Crossing The Bridge

As the title might suggest, this album marks a forward movement for Eileen Ivers, not only in terms of her career path, now very firmly in the ascendant, but also by way of connecting her past to her future.

It's been a heck of a journey, too, from tentative learning at the feet of fiddle master Martin Mulvihill, to starring in Riverdance. Through it all Ivers has had integrity as her byword, managing to infuse every project she became involved in with an x-factor all of her own making

Crossing The Bridge is an absolute triumph, from the breathtakingly beautiful 'Nearer My God To Thee' to the more complex arrangements of pieces like 'Jama' and the title track. The former with accompaniment by African bassist Bakithi Kumalo becomes an exciting musical collaboration which demands repeated listening, rhythmic and vocal shifts abounding. On 'Jams' she creates an alchemy of an altogether different, but no less appealing, kind.

Moments of individual brilliance from her co-conspirators abound - some brilliant drumming from Steve Gadd on 'Gravelwalk', John Boswell's piano on 'Bygone Days', Al Di Meola's guitar on 'Whiskey And Sangria', and a trumpet solo from Lew Soloff that is worth the price of admission on its own.

There is real magic at work here, folks - a meeting of minds and traditions, a forging of new and exciting alliances, wrought with passion, imagination and love. Irish music has yet again a new coat to wear.

This is music without peer. An astonishing achievement.