PADDY REYNOLDS: CLASSIC RECORDINGS OF THE IRISH FIDDLE LEGEND
Paddy Reynolds: fiddle
Louise Barnes: guitar
Jerry Wallace: piano

The recent passing of New York fiddle player Paddy Reynolds (1920-2005) was a major loss for Irish traditional music. Fortunately, Paddy had entrusted his friend, Chicago-based fiddle player John Daly, with a box of home-made recordings for the purpose of compiling a CD. The resulting album, which Paddy did get to hear just weeks before his death, is a wonderful celebration of the man and his music. The sound of those tracks immediately brings back to my mind Paddy's studio work with Andy McGann, as well as his visits to Washington DC where he performed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although from Co. Longford by birth, Paddy Reynolds was surrounded with Sligo music once he arrived in New York in the late 1940s, and the influence of that style is not hard to detect in Paddy's playing. Paddy Reynolds was a great admirer of the famous Lad O'Beirne, and I was personally exposed to Paddy's "lecturing" on Lad's playing and his variations on specific tunes. Considering the source of the recordings, some made in Paddy's own kitchen, the sound quality is quite good, and the playing itself is as good as one might expect. This is a great tribute. One only wishes Paddy would have been around a little longer to enjoy its success.  (11/2005)

Rating: ****

Price: $16.99Recommended
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Contents:
1. Reels: Boys of the Lough / Tom Steele
2. Hornpipes: Pleasures of Hope / The Echo
3. Jigs: Girls of Banbridge / Path to the Well
4. Reel: Unknown
5. Reel: Master McDermott’s
6. Reels: Father Kelly’s / The Flax in Bloom
7. Hornpipe: The Red Lion
8. Reel: McKenna’s
9. Air: For Ireland I’ll not Tell her Name
10. Hornpipe: The High Level
11. Jig: The Humors of Drinagh
12. Hornpipe: Munster Grass
13. Reel: Man of the House
14. Air: Slieve na mBan
15. Hornpipes: Byrne’s / Alexander’s
16. Jigs: The Frost is All Over / Cherish The Ladies
17. Hornpipe: McMahon’s by Sean Ryan
18. Jigs: Jackson’s Rambles / The Clare Jig
19. Set Dance: The Blackbird
20. Reels: Rolling in the Ryegrass / Lady on the Island
21. Hornpipes: The Cuckoo’s Nest / The Plains of Boyle
22. Comments on Lad O’Beirne and Reels: Farewell to Ireland / The College Groves / The Dairy Maid