Buille, the brainchild of Niall Vallely, gives a lie to the false dichotomy around the notion of tradition and innovation.
Over the course of a dozen new pieces (cumulatively amounting to a highly coherent suite), and recorded in Ballyvourney's Ionad Cultúrtha, Buille Beo is a driving, reflective and always freewheeling celebration of life's musical possibilities.
At its heart is the interplay between Vallely’s ever-inquisitive concertina, Kenneth Edge’s soprano saxophone and Caoimhín Vallely’s expansive piano, their parts made whole by Brian Finnegan’s wide-angled percussive force and all grounded by Ed Boyd’s guitar.
It’s a melée more suited to the open road than the fireside. Buille’s division of the set into two (supposed LP) sides concentrates the listener’s eardrums magically.