Catherine McEvoy, Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh, Micheal O'Raghallaigh:Comb Your Hair and Curl It

CATHERINE McEVOY, CAOIMHIN O'RAGHALLAIGH, MICHEAL O'RAGHALLAIGH: COMB YOUR HAIR AND CURL IT

Catherine McEvoy: flute

Caoimhin O' Raghallaigh: fiddle

Micheal O'Raghallaigh: concertina

This magnificent album, one of the very top Irish CDs of 2010 in my book, features three of the best--and most recorded, as the list of related albums below shows--players in Ireland today. Catherine McEvoy, originally from Birmingham UK, is one of the finest exponents of the Sligo-Roscommon style of flute playing, and has several highly rated solo and duet recordings to her credit. Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh has a light and magical touch on the fiddle, and recorded with piper Mick O'Brien what many consider one of the best albums of Irish music ever made, "Kitty Lie Over." Micheal O'Raghallaigh's powerful concertina playing, a prominent feature of the sound of the group Providence for several years, is harmonically rich, rhythmically rock solid, and ever so tasteful melodically. Together, they play tightly without obscuring individual expression, weaving a rich tapestry of sound that makes each new tune sound more gorgeous than the previous one. Their selection of material favors fairly well known tunes rather than esoteric ones, but they always manage to make their settings sound timeless and original at the same time. If there is one aspect of the recording that I might find fault with, it's the fact that Micheal's concertina tends to overwhelm the other instruments at times--although another way to see it is that the instruments blend so well that it makes it hard to tell who is doing what. You must like concertina to enjoy this, but that's not a problem for this reviewer. It may be worth noting that this is one among quite a few recently released recordings where no accompaniment instruments were used--and are not missed in the slightest thanks to the superlative musicianship of the players involved.

Rating: **** 1/2

Price: $19.99