Changing Trains
Artist: Andy Irvine & Donal Lunny's Mozaik
Label: Compass Records
Length: 10 tracks/51:49

Mozaik is a band of talented multi-instrumentalists from various parts of the world. The only name I recognized was Bruce Molsky, a veteran of old-tyme folk music. Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny have deep roots in the Irish music community. Rens Van Der Zalm hails from Holland while Nikola Parov is a native of Hungary. Each member is listed as playing at least three stringed instruments and the liner notes do not make clear who is playing what on each track. Perhaps this omission was intentional, to force the listener to pay attention to glorious music the ensemble creates rather than focusing on the individual contributions. The group employs an arsenal of instruments including the bouzouki, mandola, oud, gaida and nickelharp.

The disc opens with "O'Donoghue's," an ode to the bar and the musicians who helped the rebirth of Irish music. It makes a strange choice as the first track. Irvine handles the vocal with a thin voice that doesn't inject much life into lyrics singing the praises of unknown musicians and the good old days. The band handles the sprightly tune with precision but their efforts aren't enough to inspire many to listen to this track more than a couple of times.

The next cut displays the power and talent of Mozaik. Combining two obscure folk tunes, "Sail Away Ladies/Walking in the Parlor," the band employs two fiddles from Molsky and Van Der Zalm to state the melody before the group breaks into high gear, supporting the fiddles with a variety of instruments that create a stirring performance that ends much too soon. 

Irvine is in the spotlight again on one of his songs, "The Wind Blows Over the Danube." His voice fits better on this darker song about love gained and lost. The musical foundation is a wonderful mix of instruments dancing in and out of the arrangement. 

Other highlights include "Rueben's Transatlantic Express" with Molsky on the lead vocal. The tune starts as an American folk tune but quickly turns into an a European folk dance with hints of Ireland that illustrates the superb level of musical ability that is contained in the group. "The Humors of Patrov" combine the musical traditions of Bulgaria and Ireland in a rousing mixture of musical merriment in 9/8 time. Molsky returns with a mournful vocal on "Train on the Island/Big Hoedown," two songs that originate from the two Virginia states. Mozaik stays close to the tradition on the opening section before dazzling us once again with their creative interpretation of country dance music.

Throughout this disc, Mozaik plays with a gusto and spirit that is rare these days. Their imaginative arrangements blend a variety of folk music forms that are performed with stellar musicianship to make this disc a compelling listen. Fans of Celtic music or anyone in search of a challenging listening experience would do well to consider this fine recording.

Mark Thompson

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“‘Hey, want to come to Australia and make a band?’ This is how Dónal Lunny (who founded Moving Hearts and Bothy Band) remembers the email invitation to join Mozaik. The offer, which he recalls sounding “mysterious and pretty exotic,“ came from fellow singer and bouzouki player, Andy Irvine, an old Planxty colleague who hand-picked instrumentalists from across the world to join the project.
 
Mozaik gets Eastern European rhythms and instruments from Nikola Parov, a variety of instrumental talents from Dutchman Rens Van Der Zalm and an old-time American facet from fiddler Bruce Molsky. 
 
However you imagine World Music, it might not sound like this. The name Mozaik hints at its intricate blend of strings playing from all over the world, but with an Irish base. Like a multi-fruit smoothie, the flavours all combine seamlessly to create a tangy whole. The rusticality of the autobiographical opening track, “O’Donoghue’s” is a slight exception and caught me out. A tale of the Dublin bar famous for its music sessions in the 1960s, its appropriate pub-music lack of sophistication was not quite what I expected from this multi-ethnic line up, and I almost gave up on the disc before I had heard it. 
 
Once that is out of the way, the more typical and more enjoyable music starts. The first of four medleys, “Sail Away Ladies / Walking in the Parlor” is a lively Celtic instrumental set. It is followed by the haunting “Wind Blows Over the Danube,” which echoes the opener as it again recounts personal recollections, but this time they are relayed over a delicate acoustic guitar backing ­ very much in Anthony Phillips-era early Genesis style ­ augmented by the occasional burst of Eastern European folk.
 
“Reuben’s Transatlantic Express” is well-named as it has the feel of a train steaming down the track and begins as distinctively American folk ­ although it again ends in ever-speeding Baltic dance. 
 
“The Ballad of Rennardine / Johnny Cuig” has to be one highlight; as typical an Irish traditional story-telling ballad as you could get, a tale of an illicit meeting, told with another of their Bulgarian instrumental twists at the end. “The Pigfarm Suite” is another, featuring a delightful flute, guitar, gajda and mandolin - in fact it sounds like just about every instrument gets a turn by the end. Planxty fans will also enjoy Dónal Lunny’s first lead vocal excursion since that band’s second release as he sings the gorgeous Donegal song ‘Siún ní Dhuibír,’ occasionally à capella. Why he doesn’t sing more often baffles me.
 
Nikola Parov gets his own instrumental, “The Humours of Parov” and his dual-nationality contribution cannot be understated. His familiarity with the Rumanian and Bulgarian tendencies to play in time signatures such as 9/16, 11/16 and 15/16 adds an interesting and complex side to the band, as does his instrumentation: as well as guitar, whistle, nickelharp and percussion, he plays kaval, gajda, gadulka, Bulgarian versions of (respectively) flute, bagpipes and bowed rebec.
 
Mostly, Mozaik features strings, but to spread the width of the sound Liam O'Flynn guests on Uillean pipes and whistle. It all adds up to a world music extravaganza of talent, strings and styles; one that is easy to enjoy and which gets better the more that you hear it.
 
Derek Walker