JOHN MCLOUGHLIN, SEAN REGAN, ÉAMONN DE BARRA - Duach
Private Label DM01
A shortish CD from three Irish masters who certainly leave me wanting more of their music. This selection is mainly instrumental, led by fiddler Sean Regan and fluter Éamonn De Barra, but guitarist John McLoughlin throws in a couple of soulful songs to vary the mood. Six sets of jigs and reels are impressively played, with a lovely pair of hornpipes too: The Golden Eagle and The Independence, slightly out of the Irish mainstream and perhaps all the more enjoyable for that. The wedding of The Hunter's Purse to Smoke On The Water isn't just out of the mainstream - it's up the bank, down the lane and into the ghetto. If Deep Purple did lilting, it might have sounded something like this. Dubliner John Sheahan's air, Among Friends, sees Duach swimming with the current again, a melody which could easily have been written by Carolan's cousin, graceful and stately.
There's a lot to enjoy here, and a couple of sets I'll be stealing. Strop The Razor is a classic Irish jig to whet your musical appetite, but the sparks really start to fly with Bob McQuillan's and an individual take on Bobby McLeod's great composition, Jean's Reel. The gentle Gaelic song, Siobhán Ní Duibhir, shows off Éamonn's vocals and a tasteful strings arrangement. Fiddle and flute are flawless throughout. After another pair of grand old jigs, the final Dublin Reel and Come West Along The Road is a fitting climax to a fine album.
There are a few wrinkles on this debut recording, but Duach deliver quality Irish music with their own stamp on it.
www.duachmusic.com
Alex Monaghan
 |
Buy
this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 113 of The Living Tradition magazine. |