Josephine Marsh "Josephine Marsh"

JMCD 001 (49 mins)

Dial a track code 1531

Josephine Marsh is an accordion and concertina player from Clare and this, her debut album (which she produced and issued herself) is as accomplished a production as it gets. Where boxes and concertinas are concerned, Clare is a high density area where virtuosi with impressive pedigrees abound. Yet in the midst of all this talent, her album proves her to be a player of outstanding ability with a finely developed musical sensibility.

Her voice is unmistakably that of an individual, consolidated throughout the album by compositions of her own like the horn pipe Tay in a Bucket, which sits easily with its companion Tony Dalton's, just as her reel Phyllis's Birthday provides an impeccable escort for the venerable Lad O'Beirne's. Matthew's Waltz is an evocative recreation of mood, part gaiety, part tristesse. She has a remarkable sensitivity to pitch and tone this, perhaps more than any other aspect of her musicianship, characterises her approach.

The last set of tunes, Peter Browne's Raitlin Island and Michael Joe Kennedy's gets the full treatment, a wonderful stuttering left hand and splendid rhythmic control on the melody.

The Monks of the Screw "Monks of the Screw"

MKS 002 (43 mins)

Dial a track code 1641

Another locally produced album, the Monks of the Screw are, despite their handle (derived from a song by John Philpot Curran, latterly a resident of Kanturk) a group of real traditional musicians. Not only do they play Sliabh Luachra music in true regional style but they actually come from the place and live and play there.

The extensive notes which accompany this album constitute a kind of Sliabh Luachra Book of the Dead listing tune sources, deceased players and their seed and breed. Padraig O'Keeffe is, not surprisingly, preeminent in the pantheon followed by his pupils, some of whom are still with us. By far the most engaging sets on the album are the polkas Patrick O'Connors Sonny Riordan's/Tom Billy's, slides Up in the Morning Early/Mick Lynch's and jigs The Old Walls of Liscarroll and Saddle The Pony/The One After It, the fast short phrases giving the music its characteristic dash and spraoi.

Sarah McQuaid "The Irish Dadgad Guitar Book and Tape

Ossian 055,106,

The use of accompaniment in traditional Irish music is now the convention and a major departure from what prevailed until relatively recently. The guitar has not confined itself exclusively to accompaniment, but has also moved into melody playing, both of which are dealt with here.

A sure sign that an instrument has been accepted in a tradition is the emergence of a specially adapted technique and, in the case of the guitar, a dedicated tuning system, the eponymous Dadgad. This has been developed over the years by exemplary players comprehensively listed in discography at the back of the book.

McQuaid's offers a lucid explanation of the Dadgad system, exhaustive chord diagrams and 24 well chosen tunes broken down into representative types. The companion cassette features those same tunes and a wide range of styles and playing techniques.

The book goes into much helpful detail about the structure, modes and key signatures of Irish traditional music, plus background on the guitar, guitar types, maintenance, etc. There is rather a lot of nannyish prescriptive stuff about session protocol and the right approach, but on the whole this book and tape should be a godsend to aspiring traditional guitarists.

Kathleen Loughnane "Harping On Music for the Irish Harp"

Reiskmore Music

This book (sadly there is no accompanying tape) features Irish traditional music arranged for the harp by Dordan member Kathleen Loughnane. The arrangements include dance tunes like The Wheels of the World and Jerry's Beaver Hat alongside Hiberno baroque pieces of Carolan's and airs of old Irish harpers like William Connellan.

Unimpeded by the dictates of harmony and counterpoint, the arrangements are constructed with great sensitivity and faithful to the original shape and structure of the tune. Eminently suitable also to the piano.