Manus McGuire: Saffron and Blue (Green Linnet)
Smart and dainty does it with this fluent, Sligo-reared fiddler from Moving Cloud and indeed Buttons and Bows. The man can shiver out a Scots tune, a star-spangled waltz, even a lovely French-Canadian quadrille, but hark him reverting to the vital, skittery Sligo feel, even on his own tunes (Howling at the Moon, Charlie Hunter's Jig or the two beautiful hornpipes) backed by Scotsman Denis Morrison's horsepower piano-vamping or Gillian Boucher's woodpeckering tap shoes. Elsewhere, he duets in singing unison with the brother Seamus, or sinks away into orchestration which is a bit lush for me, but the rawer, roguish Scots/Irish solo stuff keeps pinching the ears awake.