The tunes are nice. They are mostly very old tunes taken from various manuscripts and collections (Grier, Breathnach, Petrie, O'Neill etc). I think he is a very good piper too. I don't fully understand the dynamics of piping and its different styles but he sounds quite tight to me. I don't like the accompaniment however. While Michael Rooney is a great harp player and Jens Kommnick is a good guitar accompanist, I personally don't think piping should be accompanied. That's just a personal thing though. The tracks with Deirdre McNamara (Brian's sister I think) on concertina make for an interesting duet.
My review
The tunes are nice. They are mostly very old tunes taken from various manuscripts and collections (Grier, Breathnach, Petrie, O'Neill etc). I think he is a very good piper too. I don't fully understand the dynamics of piping and its different styles but he sounds quite tight to me. I don't like the accompaniment however. While Michael Rooney is a great harp player and Jens Kommnick is a good guitar accompanist, I personally don't think piping should be accompanied. That's just a personal thing though. The tracks with Deirdre McNamara (Brian's sister I think) on concertina make for an interesting duet.
# Posted on September 29th 2007 by PaddyCmusic