REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

NOTIFY - In Concept
Ropeadope RAD299

This second release from Notify (following an eponymous debut in 2013) comprises eight collaboratively composed and arranged original instrumental pieces featuring concertina and piano (including some distinctively characterful Fender Rhodes) as principal leads over and amidst a rich tapestry of harmonic jazz undercurrents.

Now a quintet comprising lead Pádraig Rynne (concertina, sampling, programming) with Cillian King (acoustic/electric guitars; concertina on Reverie), Eoin Walsh (electric bass; electric guitar on Wagtail), Cormac McCarthy (piano, Fender Rhodes) and David Ryan (drums), all have wide and diverse background musical experiences aurally evident in their flexuous fusion here.

Accessible, groove and hook rich in their melodic and rhythmic content (witness, for example, opening piece In Continuum on their YouTube video as an accurate and very fulfilling taster), the skilfully composed pieces employ looping and patterning in their movement and interplay, sometimes achieving a hypnotic allure. Lucidity Trap, for example, is an unusual duet vignette of finely crafted bass lead work, utilising chords and picking across a five string electric instrument, interwoven with tricksy concertina lines that typifies their catchy creativity. Ryan’s drumming is notably intelligent and subtle throughout in its richly textured contribution too.

Overwhelmingly jazz inflected and influenced, Pádraig’s concertina provides the pivotal folk reference point (although electronically charged and imbued with his experiences of contemporary Celtic crossover with groups such as Guidewires), playfully dancing over the lissom jazz infused soundscapes and intricate interplay of the other players to create an innovative and deeply satisfying whole.

www.notify.ie

Kevin T. Ward