Various: Within a Mile of Kilty

VARIOUS: WITHIN A MILE OF KILTY - TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC FROM NORTH LEITRIM

Kilty is Kiltyclogher, a village in Co. Leitrim near the border with Co. Fermanagh which happens to be the native home of the a number of well-known fiddle players, in particular Ben and Charlie Lennon--in fact, one of Charlie Lennon's great compositions is a reel entitled "Kilty Town." The two Lennon brothers, whose rugged brand of fiddle playing is pretty familiar nowadays, are among six fiddle players who perform on the CD, the others being Ben's son Maurice Lennon, a much-recorded former member of the band Stockton's Wing and a 1977 winner of the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle title, Fr. Seamus Quinn, whose grandfather John Quinn was an outstanding local fiddle player, and who participated in previous recordings, including "Dog Big Dog Little" with Ben Lennon, Brian Rooney, who lives in London and whose CD "The Godfather" made him much better known among Irish music devotes, and John Gordon (1928-2002), a Fermanagh-born musician whose playing is really the revelation of this particular collection and is featured more fully on the CD "The Humours of Glendart." Seamus Quinn and Charlie Lennon both also provide piano accompaniments, while Altan's Ciaran Curran and Beginish's Noel O'Grady play bouzouki. Maurice Lennon's performances on the viola are among the more remarkable musical moments recorded here. (11/2005)

Rating: *** 1/2

Price: $24.99