The Independence Suite- by John Cutliffe

If you want to buy a compilation album of very pure traditional music that embraces the cultures of Ireland, Scotland and Cape Breton, among others, you can't do much better than The Independence Suite.

This producers of this CD scoured the best independently released albums in recent years and put them together in a celebration of all that is good in traditional music. The performers range from fiddlers and pipers to dancers and singers. All are known in the music world as both players and instructors and have been an important part of the quest to keep this vibrant music alive in a world of bland throwaway musak.

In fact this CD is just one project among many from the Celtic Crossings Agency in California who have done a great job on the west coast of promoting music from all celtic traditions. They not only organize concerts but include event planning and cultural educational outreach programs in their work.

So The Independence Suite is just another success in finding new ways to bring real music to our ears. From the opening notes of Don't Touch that Green Linnet by one of my own musical heroes, Tommy Peoples the music takes us on a fine trek across so many musical landscapes and back again. There are favorite tunes of mine like The Maids of Mitchelstown and unaccompanied songs (sean nós) like Bríd Thomáis Mhurchadha by Áine Meenaghan.

This CD causes goose bumps at times with the authentic mix of tunes and instruments bringing me back to so many great sessions at home in Donegal. There is a lovely set of hornpipes played on piano played by Geraldine Cotter and I could easily have been back in Dinny McLaughlin's cottage so many years ago with a blazing peat fire in the hearth and Dinny's sainted mother calling for more tunes from her bed in the next room while she sipped a glass of something enlivening.

My good friend and occasional fellow traveler Dáithí Sproule appears on this CD also with Randall Bays from their beautiful Overland CD and there are other tracks that JigTime has mentioned in the past including the lovely Shrip's Clog and Virtuoso Hornpipe by Maeve Donnelly.

If your idea of good Celtic music is an afternoon of Enya then this CD may not be for you, but if you want to get your teeth into some real music that can lift the spirits in the blink of an eye or bring a lump to the throat with the turn of a musical phrase then this collection will fill all your emotional needs. Well at least it will have your toes tapping.

For more on this CD and other Celtic Crossings projects check out http://www.independencesuite.com