Traditional

The latest releases reviewed.

Sparing the horses who've been run ragged by too many traditional musicians, Catherine McEvoy brings a liberating sense of space and time to her third album. Buoyed by forensic sleeve notes and a keen ear for the fluency and lift of the Sligo/Roscommon style, McEvoy alights on a tune and lets it tell its own story, rather than bullying it into submission.

The slow air, Bánchnoic Éireann Ó, is a standout, McEvoy's spare reading sheltered by Steve Cooney's beautifully modulated guitar lines. Her own compositions sit comfortably bestide a swathe of originals from Vincent Broderick, Paddy O'Brien and others. Would that there were more players as free-spirited and ego-less as McEvoy. www.cic.ie

SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Elizabeth Kelly's Favourite, Bánchnoic Éireann Ó