Live in Seattle: Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill (Green Linnet)
Probably the most significant release by Clare fiddler Martin Hayes since his first solo album, this, his second with guitarist Dennis Cahill, comes live from his adopted home town. The trademark touches are intact - the bright dither and the drugged cat's-miaow glissandoes - and an unprecedented emotional vigour is added. Cahill is perfectly pitched, swing-coloured, often minimalist, although he occasionally lets a bit of hair down. Otherwise, Hayes takes tunes long and unhurried, and the high point is the unforgettable 28-minute session, slithering from the haunted ould Blasket air, Port na bPucai (great jagged drama, baleful chords and harmonies, even harmonics) through an unbroken set of reels, barndances, jigs and hornpipes, before the delirious, gasket-blowing riff on Pachelbel's Canon. Superb.
Mic Moroney