When Floyd Annoyed the 'Noyd
Self-produced and small label Celtica
by Celtonerd Steve Winick

Well, folks, I'm sure you can appreciate that we Celtonerds don't fly during hurricanes. So there I was, grounded by Hurricane Floyd, annoyed by the enforced inactivity and the confining atmosphere of the nest. "How best to use the time?" I wondered. "Ah, I know! I'll get in touch with my friendly readers and let them know about the Celtic music I've found lately." So I turned on the stereo and got out my nice headphones to block out Floyd's roaring outside my window. I fired up the computer and opened up a brand-new, blank document. I rolled up my sleeves, cracked my knuckles, and prepared to start writing.

Then the stereo shut down. As did the computer, the lights, and every other electric gadget for a four-block radius. Darn that pesky Floyd!

So, anyway, I had to scratch this column onto soft clay tablets using the Cuneiform alphabet (known in technical jargon as "Chicken Scratches.")

But enough about us. Let's talk about music!

I'll begin with my favorite of this issue's releases, a more-or-less traditional album of flute playing by Turlach Boylan. Titled The Tidy Cottage [Big Plain BP3202 (1999)], the CD teams Boylan, an all-Ireland champion flute player from Derry, with other illustrious traditional musicians, chiefly Gerry O'Beirne (formerly guitarist with Patrick Street and the Sharon Shannon Band), Colleen Donahue (guitar and cittern player with the New York duo Tir Na Nog), and Boylan's sister Sheila on fiddle. The album reveals Boylan to be a confident musician who can play completely solo on tunes like "Johnny's Wedding" and "The Controversial Reel," with simple piano accompaniment on a pair of lilting hornpipes, or with guitar for a plaintive waltz. But he can also share the spotlight with others, including three-time U.S. national mandolin champion Dave Peters, who plays along with Boylan on a set of reels, and E.J. Jones of the Houston Celtic band Clandestine, whose Highland bagpipe swaps solos and plays duets with the Derryman's flute on a set of tunes that Jones wrote and Boylan named. The result of all this happy collaboration is an album of varied, unusual and interesting arrangements devoid of monotony. Still, Boylan's flute playing is always at the center of the proceedings, providing the principal melody and pulse for each tune. Therefore, it helps that he has a lively and animated style, that he's deeply grounded in the tradition, and that he's still willing to experiment (as on a somewhat jazzy-sounding rendition of the "Pikemen's March"). Most of all, it comes down to one fact: the boy can really play. Big Plain Records/ P.O. Box 66805/ Houston, TX 77266-6805; www.bigplain.com]

There are seven more albums reviewed in this column in Dirty Linen #85 (December '99/January '00)