O Riada Sa Gaiety

The first in a series of fully remastered re-releases of the entire Seán Ó Riada collection. Recorded in 1969 at a now-legendary concert in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre, the album features Ó Riada together with sean-nós singer Seán Ó Sé, plus the embryonic Chieftains, then performing as Ceoltóirí Chualann. While the treble-heavy instrumental mix tends to make the overall effect a tad shrill, the sound quality is undeniably impressive particularly on a gloriously chaotic arrangement of several different jigs played simultaneously in dissonant counterpoint. Other enticements include a 24-page booklet containing song lyrics and explanatory essays, as well as three never-released tracks that didn't feature on the original.