Liz Carroll & John Doyle
In Play
Compass Records 7 4418 2; 50 minutes; 2005
Ever
a dynamic live performer the Chicago-born Irish-American fiddler Liz Carroll’s
recordings have often been contrastingly far less vibrant. Something seems to
have clicked into place, however, on the sixth album to bear her name, In
Play. The reasons are complex, but unquestionably involve the seemingly
symbiotic musical relationship with the former Solas guitarist John Doyle, a
far more varied selection of tunes (more than twenty of which are self-composed
and another written with Doyle), and perhaps the fact that the pair have
produced the album themselves.
That symbiosis colours the
entire album and allows Liz to demonstrate the full array of her skills, ever
supported by a variety of colours from the palette of John’s fretboard. The
sheer delight of a trio of rambunctious reels (Rolling in the Ryegrass/The
Laurel Tree/O’Rourke’s) where Liz’s swooping fiddle is complemented
by John’s pulsating guitar is matched by the delicacy of the self-penned air The
Island of Woods.
Elsewhere
the jaunty Kieran’s Polka leads into another stirring reel, The Bike
to Ballyhahill, while Dennehy Dancers is a sprightly jig aptly
celebrating a Chicago dance school.
A
friend fortunate to witness a recent gig by Liz and John in Ireland reckoned it
was one of the best he’d seen in many a year. Dare one hope that one day soon
the pair might repeat such occasions in the UK?
This review by Geoff Wallis originally appeared in Songlines magazine
– www.songlines.co.uk.