There is rumour of another CD from her, is this true or idle Session chatter?
Yes! Can’t wait to hear it, a friend heard some of the rough copy, said it will be awesome.
Not idle Session chatter , Catherine’s new cd is called The Home Ruler (CICD172 )and should be available soon, if not already. If it’s anything like as good as her previous releases it should be excellent.
I heard her kids came up with the name for the CD, Home Ruler…
it’s already out
Not only is it already out, I’ve had it for a week or so and am even listening to it now as I type. As one might expect, it’s brilliant. Catherine has kept true to the minimalist flute plus piano formula she unveiled in her first solo recording over a decade ago, while taking it to exciting new heights. Her dependable accompanist Felix Dolan is back on piano on several tracks, but she’s also got backing from Geraldine Cotter and her nephew Paddy McEvoy on others, providing a nice spectrum of piano styles from traditional to modern, with all of them being highly tasteful and most musical. The accompaniment truly fits the tune everywhere on this album. Likewise, she’s still playing her old Rudall flute with the unlined headjoint, but has now added keyed C, D and Eb flutes by Mike Grinter to the mix. This not only allows her to set the mood of a track with her selection of flute, but also she’s now actually able to use the keys on these new left-handed Grinters rather than Blu-Tacking them shut as she’s always had to do on her right-handed Rudall. Catherine also seems to have added a few new ornamenting tricks to go along with her old staples of cuts and rolls. In particular I hear some nice cran-like things on her middle Ds and some rapid-fire glottal stopping, which although sparely used really do make a tune pop out whenever they show up. Her unmatched talent for melodic variation, on the other hand, is not spared at all, which even further enhances a great selection of tunes. Catherine has really taken it all to the next level on this recording. (Not that there was anything wrong with her elevation before, mind you.) It’s well worth the almost thirty US dollars it cost me. (Thank you, weak US economy. To keep politics out of this board, I’ll name no names, but the guilty parties are surely no secret , are they?) This is definitely a recording that should be living in the CD player not only of every Irish flute player but of every lover of the best in Irish traditional music.
I know we’ve discussed this before, but. . . .
Who else will be at her workshop in East Durham?
I’m pretty stoked about this.
I’ve been stalking Catherine at workshops on both sides of the pond and on both coasts of the US since I first met her at Willie Week in 1998. No reason to stop now!
Oh, and in my little mini-review of Catherine’s new CD upthread, I did forget to mention the contributions of Steve Cooney on guitar and Joe Kennedy on bodhran. Just as with the pianists, they both provide excellent and tasteful accompaniment to Catherine’s flute on their couple of tracks. Fair play to them.