Gleanntán

It's been a while in the making, but boy is it worth the wait. Sliabh Notes, a.k.a. Matt Cranitch, Donal Murphy and Tommy O'Sullivan whetted our appetites royally back in 1995 with their eponymous debut. With their ears trained to the holy ground of Sliabh Luachra, they gathered up a gabháil full of the finest local tunes, much to the delight of the aficionado and beginner alike.

With Gleanntán they continue on their peregrinations round that nebulous region that straddles Cork, Kerry and Limerick, taking the odd detour to their spiritual brothers in Cúil Aodha en route.

They take their title from the gentle rolling hill country that the great Sliabh Luachra fiddle master Pádraig O'Keeffe called home. Located on the bowl of a hill outside Castleisland, Gleanntán is granted the finest of accolades in this reflective collection.

Fiddle, accordion, guitar and voice mesh effortlessly throughout, with Donal Murphy's accordion meriting particular mention for its doublejointed manoeuvres that somehow sound like they were born and reared in the ether, with neither hide nor hair of human interference.

Balance and control whisper from every recess of Gleanntán. Whether it's the meditative restraint of Cranitch's fiddle and O'Sullivan's guitar on 'Aisling Gheal' or the uncluttered lope of accordion, guitar and fiddle alongside the trademark bass guitar of Steve Cooney on 'Michael Burke's Jig/Padraig's Lark In The Morning/Tom O'Connor's Jig'. This is music that Gneeveguilla accordion connoisseur Johnny O'Leary must surely be grinning at, safe in the knowledge that the home tunes are alive and thriving.

O'Sullivan contributes two songs, both sitting seamlessly with the tunes. Jimmy McCarthy's 'The People Of West Cork And Kerry' is a particularly inspired choice, with Cranitch's fiddle underscroring the ode-like mood of the piece. Here, Mary Green lends subtle backing vocals that add just the right amount of light and shade.

Elsewhere, there's enough of a scattering of old time dance tunes to urge even the comatose to schlep around the room. Look no further than 'The Baltimore Salute' suite if it's good old-fashioned dance music you seek.

Occasionally Gleanntán tiptoes where it could just as readily high kick its way out of the speakers, but such regrets are few and watery in the face of a baker's dozen of fine tunes and songs that will rekindle the spirit and set the compass south west. If Sliabh Luachra was looking for ambassadors for the new millennium, she couldn't have found a better trio to spread the word.

O'Keeffe is dead. Long live O'Keeffe!