in the 3x32 bar strathspey. A tasty collection for listening, or for display dances, this recording brings an old repertoire up to date and continues the great tradition of Scottish dance bands.
© Alex Monaghan
Bruce MacGregor "The Road to Tyranny"
MacGregor Productions, 2022
It's been a while since the last solo album from fiddler Bruce MacGregor. Perhaps the philosophy of his debut 101 Reasons to Do Nothing delayed this release - but I think it's more likely that he has been preoccupied with matters around Loch Ness, his second solo title. Founding and running the hugely successful band Blazin' Fiddles with events such as Blazin' in Beauly, starting the highly praised MacGregor's Bar in Inverness and now spreading further afield, presenting Radio Scotland's flagship folk programme for over a decade, and in COVID times launching the award-nominated online community of Live at Five with trusty accompanist Anna Massie - Bruce has been a busy boy, and it's perhaps surprising that he's found time to write and record all the music here. The tunes were actually published in Bruce's book The Highlander's Revenge in 2019 - just about the time he was marrying the admirable Jo De Sylva, I think, although that event has no bearing on the title of this third solo album: the phrase The Road to Tyranny refers to the recent erosion of UK democracy, as pointed out by Lord Neuberger.
This CD is actually quite upbeat despite its title. Starting with a punchy wee reel in the manner of the Blazers, the opening track switches smoothly into dance band style for Jo De Sylva A Force of Nature, somewhere between a foxtrot and a tango I'd say, and then a couple of straight-ahead good tunes with a dash of contemporary weirdness. Jigs, more reels, and quite a few waltzes follow - and of course hornpipes and strathspeys, man. Some are already well known - Annie's Waltz and Emily's Oosh stand out for me. The slow airs are rather special too, Essich and Lament for Captain Simon Fraser, both inspired in and around Inverness, with beautiful string arrangements. The big finish takes a Cajun party theme and throws MacGregor's buddies at it, the great and mostly good of highland music, pretty much everyone bar Couscous MacCafferty. Bruce then follows through with an achingly soulful take on Doddie's Dream which shows his brilliance on fiddle in a stripped-back version of this great melody. Tears, toe-tapping, and terrific music throughout - at least there are transports of delight on The Road to Tyranny.
© Alex Monaghan
Beinn Lee "Deò"
Own Label, 2021
A great mix of traditional and contemporary Hebridean music, Deò is the second album from Uist ceilidh combo Beinn Lee. Dance music and songs, own compositions and ancient melodies, crowd-pleasers and tear-jerkers, this six-piece does it all. Pipe marches and reels, poignant songs of freedom and homecoming, rattling jigs from the islands, accordion tunes at the perfect speed for a Canadian Barndance, love songs from band members and from Don Williams in that peculiar Celtic Country genre, slow airs and stathspeys, and a final blast of pipe jigs. That's it in a nutshell.
Of course there are more details, more tunes, and more magic moments to be had. Fiddler Mairi Thérèse Gilfedder, box-player Pàdruig Morrison and piper Michael Steele front most of the dance music, with Anna Black on piano, Seoras Lewis on drums and guitarist James Stewart who also provides vocals on the five songs here in English and Gaelic. Gentle vocal tracks are balanced by eight instrumentals, mainly for dancing with just a few slower passages. A Scarce o' Tatties, The Drunken Piper, The Piper's Bonnet and Turf Lodge jostle with a juicy dozen thumping good new tunes, from Mairi Thérèse's slow sultry Jamie and Lucy to Seoras' slipjig The Adventure on Ben Kenneth (not a person but a mountain on South Uist overlooking Loch Boisdale). Almost an hour of the finest highland entertainment, Deò comes wrapped in a very attractive rain-washed sleeve by Orla Stevens. As they say where I come from, if you can see Uist it's about to rain - and if you can't see Uist, it's raining.
© Alex Monaghan
Elin Jonsson "Drömmaren"
Elin Jonsson Music, 2021
A mini masterpiece, this album is a gentle triumph for Swedish fiddler Elin Jonsson. Growing up in arctic Sweden, where there is very little to do for half the year, Jonsson has learnt to make her own music with a fiddle and a loop station. Inspired by everyday things, she layers sound to create a wide range of musical textures: the sparky Hoppet with its cheerful rhythms, the dark ocean depths of Beluga, the brooding Motvals with Arvid Staaf adding a bass line on harmonium. This is all soothing, relaxing music, until the urgency of the title track jerks you out of your Nordic reverie and reminds you of the brutal reality of arctic forest landscapes: the hunter and the hunted, the fine line between life and death, the deadly beauty of ice and snow.
The rest of Drömmaren is lighter, less threatening: playful pizzicato and polska rhythms on Koxik, sounds of running water on Jag Stannar Här and of running feet on Åka Spark. Half a dozen or more threads of fiddle music are woven, looped, cut, twisted and fed back to create these rich pieces. The final Sov Gott starts with a sigle strand of melody, high and pure, a walking tune or a hymn perhaps: Elin adds plucked accompaniment and drops down an octave to repeat the melodic line, gently fading out for a satisfying finish. The timing is flawless at every turn, and the fiddle mastery is breathtaking, beautiful tone and control, a real treat from Elin Jonsson.
© Alex Monaghan
Jean Banwarth "Just Sound"
Own Label, 2020
One of France's greatest Irish guitarists, Jean Banwarth has plucked his trade with several successful folk groups but the advent of COVID forced him like so many others to look for avenues new. His series of YouTube videos playing Irish tunes on DADGAD guitar was so popular that he decided to turn it into an album - Just Sound, no video, classic Celtic tunes and a trio of his own compositions. You'd expect the likes of Sí Bheag Sí Mhór, Carolan's Welcome, Sonny's Mazurka, An Lon Dubh and Mr O'Connor, but Banwarth also plays full-tilt reels such as Miss Monaghan and The Fisherman's Lilt, jigs such as The Orphan and Hardiman the Fiddler, and a number of other forms.
Just Sound is solo guitar throughout, fingerpicked with complex accompaniment in most cases, and while the overall vibe is relaxing, the playing can be quite frenetic. Take The Independence for instance, a showcase hornpipe: the guitar ripples along without a fuss, but the notes come thick and fast. The Hag at the Churn includes a timeless Bothy Band harmony with seemingly effortless skill, Joe Bane's jogs calmly along, Elizabeth Kelly's Delight is a stately grand march, Cuckoo's Nest is almost casual, and the opening Morning Dew gets a virtuoso treatment. Jean's own pieces are equally impressive - I was particularly taken with the resonant West Nile Break. There's even a French Canadian reel, blown in by the North Wind no doubt. In addition to this album there are books of the guitar tablature available, and videos, and streaming options: check it out!
© Alex Monaghan
Various Artists "Within a Mile of Kilty 2"
Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2022
Over an hour of the finest fiddle music from North Leitrim, this second collection of Kiltyclogher favourites is centred on the Lennon family - Ben, Charlie, Maurice, Brian - but also includes great contributions from Fermanagh's musical priest Seamus Quinn, London's fiddle godfather Brian Rooney, and another Fermanagh man John Gordon who recorded some of his own tunes in the 1980s, long before his death at a grand old age in 2002. The recordings here range from the 1950s to the present day, and although there is some variation in clarity the playing is all of fine quality. There's a short biography of almost every fiddler in the sleevenotes, as well as copious details on each track.
Seamus Quinn needs no introduction, and indeed he doesn't get one, but he opens this CD with two classic jigs, The Stick Across the Hob and Richard Brennan's Favourite, perhaps better known as Morrison's and Paddy Carroll's. He follows these with McCormack's and Dunphy's, popular in sessions where hornpipes are heard. Father Quinn also accompanies himself on the piano, and indeed it's worth noting that this album benefits from many of the best accompanists in Irish music. Fiddles and flute trip through reel after reel with the occasional jig, polka, hornpipe or slow air. Most of the names are familiar - Miss McGuinness, Down the Broom, The Green Mountain, Ballinasloe Fair, Miss McLeod and a final fourish on Lord Gordon's.
Maurice Lennon contributes two new compositions, the stately air On Leaving Lough Melvin's Shore with bouzouki and nyckelharpa accompaniment, and the solo showpiece reel Sally's Smile. Elsewhere the renowned fiddling of Charlie Lennon, Brian Rooney, and the late Ben Lennon brings life to the melodies of the Sligo/Leitrim/Roscommon tradition. There's a ceilidh feel to some tracks, a concert intensity to others, and each piece is filled with the joy of making music and the particular spirit of a local repertoire shared with friends and family.
© Alex Monaghan
Miggins Fiddle "Ten by Two"
Phoenix Folk, 2021
Ten tracks of duets, whence the title, this recording by fiddler Marina Dodgson and guitarist Maurice Condie focuses on slower material to give the guitar a fighting chance, but also with an awareness of less experienced listeners and players who may want to be eased into the music. Drawing on the traditions of Ireland, Scotland, and their own native Northumberland, Miggins Fiddle augments each melody with a harmony devised by Dodgson: these are sometimes fine melodies in their own right, and can be quite surprising, but are always fun to play. The musicianship is sensitive and skilled, and each track is superbly executed, providing a full sound even though Maurice sticks to fingerpicking and is focused on melody rather than accompaniment. The quality is especially remarkable as each track was recorded as a live take in a home studio, with minimal post-production.
March of the Kings of Laois is an ancient Irish air, powerfully plucked on guitar, with a very contemporary harmony which gives it an entirely new character. Farewell to the Creeks is based on a Northumbrian interpretation of this Scottish pipe march with some intriguing modifications. Planxty Hewlett is a real treat, adding catchy variations as well as the fiddle harmony. A Niel Gow lament, two Carolan pieces, and a spirited rendition of Sir John Fenwick's the Flower Among them All bring us to a beautiful take on Hector the Hero which expresses all the tragedy in this Skinner classic. A stately performance of the session favourite Sir Sidney Smith's March precedes the final romp with Elsie Marley. If you're looking for a pleasant listening album, or an inspiration for duets and harmonies, Ten by Two could well be for you. It's download-only for now, and the package includes a video of the entire album for those interested in bowings, fingerings, or just what these two musicians look like in full flow.
© Alex Monaghan
Paul Harrigan "Seven Waves"
Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, 2021
One of those projects where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, Seven Waves is the soundscape to an art installation by Erlend Brown and Dave Jackson which tells the story of a murder on the Orkney Islands almost a thousand years ago. It was inspired by a set of seven poems by George Mackay Brown, retelling the Old Norse Orkneyinga Saga. The sleevenotes contain an explanation of the project, together with all the poems and pictures of the installation, and it has spawned a powerful rake of music here from Donegal piper and fiddler Paul Harrigan. Paul is supported by fiddler Roisin McGrory on a couple of tracks, but otherwise this is a one-man endeavour, each rich soundscape structured from multiple tracks on pipes and fiddle. It's not flawless, but it is a dazzling performance and a huge accomplishment.
The opening march conveys the power and might of Earl Hakon, Harrigan's music full of foreboding. The Helmsman is a medley of three traditional Donegal reels, expressing the aprehension of Magnus as he comes to do a deal with Hakon, and the excitement of this bold venture across the sea. The Killers brings out the conflict in the minds of those ordered to murder Magnus, and then the deed itself as a medley of two new strathspeys. Marbhna Mhagnuis is a death march, plaintive on the pipes with a slow stately bass line. The routine of waking and burying the body is expressed in a pair of understated pieces, with a gorgeously simple slow air on fiddle as the centrepiece.
The horror of what has happened is expressed in the final two tracks, one for its impact on the lives of The Men of Egilsay and one for the later reflection on the price to be paid for such a death by The Two Tinkers - grim jigs and strathspeys, with the constant ticking of time on a plucked fiddle to remind us that we cannot avoid the judgement to follow. Cheery stuff indeed! Each track approaches seven minutes in length, giving Paul ample time to explore its theme. Seven Waves is a dramatic and evocative work, a first class example of contemporary folk art, well worth seeking out.
© Alex Monaghan
Daniela Heiderich & Gilles Chabenat "Un Jour Encore"
Bemol, 2021
Central European folk, some of it very old, some of it brand new, is presented here by harpist, piper and singer Daniela Heiderich and hurdy-gurdy icon Gilles Chabenat. Between them they seem to have all bases covered. Un Jour Encore features nine compositions by Gilles, and four traditional pieces - three songs, two from the central French tradition and one from Renaissance Germany, together with an old German polonaise.
The harp and hurdy-gurdy fit surprisingly well together. It's not a common combination even in Germany, but Ms Heiderich takes her turn at the melodies here in addition to providing harmonies, chords and bass lines. M Chabenat mixes acoustic and electric modes to give depth and variety to his own pieces as well as to the songs. We don't hear much of the French bagpipes, which is a shame as they add quite a kick to the cautionary tale La Belle sur le Navire.
There is a more positive message to the songs Wie Schön Blüht uns der Maien and Rossignolet, and a wide variety of tones in the instrumentals. Les Heures Sylvestres is delicately ominous, building to a dramatic finale. The title track is more bucolic, relaxing but with deep earthy undertones. Nerval seems airy even on the gurdy, with delicate harp picking over the top, and the sparkling Wasserfall flows easily from both instruments, while there's a sense of urgency to Lucitta which drives it along. The final three tracks all have a contemporary feel, mixing rhythms and adding electronic effects, with Les Amandiers providing quite a climax to the album: energetic, chaotic, exciting. Un Jour Encore is unusual, and surprisingly satisfying.
© Alex Monaghan
Brenda Castles "The Light Side of the Tune"
Own Label, 2021
Playing a range of different Jeffries concertinas, in the Irish style of anglo concertinas as melody instruments, Brenda Castles has taken a fresh look at much of the older session repertoire, going back to earlier versions and adding her own touches to shine a light into some of the dustier areas of Irish dance music. Reels, jigs, hornpipes and a few slides emerge newly clothed, or in old finery, sparkling from this soloist's fingers. What accompaniment there is here is understated, delicate, leaving the concertina's centuries-old reeds to fill the space with their characterful voices from the late 1800s. The style here is multi-faceted like the concertina: a solid grounding in the rich tradition of County Meath, but no Irish musician can ignore the music from County Clare, and Brenda has also served time in the Irish melting pot of New York. However it came about, this is an old sound, venerable and worthy of respect, but great fun too!
Versions of The Bucks of Oranmore, Miss Monaghan's, Páidín Ó Raifeartaigh, Rolling in the Ryegrass and Tatter Jack Walsh are clearly recognisable with Brenda's embellishments whether discovered or devised. Other old favourites are more heavily disguised: The Connaughtman's Rambles, Merrily Danced the Quaker, Miss McLeod's Reel and even The Irish Washerwoman could easily slip by unrecognised. It's not the speed of their passage - almost all of this recording is at a relaxed pace, although only An tSeanbhean Bhocht, Jenny's Welcome to Charlie and Trip to Killarney are too slow for dancing. The pace certainly doesn't detract from the listening experience, and also makes this an ideal album for learning - both are enhanced by the deft touches on piano, guitar and bouzouki by Kate McHugh, Tony Byrne and Ruaidhrí McGorman respectively. Two of my favourite moments on The Light Side of the Tune are when the steel strings of the bouzouki mark the switch from a jig into the reel The Kerry Huntsman, and the subtle key change on piano which accompanies Brenda's gentle acceleration into her hornpipe version of The Scholar. There's over an hour of lovely music here, presented with comprehensive notes and cheery graphics - what's not to like?
© Alex Monaghan
Marianne Tomasgård & Åsmund Reistad "Folk fra Follo"
Heilo, 2021
Fiddle and guitar music from the countryside around Oslo, Marianne Tomasgård and Åsmund Reistad present old dance tunes in a lively and engaging style. Tomasgård's fiddle is sweet on the 19th century Wals fra Johannes Nielsen Schodsbergs Notebok and the possibly older Gånglåt fra Smaalenene which top and tail this album. In between are many more rhythmic dances driven by the fiddle with powerful bowing and double stops: springdans, oldtime bridal dance, mazurka, halling, reinlender and more. Reistad picks up the melodies on guitar for a few of these, but mostly his harmonies and chords reinforce the fiddle melodies, sometimes forcefully on the more energetic dances, sometimes subtly for walking dances. The combined sound ranges from very old-style traditional to almost contemporary rock - the sliding fiddle and resonator guitar on Reinlender fra Idd, for example, remind me strongly of Billy Ray Cyrus singing Achy Breaky Heart, whereas Gallopp fra Enebakk with mandola and double bass backing seems completely typical of Scandinavian folk dance bands.
The 16-page booklet which accompanies this CD - sadly mostly in Norwegian only - is full of old photographs, extensive notes on where Marianne and Åsmund learnt these pieces, full references for any manuscript versions of the tunes, and a bibliography on Norwegian dance music from the area around Oslo. There is also some background on these two musicians, both very experienced in their tradition. Norwegian albums routinely seem to give each artist's year of birth - an interesting twist - so I can tell you that while both Tomasgård and Reistad are younger than me they have been playing for quite a while. It shows, both in their polished performances and in their sympathetic treatment of these old melodies. Folk fra Follo is highly informative and entertaining, and should suit dancers as well as listeners.
© Alex Monaghan
Åsmund Reistad & Vegar Vårdal "Breibeint"
Heilo, 2021
String band music from a very talented duo - this pair of Norwegian multi-instrumentalists play fretted and unfretted strings in several combinations, from double bass to ukulele, Hardanger fiddle to resonator guitar. The results range from the fairly traditional Landoppmålerschottis on guitar and fiddle, to the ominous wintry Vemodic Pols on resonant everything, to the simply beautiful opening air by Vegar. All the music here was written and arranged by the duo, and there are no guests, but there are several layers to the recording so it can sound like a much larger group.
Reistad and Vårdal view their music as a continuation of the Norwegian tradition, much of it around old dances like the springar, rulle, reinlender, schottische, and waltz. This is very different from the solo Hardanger repertoire - it leans towards modern Americana on Neste Års Budsjett with virtuosic rock fiddle effects, and towards early classical music on the stately Folgesvennen. Hints of Latin and Country, music to warm the heart or soothe the soul, this is a varied and satisfying collection: each track is a pleasant surprise, especially the final one. Breibeint shows great rhythm and musicality from a pair of musicians whose other recordings may also be of interest - and I hope this album will not be their only joint project.
© Alex Monaghan
Moynihan "Black Brook"
Own Label, 2022
It's been a while since the Moynihan siblings from Cork City released an album, so Black Brook is definitely a cause for celebration. Fiddler and singer Deirdre Moynihan, talented accompanist Donncha, and piper extraordinaire Diarmaid are also fine composers of new material in the traditional idiom, and this collection contains eight of their tunes along with several other Irish melodies ancient and modern, and four songs. The vocal tracks stand out, partly because of the contrast, and partly because of Deirdre's exceptional voice: strong, clear, with a raw natural quality which is neither clasical nor folk but which suits the selection here. Ard Uí Chuain is an old lament of emigration which reminds me of Reeltime and the singing of Máirín Fahy, with eccentric harmonies by Liam Ó Maonlaí. Silent, O Moyle is a lament by Thomas Moore describing the anguish of Fionnuala who was turned into a swan in Irish legend and condemned to suffer the elements for eternity. Farewell, Farewell is a lament by English folk-rocker Richard Thompson about the hardships of the travelling life. An Raibh Tú ag an gCarraig? is not a lament as such, but this well-known Irish song refers to the persecution of Catholics under English and later British rule. All fun stuff.
Fortunately the seven sets of tunes are cheerier: driving reels and jigs, some familiar, some less so, and many new. Deirdre's fiddle opens on The Flooded Road to Glenties by the late Jimmy McHugh, darkly powerful as befits an emigrant from Donegal to Glasgow. The uilleann pipes cut in for An Bhean Rua, one of Diarmaid's own reels. A lovely bittersweet waltz by Deirdre and a couple of her twisting tunes are followed by jig versions of some session favourites. Donncha's air Follow the Mariner, on guitar and low whistle, provides a gentle break before the family ceilidh atmosphere of The Angry Peeler and another two traditional tunes that come after it. Watching the Waves is a slower piece, this time by Deirdre, washing over you with a warmth which is rare in the Atlantic breakers off the Dingle peninsula which inspired it. A final set of reels on supercharged pipes and fiddle takes us back to the core of the Irish tradition: Paddy O'Brien, Ed Reavy, and the older Game of Love, the finest of dance music played with unerring skill and spirit. Black Brook is a wide-ranging collection, attractively packaged with good notes, marking the return of a forceful trio of Irish musicians.
© Alex Monaghan
Various Artists "Métis Fiddling for Dancing"
Own Label, 2022
Free to download from Alex Kusturok's website, this album contains exactly what it says in the title - and boy does it rock! It's authentic, unpolished, folk fiddling for dancing, and it just happens to be world class. Three great Métis fiddlers from Western Canada - Donny L'Hirondelle, Garry Pruden and Alex Kusturok - take turns kicking up the dust for dancing. The Métis style is rhythmic, powerful, and fiery at times, with classic tunes like Whiskey Before Breakfast and Drops of Brandy from the Irish and French settlers as well as the distinctive indigenous style of Fiddle Creek Two Step. Touches of Americana, polkas from Eastern Europe, and mainstream Canadian fiddling have all made their mark on this music, but it is uniquely suited to the jigging dances of the Métis. If you want to know what Métis fiddling is all about, listen to the three versions of the iconic Red River Jig here - each fiddler brings his own to the dance, driving and dramatic. Accompaniment is the party backing band of guitar, bass, drums, acoustic and electric, but it's still up to the fiddler to lift those dancers, pumping energy into the music, burning up the bow! A couple of beautiful waltzes provide breathing space in a solid half hour of party music as good as any on the planet.
© Alex Monaghan
Tangi Le Gall-Carré "Neus"
Paker Productions, 2021
It's Breton music, Jim, but not as we normally get it. Young box-player Tangi served his apprenticeship with Startijenn, a loud and proud Breton folk-rock danceband who have recorded some great albums, and while there is a core of Breton fest noz music here Neus retains that folk-rock feel on many tracks as well as casting its net across the sea to Celtic cousins in Ireland and Spain, and of course to the rest of France. The opening pair of jaunty dance tunes reminds me of Basque trikitixa, the sparkling fingers of Kepa Junkera or Agus Barandiaran. Next up is the title track, a waltz, French café style, delicately weaving with a driving bass from the button box. Ker Annig has that Breton dark edge, a reel which would also fit the modern Irish repertoire of Pádraig Rynne or the Vallely brothers, with Startijenn's distortion effects making it more of a festival number.
Tangi Le Gall-Carré is assisted here by some well know names from Breton folk - Sylvain Barou, Ronan Le Bars, and Ronan Pellen - as well as Irish musicians John Joe Kelly and Dónal O'Connor, and Startijenn's bassist Julien Stévenin. The full band sound is compelling on Niembru, another Euskadi-like epic, and on Kevin's Reel which could come from the playbook of Flook or Lúnasa. In between are some more typical Breton pieces, sparse arrangements for solo accordion or duets with flute or pipes. Electronic rock effects kick in occasionally, and some pieces are very modern and quite arhythmic, but mostly this is satisfying folk with a toe-tapping beat and an appealing melody - all composed by Tangi of course. He wraps up with a dramatic slow solo on Daeroù, technically excellent and tinglingly good music. Neus is a walk on the wild side of the Breton button box.
© Alex Monaghan
Le Vent du Nord "20 Printemps"
La Compagnie du Nord, 2022
This is the essence of French Canadian music. It's exciting, exotic, and exceptionally skilled - and it hasn't come from nowhere. Like the maple trees of the first song, Le Vent du Nord has grown and flourished for a score of springs, delivering sweet delights, but their roots go so much deeper. The opening Toto is a borrowing from an Irish jig or two which Quebec musicians have made their own, made crooked and catchy in the Québécois style. The new song Amériquois acknowledges the importance of indigenous peoples to this music, a vital ingredient of almost every Canadian tradition from St John's to Vancouver, yet still strangely ignored and marginalized by Canadian institutions. Le Navire de Bayonne, a much older song, recognises the European heritage of French Canadian culture, sailors coming from Spain, from France of course, from Scotland and Ireland for whom French was no more foreign than English. All these influences have formed and fed Québécois music to arrive at a pinnacle of polished professional performance which is the equal of any global genre.
Fiddles and accordion, vielle et podorhythmie, this quintet combines strong vocals with superb instrumentals. Love songs - even one with a happy ending - spar with songs of friendship and festivities. Many of the band's own compositions are cradled by traditional material - reels, jigs, airs and more. Two thirds of the tracks on 20 Printemps are songs, but usually with that delightful French Canadian facility for stitching a fine tune onto each ditty. Themes of love and loss, often accompanied by liberal libations, retain the jaunty rhythms and joie de vivre which characterise Québécois music. The darker themes of Marianne and L'Auberge are soon balanced by Turlute de Mai and La Centaurée, polyphonic mouth music and powerful fiddling, before a final pair of more contemplative pieces to ease us out of this absorbing album. 20 years is a long time in any career, but Le Vent du Nord is still blowing up a storm. Sail on!
© Alex Monaghan
Lyre Lyre "Gin & Strathspey"
Own Label, 2022
A trio of hugely accomplished string players, Lyre Lyre creates a big sound which ranges from Scotland to Scandinavia, Brittany to the Balkans and back again in a haze of chicken feathers and fiery botanicals. The sleeve notes are entertainingly provocative, and these three ladies seem to enjoy telling a good story so I would expect live performances to be hilarious. Alice Allen has a background in classical and traditional cello, following in the footsteps of Natalie Haas, and provides bass and percussive accompaniment as well as melody lines here. Patsy Reid has multiple solo albums to her name and plays violin and viola, tenor guitar, and all-important xylophone - a proper wooden one! Marit Fält's Nordic mandola has enhanced many recent albums, and she also plays cittern here. Composing credits are shared between all three band members, as well as by contemporary and historical tunesmiths from several traditions.
The technical delivery, the arrangements, and the sound quality are all flawless. Gin & Strathspey is a polished product, with all the attributes of modern studio recording. Most importantly though, Lyre Lyre's music will move you - "La donna è mobile" in the best possible sense! Whether it's the opening omens of Ondenval, the unbridled joy of Apples for Fred, the dark themes of Trasiga Rocken, the menagerie mayhem of Sam's Chicken or the gentle balm of the final Rest and Be Thankful, every track has an emotional charge, a spiritual effect - and I don't mean the gin. The title track does carry a message, it's fair to say, and its cautionary tale is reinforced by the swaggering Woosie Bird and the saucy Glad Eye. No strathspeys here though, and while you could pigeonhole these pieces as polskas and waltzes, reels and jigs, in the end it's all music, played with love by people with passion and great skill, a gift from Lyre Lyre to you. A tonic perhaps.
© Alex Monaghan
Julie Fitzgerald "Celtic Fiddle Arrangements"
Own Label, 2021
National fiddle champion, step-dancer, pianist, composer and arranger, Julie Fitzgerald has a couple of recordings to her name as part of The Fitzgeralds sibling trio but this is her first solo album. The CD title neatly sums up the material here - except that the definition of Celtic has a particularly Canadian accent when you're from Ontario eh. This isn't just Scottish or Irish music - there's a good infusion of oldtime, swing, French Canadian, and even jazz styles too. The core of this music is the Celtic tradition, but almost every track is a new composition by Julie: one exception is the final reel Just in Time by Ontario fiddler Angus Leahy.
An anthemic quickstep and a low growling reel. A medley of 9/8, 12/8 and 4/4 dance tunes in contemporary Irish style. A slow sad air and a jiggy jazzy waltz. A strathspey and reel in the seriously modern key of F minor. A beautiful slow air for Julie's daughter. A step-dance drum duel, flash and fiery. A final fiddle and dance duet, driving rhythms to end on. Catchy tunes, captivating arrangements, at times this music is so sparse you wonder what holds it together, but then it can be lusher than a lakeside meadow. Guitar, bass, mandolin, full brass section and string overdubs - plus of course the fiddle and piano talents of brother Tom and sister Kerry - allow Julie Fitzgerald to go from dance band to festival orchestra, from jazz combo to competition fiddling, all in the space of thirty minutes. Celtic Fiddle Arrangements is a fair description, but it barely scratches the surface of this varied and complex music.
© Alex Monaghan
Peter Knight & John Spiers "Both in a Tune"
Own Label, 2022
This is an easy album to review - two superb musicians playing for the pure pleasure of the music, no rush, no pressure to perform. The danger is that you get lost in their reverie, drift into a zen trance at the chirping fiddle on Yellow Haired Laddie, get caught up by the whirl of the melodeon on Bourrée de Concours - which would be perfectly fine for most listeners, but as a reviewer I have to stay grounded. Objectively, this is the best of English fiddle and melodeon, from players who have fronted some of the biggest bands in the business over many years. Here they distill all that experience down to a pure spirit, and pour it out in ten tasty measures with a unity and understanding which makes for great music.
It's tempting to drift though, as the hunters stalk the deer in the spooky Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance, or the shepherd dozes in the sun and chews a grass stem in Le Berger de Laleuf. Knight and Spiers take their time, spending a good five minutes exploring each track, blending box and fiddle with occasional additions. They start and end on material so familiar that it needs no explanation - Scarborough Fair and Battle of the Somme. In between is a mixture of less common traditional pieces and new compositions or improvisations where Spiers and Knight seem to meld together. It's almost as though the audience is irrelevant, and we are just eavesdropping on a very personal conversation about mostly English music - but Both in a Tune is probably less introverted than that. Surely. There's a wee frisson of confidentiality all the same!
© Alex Monaghan
Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves "Hurricane Clarice"
Free Dirt Records, 2022
Authentic Appalachian music on banjo and fiddle from the new generation of oldtime adepts, Hurricane Clarice is raw and earthy, sweet and salty. Such music doesn't really take a shine, but the leather is well worn and comfortable, and this duo buffs it up as well as any. Leaping right into the middle, the title track combines a new piece by Hargreaves with an old piece played by nineteenth-century East Kentucky fiddler John Salyer. Tatiana's waltz is rich and low on five-string fiddle, and the reel Brushy Fork growls powerfully through both instruments. Higher and lighter with some very fine picking, Nancy Blevins celebrates a fiddle-playing pipe-smoking spell-casting woman from North Carolina, a contemporary of Salyer.
Stretching the definition of Appalachian music, the cheerful reel Dead and Gone from Mississippi fiddler Butch James Cage has all the rhythmic chords and animal noises you could wish for over a fairly straight banjo accompaniment. Turning it round, Ostrich with Pearls gets Allison's fingers flashing while Tatiana drones the bass on her own tune. More instrumentals, some powerful old country songs, and compositions by both de Groot and Hargreaves are leavened by archive recordings of several grandmothers and one great aunt. Vocal harmonies, virtuosic banjo and fiddle, and a very deep understanding of this music make Hurricane Clarice a delight - much more than I expected from a young oldtime duo. If you have any interest in American fiddle and banjo music (who doesn't?), check out this recording - readily available wherever you are!
© Alex Monaghan
Pádraig Rynne "Begin with the End in Mind"
Liosbeg Records, 2022
Concertina music from a Clare master, most of this album is traditional tunes given a good workout. Strop the Razor, Lad O'Beirne's, The Whistler from Rosslea, Imelda Rowland's - staples of sessions from Dublin to Darwin - are joined by some rarer gems and some uncut stones from Rynne himself. The Caoilte Mountains leads into the satisfying title reel in C minor. The Seal Hunter's Fling, a gentle dance tune probably from Ulster, introduces two of Pádraig's lyrical slipjigs which could easily pass for waltzes in the halflight. Two more conventional jigs form one of the most upbeat tracks here, The Snowy Hills of Caherea and The Five Pillars, adding half a dozen guest musicians for a very exciting sound. Not that the other numbers are shabby: from John Dwyer's Sunny Hills of Beara to Joe Liddy's The Sweat House, Rynne's concertina cracks on with energy and lift aplenty.
The pace slows dramatically for Mná na hÉireann, a sweeping version of this classic slow air, delicately accompanied by Graham Henderson on piano. Rynne soon picks up the tempo again - a pair of slightly slowed-down reels, two cantering jigs, and full speed reels to finish, flawless fingering fast or slow. The concertina is kept front and centre throughout this CD, but Pádraig is joined by several guests: Conal O'Kane and Rubén Bada on fretted strings, Ewen Vernal on bass, drummers Davie Ryan and Dónal Lunny, with Rory McCarthy and Graham Henderson on keyboards, and an uilleann pipes duet from Jarlath Henderson on the final track. Modern influences are there, but they don't muddy the water from the traditional well. This recording shows the impressive power and grace of the Clare concertina when you Begin with the End in Mind.
© Alex Monaghan
3 on the Bund "Frenzy"
Own Label, 2022
Here we have a young quartet of three great talents from the south of Ireland and one prodigious piper from the south of Germany. Meeting in the melting pot of Limerick University, 3 on the Bund have rapidly gone from unknown to hot property without ever offering an adequate explanation of the band name. Guitarist Seán Kelliher has toured and tuned with Kerry's finest, Clare harpist Aisling Lyons recently released a charming solo album, Rebecca McCarthy-Kent from Waterford has won prizes for fiddle and piano, and Simon Pfisterer was called up to play for Cara in the top tier of German Irish groups. An all-star band, and the sum is greater than the parts: I have seen 3 on the Bund live a couple of times and they are hugely impressive on stage. This debut CD, put together under the constraints of Covid, finally gives a wider audience a chance to enjoy their music.
So what have we got? Frenzy is quite a varied package. Jigs and reels of course, polkas from Munster (the Irish one, not the German one), and a couple of slower pieces, but there are several surprises here too. The opening pair of contemporary reels from "The North" is followed by a brilliant version of Mark Knopfler's Local Hero movie theme, well before these youngsters were born but still a gorgeous tune. Guest vocalist Róisín Ryan sings two songs: contemporary romantic ballad I Wish I Had Someone to Love Me, a bittersweet moment, and the more upbeat Hebridean tale The Island learnt from Scottish band Skipinnish. Traditional Irish classics are mixed with half a dozen of the band's own compositions, each member showing their multi-instrumental skills to produce a colourful tapestry of new and old music. The final Farewell medley starts with a catchy Celtic march written by a German box-player, and John Stenson's Number 2 closes out a cracking album in fine style, pipe chanter and regulators, concertina and fiddle, guitar giving it laldy, a great note to end on.
© Alex Monaghan
Kevin Buckley "Big Spring"
Own Label, 2022
From St Louis Missouri, Kevin Buckley is a class act. This debut traditional CD is the product of many years of craft and creativity, as well as side ventures into indie rock, oldtime and bluegrass. A multi-instrumentalist and singer, Buckley has concentrated here on his fiddle heritage - Irish American, competition circuit, and many sessions no doubt! Tunes from the traditional repertoire include Belles of St Louis of course, Hardiman the Fiddler, Queen of the Rushes, Cook in the Kitchen, City of Savannah, Ships are Sailing and Laington's Reel. Opening with Sweeney's Wheel by box-player Jackie Daly, Kevin takes his time with arrangements and variations, giving himself a whole track to explore each tune in most cases. It's worth the effort, as he adds guitar, bouzouki and octave mandolin, with support from guests including Eileen Gannon on harp and Eimear Arkins on fiddle, while Alan Murray, Alex Sinclair and Dan Lowery chip in on vocals.
Ah yes, vocals - there are three songs here, all led by Kevin in a strong melodious midwest voice. The Blackest Crow is an oldtime ballad given a Bayougrass treatment. (Is that a word? It is now!) Never Tire of the Road was written by Andy Irvine, and Buckley delivers it unsupported except for his own bouzouki - I think Andy would approve. Miss Bailey is a gruesome tale of ghosts and gut rot, new to me but apparently centuries old, arranged with dark folky style. La Rubia is a reinvention of the old Irish air The Coolin, based on a version by Donegal fiddler John Doherty which has edged into classical or at least baroque dance music, a great fiddle showpiece. Kevin Buckley's own tune Ryder's Block is a pun in St Louis, and borrows from a few sources including Cock o' the North before turning into a catchy reel well worth learning. However, in my view, if you really want to get a feel for what this man can do with a fiddle, listen to the gorgeous waltz Marcelle et Marcel by French bluesman Jean-Jacques Milteau - blissful music. I'm very impressed by Big Spring - not sure if the title refers to a quickening of life or an outpouring of freshness, but either way I wouldn't argue.
© Alex Monaghan
Michael Burnyeat "On the Edge"
Own Label, 2022
Slightly shorter than his debut CD, but no less impressive, this second album from young British Columbia fiddler Michael Burnyeat[68]
sprinkles his skills far and wide with magical results. Styles from coast to coast in his native Canada, plus Irish, US oldtime, jazz, European dances, Scottish, and of course the Muppets, are all executed with skill and flair. The material has been carefully chosen, and augmented by a few of Michael's own fine compositions: these are not the usual showpieces or competition tunes, they are a much more rounded and personal selection - although I do feel that young Mr Burnyeat is holding something back at times, focused on performance rather than passion, still with half a mind on the competition circuit. Even the two Irish tracks are given a relatively sober rendition, but in fairness Michael does allow himself a bit of slack on The Silver Spear.
Despite the carefully contained energy here, every track is a delight - even the ones with banjo. Clarinet Polka has a wonderful oompah feel, particularly from Konstantin Bozhinov's brass band accordion. Sally Goodin' is a fiddle classic given a full workout. Four Irish jigs mirror the four reels later in this selection, fiddle and banjo to the fore on grand old sessin tunes. The full range of Canadian fiddling is covered by a Calvin Vollrath slow air, a set of well known reels stretching across central Canada as far as the St Lawrence, and a combination of the crooked Quebec reel Le Rêve du Quêteux Tremblay with its possible Scottish source Archie Menzies which just happens to be a pronunciation nightmare for our Canadian cousins.
If you've ever wanted to say "Play Misty for me", now's your chance as Michael makes a magnificent job of this jazz standard for the cool cats. Speaking of cats, the talented Mr Burnyeat switches to piano for his own trio of tunes dedicated to his mischievous moggy Luke - a waltz, a Celtic jig, and a country breakdown. There's a small raft of accompanists who do sterling work on several tracks, especially soloing on those styles which expect individual breaks from the band. Michael is mostly on his own for Rainbow Connection though, his fiddle and banjo and discrete mandolin backed by a solitary guitar on a Muppets number for which I really have no yardstick. The grand finale is much more familiar to me, eight Scottish gems arranged in the style of a big Cape Breton march, strathspey and reel set, ranging from Gideon Stove's Carnival March to Nathaniel Gow's Fairy Dance via great tunes from the 18th and 19th centuries. So ends the second slice of Michael Burnyeat's excellent recordings, highly recommended. In the absence of a website, michaelburnyeat@gmail.com will get you all the details!
© Alex Monaghan
A line-up change and a long lay-off during the pandemic do not seem to have adversely affected the character or the quality of Talisk's music. This trio is back with more of the same stunning creativity and gobsmacking technical ability, swapping the fiddling skills of Hayley Keenan for those of Benedict Morris, but otherwise still carving the same furrow of fabulously exciting and extremely distinctive folk plus jazz plus techno plus musical madness. Listening to Dawn for the first time, I was reminded of Buille, of Esquivel, of ELP, of Atlas and Notify, and even of classic Hawkwind. All this on fiddle, guitar and concertina? It beggars belief.
That concertina is key, of course. Talisk is very much a trio, but much of their distinctiveness and creativity comes from music-box magician Mohsen Amini. While he follows the pioneering work of Niall Vallely, Pádraig Rynne, Cillian King and others on Irish-style Anglo concertina, Amini's playing is instantly recognisable. Nine of the ten pieces here are Mohsen's compositions, a couple in collaboration with Bene Morris who also takes credit for number ten: they range from blissful slow jigs to blistering reels. Most tracks incorporate light and shade, different tempos or rhythms, delicate passages with intricate fingerwork contrasting with thunderous gallops to the finish line.
Concertina and fiddle are tight as two very tight things, with Graeme Armstrong's guitar maintaining the rhythmic thread and counterpointing each melody. If you want a taster of Dawn, try what is perhaps the title track, The Light of Day: liquid gold as the sun reflects off the water, gentle ripples of a 6/8 theme stretching to 9/8, then throwing open the windows to the pounding heat of full sun, revelling in the energy, before finally relaxing. Or pick any of the seven other lengthy tracks. This is powerful music from start to finish. The album artwork is beautiful, by the way - hats off to artist Christo Makatita for that.
© Alex Monaghan
Barry Reid "Breathing Space"
Own Label, 2022
This is not the sort of album I would normally seek out, but it landed on the mat so I gave it a spin and I was instantly intrigued. Combining the ultra-modern with the totally traditional, Barry Reid has put together a very varied range of sounds, some strange, some so familiar, fitting together like shingle on a Scottish beach. It's all rock, after a fashion, but the colours and textures are as many as the musicians involved in this project, and although the edges are worn smooth by time and practice, they leave plenty of breathing spaces between the stones, which perhaps explains this album title. Reid's own talents on guitars, keyboards and kits are supplemented by the constellation of Lauren MacColl, Laura Wilkie, Hamish Napier, Innes Watson and Ali Hutton.
Each track here combines acoustic and synthetic in different ways. Better Days blends flat-picked guitar with a range of percussion and synthesisers, phasing and flanging the stuffing out of a nice wee strathspey. The Unknown puts a modern backdrop to a fiddle jig, while If Six Was Twelve overlays flute on a fast dance rhythm. Bluesy guitar and multiple layers of backing on the title track, a catchy fiddle reel for Shifting Baseline and bags of ambient atmpsphere on Still bring up my favourite two tracks here: the grinding gears of The Firth and the Gaelic mists of Ùine a' Dh'fhalbh. But it's all good. Uplift loops a fiddle lick and wraps beeps and bangs around it. The final Lonesome Pine owes more to Brendan McGlinchey than Laurel & Hardy, a dark slow air on guitar and fiddle somewhere between Sandwood and Wolfstone. Expect the unexpected. Excitement, adventure, and really wild things? You got it!
© Alex Monaghan
Kerry Fitzgerald "Bitz&Beatz"
Own Label, 2022
A mix of musics as the title suggests, Bitz&Beatz combines Kerry Fitzgerald's talents for fiddle, piano, dance, and electronica. Beautiful traditional pieces are wrapped in layers of silky synthesiser to give us Westport and Highgates. The medley of Finn Flute and Ed in the Clouds recalls musical moments shared with two members of Flook, who both join Kerry on this track, adding to a number of other high-end guests: Denis Lanctôt on piano, Spencer Murray on whistle, and Sean Clarey on guitar and beats. Vocals on Think You Know are another of Ms Fitzgerald's talents, and it goes without saying that she gets full credit for composing and arranging all the material here.
The delicate piano lines of My Love build into a piece which is both folky and contemporary, verging on classical, combining fiddle and keyboard elements. Greenwood Girls brings us back to traditional tunes, albeit in a very contemporary style, more Liz Carroll than Don Messer, with a good helping of electronic beats and bobs for a funky dance feel. Immi delves further into electronica, synthetic sounds and rhythms surrounding the fiddle riffs like a cyborg musician striding through a spaceport. Grommit is a return to folk fiddle and piano, a gorgeous piece perfectly arranged. The brief tinkling melody of Winter Walk introduces a final fiesty melange of fiddle and effects, hyper and hypnotic by turns, with a surprisingly graceful finish. Bitz&Beatz is quite a feast, a banquet of musical textures and flavours, too much for a single sitting perhaps, but an enticing spread to be returned to time and again.
© Alex Monaghan
