Several years ago I was attending a weekend music festival in
the Catskills. After a fine afternoon of session playing I slung
my fiddle over my shoulder and went to the dining hall. The dinner
was buffet style, and I loaded up my plate and made my way through
the crowded room to an available seat at a long table.
I made the acquaintance of my neighbors and the talk turned to
music, and fiddling in particular. The gentleman directly across
the table from me asked me some questions about my fiddle, and
we discussed the techniques of learning traditional tunes. He
seemed affable and interested in what I had to say, and so I asked
him if he played. He smiled and replied, "No I don't, but
my daughter is really excited about fiddling. She plays all the
time and really has fun with it." We continued talking while
we ate, and after a while he mentioned his daughter's name, "Eileen."
Eileen Ivers is, of course, well known in traditional Irish music
circles for her strong and dynamic fiddling of jigs and reels.
In this CD she shows us another musical side with a refreshing
marriage of traditional tunes with mainstream music styles. A
number of popular Irish groups are taking this approach lately,
and I find the results often pleasing to my ear.
On this CD the effect is seamless: the electric guitar riffs blend
with virtuoso traditional fiddling. On some tracks her violin
produces some unusual characteristics of sound, with a flavor
of blues, rock and roll, and even a psychedelic touch. I found
the accompanying musicians on the album to be of similar virtuoso
level, and the credits on the CD back read like a who's who of
jazz and traditional players. 42 different musicians(too many
to name) grace this recording with fiery intensity and well planned
arrangements.
The overall intent of the music seems to be a "world music"
feel, with the continuous undercurrent of traditional jigs and
reels. Sometimes the Irish tunes break to the surface, and other
times sink gently down into the mix of rhythms and melodies from
many ethnic and popular origins. This is the inevitable result
of Eileen's involvement with Riverdance, and creative musical
experimentation combining different genres of music.
I hope that she makes more recordings like this!