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Artist: John McSherry/Donal O'Connor
Label: Compass Records
Length: 8 tracks/41:02
Fans of the fine Celtic band Lunasa will be familiar with John McSherry, one of the co-founders and a master of the Uillean pipes. His partner, Donal O'Connor, is a fiddler with a lenghty family history of talented musicians. Proving that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Donal's father Gerry is also a well-known fiddler. They are joined on this project by McSherry's brother Paul and three others on guitar - Tony Byrne, Rueben Bada and Gilles LeBigot. Shaun "Mudcat" Wallace provides all of the percussion.
Tripswitch is an instrumental recording. One would expect that highly skilled players like McSherry and O'Connor would take this opportunity to dazzle the listeners with audacious displays of their musical talents. Instead, they have fashioned a collection of performances that reward each listen with moments of subtle beauty and grace. The focus is on the songs, the melodies. You will find yourself marveling at the interplay between McSherry's pipes and O'Connor's fiddle - joining together so closely that they often sound like one instrument, only to then take divergent paths that weave intricate lines around the other. These are not free-flowing jam sessions or grandstanding instrumental flights. Each composition is tightly structured to draw your attention to the song, not the players. Repeated listens allow you to slowly comprehend the magic that occurs from this approach.
And don't mistake these tracks as some low-energy, polite background music. There are numerous moments of both passion and quiet intensity, like the collection of reels that comprise Track 3. The tempo steadily increases, the fiddle and pipes in unison dancing their way through the series of melodies, making it seem so effortless that you don't realize just how rapid the tempo has become. The opening track, "Rose in the Gap," opens with a driving beat from Paul McSherry's guitar that is quickly joined by the pipes and fiddle in such close harmony that you begin to wonder if your ears are playing tricks on you.
This is an outstanding recording that will lure you back for many listens. It clearly illustrates the creative possibilities that can be brought to fruition when master musicians set aside their egos in service of the music. Highly reccommended !!!!
Mark Thompson 10/19/2006