Fiddler Jesse Smith and flute player Sean Gavin have released an excellent album of flute and fiddle duets, accompanied by John Blake on piano (and a few tracks accompanied by Ringo McDonagh on bodhran)
Article about “Music from the Lost Continent” in the Irish Echo:
http://irishecho.com/2016/07/straight-up-trad-at-its-best/
"Brilliantly realized, “Music From the Lost Continent” is an amazingly rich and nuanced album from three deeply able players who have a strong rapport and who play together with amazing intuition. Their music is soulful, elegant and played with a ton of lift. This is an album that won’t disappoint and should belong in every traditional music fan’s collection – this one’s thoroughly recommended without hesitation. "
“This is the finest recording of Irish traditional music I’ve heard in a long, long time. The profound respect the musicians hold for their mentors is evident in every note, and the result of their labours here is a deep and stately tribute to some of the older players, both well-known and obscure. It is also exultant music. Everyone I’ve spoken to agrees - this is a very “emotional” album. Shouts of “Hup!”, laughter, and even tears are evoked even within the span of a single track. Perhaps the surest measure of a great album is its ability to speak directly to the listener in the vernacular of human emotion. On that count and indeed on every other, these gentlemen have succeeded admirably.”
I was just in Chicago last week and had the privilege of playing at Sean and Devon Shepherd’s session at the Bistro. Well, I say “playing,” but it was more listening in awe to some of the best trad players alive. Sean was gracious and let me call a couple of sets. He was talking about the creative process and the years it took to make this album- very enlightening and amusing! All I can say is buy this album…buy it now!!!
I met and played with Jesse Smith a couple of weeks ago at a session in The Cobblestone. Lovely player; lovely fella.