The Windy Gap: Laurence Nugent (Shanachie)

This Tyrone-born, US-based, solid man surrounds his Irish flute with an extraordinarily respectful New World ensemble of guitars, cello, double-bass, and percussion, to say nothing of compatriots like Martin Hayes, or the stormy wind farm of Sligo man Kevin Henry. Nugent ranges from the tight, baroque pippeting of Sean Ryan whistle tunes to his drowsy, sad handle on Bruach na Carraige Baine, with Seamus Begley winding around inside it. He veers from fine, knuckle-hard reels, to a lazy, woozy, sleepwalker's lilt which still sways you sideways with every peep and poop of the upper register.

Mic Moroney

Loozin' Air: Garry Shannon (Brick Missing Music)

There's fierce cleverality and chromatics to this technical flute player from the same school as Niall Quinn - literally, having also been at University of Limerick. Over some excellent music-hall piano and jazzy guitars, his dance tunes are irrepressible exhibition pieces, with beautiful breathing, lip-work and tonguing, chromatic runs and mid-tune key-changes. Sometimes, the classical showiness comes from an alien culture - less on the Micho Russell tunes than in the forebrain exercise he makes of Bruach na Carraige Baine, and certainly in the lilting choir of Homer Simpsons who growl and whee through The Humours of Tulla - all head-wobbles and pyrotechnics.

Mic Moroney