This is the new album by the duo of Ronan Browne(uilleann pipes,Bb flute)and Peter O’Loughlin(fiddle,flute)and it’s AN ABSOLUTE CRACKER!.It’s a great display of beautifully understated music in the traditional Clare style,which proves that you don’t need to play at the speed of light(sound?)or bury everything in meaninglessly flashy ornamentation to sound great.The material is a selection of well known and well loved tunes(eg;the morning star,frahers jig,cronins hornpipe,banish misfortune,etc.),but it doesn’t sound tired or hackneyed in the hands of these two master musicians.This is a thoughoughly enjoyable set,and a worthy successor to their earlier album ‘the south west wind’.Mention must also be made of Maeve Donnelly(fiddle,viola)and Geraldine Cotter(piano)who provide stirling support on several tracks.So o.k.,it doesn’t feature any whistles,but this is as good as Irish Trad. gets imho!
[ This Message was edited by: kevin m. on 2002-11-12 14:20 ]
The title would have gone great with that of his new book - “I might be wrong, but I doubt it.”