Ireland

A must-own for any fan of Irish folk or acoustic guitar

'Shanachie's lovely Irish Reels, Jigs, Airs and Hornpipes features guitarists Dave Evans, Duck Baker, and Dan Ar Bras trading solo, instrumental versions of classic traditional Irish tunes. The lack of excessive production, new age synths, and multi-tracked vocals is refreshing, offering a slice of rustic and elegant audio prose for anybody willing to open up the front door and take a walk in the woods.' -AllMusic Review by James Christopher Monger

'Duck Baker, Dan Ar Bras & Dave Evans "Irish Reels, Jigs, Airs and Hornpipes" (Shanachie). This album marks a most unusual approach to Celtic music. Three virtuoso guitarists, none of them Irish, have adapted the intoxicating melodies of traditional Irish folk music to the finger-picking steel-string guitar. In doing so, they provide a glimpse at the way Celtic music transmuted into American folk music. Ar Bras, a Breton guitarist who played with Alan Stivell and Fairport Convention, plays one-man duets in the style of Pentangle's John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Evans, a British picker now based in Brussels, displays a spare, exact touch on several tunes by the 18th-century harper Turlough O'Carolan. Baker, an American, uses bent strings to transform the tunes most dramatically.'

'Review: Irish Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes, and Airs is the rare acoustic guitar CD that isn’t dominated by Leo Kottke-style wizardry or a John Fahey influence. It’s also a rare example of Irish music played traditionally and not with the ethereal trappings of new age music. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that it’s necessary to travel back to 1979 to find an album filled with modest pleasures such as this one.

Only one of the three guitarists on this album will be household names to even the most eclectic collector. Duck Baker may be familiar to jazz fans as a player of finger-style jazz, in particular a CD’s worth of Herbie Nichols tunes. The other two, Dave Evans, and Dan Ar Bras, are not as well known, but contribute some lovely interpretations of these traditional Irish melodies.

All of the songs are beautiful and timeless, made all the more appealing by the simple setting. Baker’s medley of “The West Wind” and “The Blackbird” is particularly good, as is Evans’ “The Donegal Pilgrim”, while Evans’ “Sheebeg and Sheemor” is beautiful. It’s pointless to pick a standout on an album that’s clearly designed to be a complete listening experience in itself, and while each guitarist has their own style, all of the renditions flow together beautifully (it would have been interesting to hear each of the four tackle the same tune in their own fashion to see what would happen). There is nothing like finger-style guitar to capture the pastoral and the idyllic simple pleasures of a life on the Isles. Simply put, this is one of the best collections of Irish guitar music available, and it’s terrific to have it back in circulation.' – David Rickert, All About Jazz

1. Hewlett – Acoustic Guitar: Dave Evans 2:42

2. The March Of The King Of Laoise – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 2:54

3. The Sunny Bank – Acoustic Guitar: Dan Ar Braz 1:48

4. Lament For Limerick – Acoustic Guitar – Duck Baker 4:45

5. The Galtee Hunt – Acoustic Guitar: Dave Evans 2:04

6. Medley: The West Wind/The Blackbird – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 3:37

7. Sheebeg An Sheemore – Acoustic Guitar: Dave Evans 3:51

8. Kid On The Mountain – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 3:04

9. Duke Of Fife'S Welcome To Deeside – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 3:05

10. The Fisherman's Lilt – Acoustic Guitar: Dan Ar Braz 1:33

11. Morgan Magan – Acoustic Guitar: Dave Evans 2:00

12. Medley: The Wicklow Hornpipe/Produclock'S Hornpipe – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 2:19

13. The Donegal Pilgrim – Acoustic Guitar: Dave Evans 2:00

14. The Blarney Piogrim – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 2:18

15. Leaving Brittany, Going To Ireland – Acoustic Guitar: Dan Ar Braz 3:38

16. Medley: Fanteladda/Boys Of Ballisidare – Acoustic Guitar: Duck Baker 3:21

Notes

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