Fiddle Night

MAURICE Lennon opened this thronged recital accompanied by Kevin Hough on guitar, with nicely articulated jigs and reels from Francis John McGovern from his paternal, Leitrim provenance. A Scottish air, learned from John Martin, glared with a different tension, a stark, classical, historically acquired regionality. Tommy Peoples' was uncomfortable with the high background noise and, opening with The Cup of Tea found it hard to get into his stride. The air, The Quiet Glen, and a couple of truly wonderful jigs gave a fine touch of his uniqueness, ornaments spilling and fragmenting like mercury in contrast to Lennon's long, poured honey rolling.

Sean Keane's Uzi like, stuttering, sticky bow, studied his way impressively through profound variations on Jenny's Welcome to Charley into The Donegal Reel, falling over himself with piping virtuosity on The Concert hornpipe. And still he had the time and dexterity to throw a few bob into Senator Paschal Mooney's, Ed Reevy franchised royalty box with those fine snips of reel estate The Hunter's House and Fisherman's Island. But the Lennon elders made the night. A charming twosome, at times truly magnificently bassing and straying in tuning, always on the pulse of things, Charlie's bow bouncing to Ben's draw. No more so than in the set of Leitrim flings, in reels Tansey's Favourite and The Heathery Breeze, and in Charlie's own, fluter dedicated Mick O'Connor's and Packie Daignean's. The finale, with all five fiddlers was a knockout pleasure of massive fiddle sound developed in The Humours of Ballyconnell, Reavey's and The Foxhunters.

The only regret about such a fine concert is, despite Kevin Hough's skill and tastiness, the monotony of non stop guitar backing by one player.