Distance can shape music in ways that proximity just doesn’t allow.
This solo debut from London-Irish fiddler Claire Egan is a quietly confident collection that comfortably casts a glance to both the past and the present, with nary a misstep in between.
Egan manages a clean, fluid style that’s all her own while doffing a cap to the great London-Irish fiddler Brendan Mulkere.
Her handling of the tunes is a delight: in particular, her reading of the waltzes, Turning Tides/Contented Am I, is a joyous, freewheeling exercise in expressionism.
And Egan's inclusion of a short passage from a Bach adagio in G Minor is miraculously paired with Castlekellys reel is a spirit-shocking delight.
Accompaniment on piano, bouzouki and bodhrán is perfectly pitched as well.
