JOHN WYNNE & JOHN McEVOY
The Dancer at the Fair
Philippe Cousin
Seventeen years have already passed since their previous joint album Pride of the West. But now the duo of John Wynne and John McEvoy, a flautist and a fiddler from County Roscommon in the north-west of Ireland, are back. This time they present us with The Dancer at the Fair, a superb, delicate album of twelve tracks and no fewer than thirty-one tunes. It's sure to make your day.
Although they hail from Roscommon, they don't just play tunes from the county. They have drawn on the repertoire of many musicians, old and new, to offer a fine selection of reels, jigs and hornpipes. The Master's Return, a tune by Seamus Ennis, gets the album off to a dynamic start and already sets the tone for what's to come. The discreet bouzouki convincingly underpins the three tunes in this first set. Then Ask my Father / Boys of Mayo, a slide played in the style of Connacht, continues the upbeat ballad. On McPaddin's Favourite, the guitar and piano underline the main melody in a sensitive and stylish performance. The album ends with a set of reels from the Sligo region.
They have enlisted the crème de la crème of Irish music: John Doyle (guitar and mandola), Brian McGrath (keyboards), Mike McCague (bouzouki) and Pádraig Keane (bodhrán).
When two of the world's finest musicians, mastering a wide range of techniques, come together, the result can only be a success. This is a refreshing example of purely traditional music. Their virtuosity and the subtlety of their playing make this album a model of its kind.
As is only right and proper, their music is fresh and natural, with both breath and bow, and reflects a perfect mastery of their respective instruments.
GAEL LINN - JMCJW-2024 - www.mcneelamusic.com