The latest releases reviewed
FRANKIE GAVIN, RICK EPPING AND TIM EDEY
Jiggin' the Blues
Greentrax
****
The artwork is cheesey and the sleevenotes slim, but Gavin,
Epping and Edey are firing on all cylinders on this bolshie
collection. Testing the boiling point of traditional tunes,
cross-fertilised by the blues, they've produced a sizzling melee,
although the benefits are felt in the blues-trad direction. The
sole blues original, Baby Please Don't Go (originally recorded by
Big Joe Williams in 1935, and later by Them) gains fitfully from
the addition of robust fiddle and zealous guitar. The trio revel in
the harmonic and rhythmic possibilities of harmonica, jaw harp,
fiddle and guitar, and their bold excavation of Seán Maguire's
Hornpipes and Ge Do Theid Mi Do M'Leabiadh showcases just how that
down-home feeling can invigorate a tune, whether from Louisiana or
Louisburgh.
www.greentrax.com
SIOBHÁN LONG
Download tracks:
Eagle's Whistle, Kitty's Wedding/Plains of Boyle
