Traditional

The latest CD release reviewed

GARRY WALSH
Penny Trumpets Claddagh Records ***

Mancunian flute player Garry Walsh follows his 2004 debut, Uncovered, with another unusual collection of tunes, from a store bequeathed to him by both his grandfathers. His fluent, unforced flute style is suited to the marriage of a Scottish jig, The Black Bear, with a pair of reels: a suitably impish version of The Rocky Road to Dublin and Down the Twenties. Máire Breathnach's fiddle and viola bring an earthy quality to the mix, and Jim Murray's guitar underscores rather than leads or drives Walsh's confident playing. A pair of songs (one a Walsh original) are adequate, if unremarkable additions to this flute player's canon. The slow air, Oileán na nAnam, is a standout, Walsh's woody tones countered by an unmistakeably Spanish undertow on guitar. www.claddaghrecords.com

Download tracks: Mrs Sampson's Delight, Stack the Good Leather/ Gossy's