Across the Black River torrent

If any one fiddler’s music has encapsulated both the endurance of the Irish tradition and its possibilities for rejuvenation, then Kevin Burke must be at the head of the pack. Kevin’s recordings over the last more than thirty years (via solo work, The Bothy Band, collaborations with the late Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Patrick Street, Open House, the Celtic Fiddle Festival and very much more) have revealed his ability to run the gamut from the sheer delights of delicacy to a passionate embracing of the more driving elements of his mother’s native Sligo style, while his ears have always remained open to the possibilities of experimentation.

His latest album, the entrancing Across the Black River, is no exception to the above rules of thumb, though does perhaps reveal a more reflective side of Burke’s musical persona. Accompanied by guitarist Cal Scott (an Oregonian with his own musically exploratory history, who also provides three of his own noteworthy compositions), Kevin’s fiddle twists and turns through a sparkling array of predominantly traditional tunes, plus a whirlwind rendition of Bill Monroe’s Evening Prayer Blues, before culminating in Phil Cunningham’s elegiac For Johnny, penned for Kevin’s late partner in the Celtic Fiddle Festival - Irishmusicreview

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