TONY DEMARCO: THE SLIGO INDIANS
Tony DeMarco: fiddle, baritone fiddle
Kevin Burke: fiddle
Jerry O'Sullivan: uilleann pipes
Ivan Goff: uilleann pipes
Seamus Tansey: flute
Peter Horan: flute
Fionn O'Lochlainn: guitar
John Doyle: guitar
Seamie O'Dowd: guitar, vocals
Charlie Lennon: piano
Natalie Haas: cello
Junior Davey, Tom English: bodhran
Eddie Bobe: percussion
John Patitucci: double bass
Tony DeMarco's exceptional fiddle playing is well-known around New York City, for he is among the busiest working Irish musicians in the city. Yet, it has a been a long time since his last appearance in a recording studio, for the 1981 LP "The Apple in Winter," an album which he recorded with fellow fiddle player Brian Conway and which has come to represent the New-York-Sligo style of playing. So it's a great pleasure to hear DeMarco on record again, especially on such a speciall album, and in such illustrious company. The duets with the likes of Kevin Burke, Jerry O'Sullivan, Seamus Tansey, and Peter Horan are indicative of the stylistic affinities between the players. But the solo work is where we really get to hear DeMarco as the consummate improviser that he is, and on track after track the listener gets to enjoy a constant flow of creative melodic ideas giving old tunes new life. For most of the tunes here, as one might expect, are among the great standards of the Sligo tradition. One exception, though, is the jig "The Sligo Indians," composed by DeMarco himself--and so baptized, according to him, so he could tell the very amusing story behind the title, which he reveals in the notes, and which is almost worth the price of the CD all by itself. But there is much more to read in the 32-page booklet of notes, and then there's all that wonderful music. Up Sligo!
Rating: ****
Price: $19.99
