CD OF THE WEEK

LIZ CARROLL & JOHN DOYLE In Play Compass Records ****

Liz Carroll's birth certificate might whisper Chicago, but her allegiances unquestionably lean toward this side of the Atlantic. Carroll perches easily alongside Martin Hayes as one of the two most formidable and charismatic fiddlers of traditional music, not so much by birthright but because it fires the core of their being. That's not to suggest that Carroll's musical identity is solely tied to a distant Atlantic shore, either. She's a fiddler who composes with a vitality and effervescence that is quintessentially American.

There are no less than 21 original Carroll tunes jostling for space on In Play, and each one is carefully cajoled into the world by both Carroll and her guitar accompanist, John Doyle, obstetricians in residence to an unruly but ultimately magnificently mixed clan of tunes. There's a doggedness to Carroll's playing that speaks of a musician for whom perfection is the norm. From vigorous opener The Ronan Boys to the unapologetically contemporary The Man with One Kidney, Carroll's unforced and elegant fiddle lines are wed seamlessly to Doyle's shadowy, imaginative guitar accompaniment.

This is a collection that will dispel preconceptions about what the tradition is capable of, and will force us to recognise that the past isn't so much another country, as simply a landscape that's been built upon by each passing generation. Each and every one of Caroll and Doyle's jigs, reels and airs are delivered with a soulful authority. www.compassrecords.com

Siobhán Long