Mikrokosmos is a five-piece band led by Ronan Gulifoyle (bass) and devoted to the music of the Balkans. The other musicians are Dermot Dunne (accordion), Mike McMullen (clarinet), Jonathan O'Donovan (guitar) and Conor Guilfoyle (drums).
The arrangements in their Sunday night concert were at times quirky, but remained true to the spirit of the Balkan music. In their improvisations, the players studiously avoided jazz cliches and managed instead to retain a folk style. They formed a tight ensemble and allowed the rhythmically elaborate music to flow freely.
Their early rendition of the Macedonian Staro Cunovo Oro worked well, but they sounded particularly at home on a set of Turkish tunes, which saw excellent solos from McMullen and Ronan Guilfoyle.
The centrepiece of the first set was Guilfoyle's suite Phan- tom City, described as "a kind of chamber concerto" and written for Dermot Dunne. It's a substantial and involved work built around a series of dramatic contrasts. The performance was excellent, Dunne making his accordion sound more like an organ. However, as a whole, the music seemed uncomfortably disjointed.
The second set featured arrangements of three pieces from Bartok's piano sequence Mikrokosmos. The arrangements were subtle and skilful, particularly in the first, where a staccato guitar part played in counterpoint to the melody instruments.
O'Donovan's guitar also stood out on the final piece of the concert, Bulchenska Ratchenitsa, where his soft, restrained solo contrasted nicely with McMullen's more extrovert approach.
