Matt Molloy & John Carty: Pathway to the Well

MATT MOLLOY & JOHN CARTY: PATHWAY TO THE WELL

Matt Molloy: flute

John Carty: fiddle

Arty McGlynn: guitar

Paul Gurney: keyboards

Matt Molloy and John Carty are undoubtedly two of the best known traditional musicians in Ireland today, and two of the best exponents of the Roscommon-Sligo style. While Carty has recorded mostly solo as a fiddle player (he did record a banjo duet album), Molloy has made several duet recordings, notably with Tommy Peoples and Sean Keane, and most people familiar with those will probably draw comparisons. This new recording reminds me very much of the famed duet with Peoples, more for the raw energy than the actual style of playing of course, as Carty is a much more fluid player on the fiddle. Most of the tracks on the album we're recorded live at Molloy's pub in Westport, Co. Mayo, and even if only a smattering of applause can be heard now and again, it feels like the three musicians are going all out as if playing for a much large audience. Another aspect reminiscent of the Molloy/Peoples duet is the invention in the playing. Both Molloy and Carty love to improvise variations, with Carty's tending a bit more towards the quirky, and one of the great pleasures of listening to such musicians is to hear that interplay, that trading of musical ideas, made to sound so effortless. By contrast, Molloy's rendering of the air "Easter Snow," recorded in a studio with synth backup, seems a bit out of place, even if it is a showcase for the player's formidable control of his instrument. Lots of favorites from the Roscommon-Sligo tradition are recorded here, but you may not have heard them played quite like that before.

Rating: **** 1/2

Price: $24.99