Search - Davy Spillane :: Atlantic Bridge

Bend those notes Davy!

07/12/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Come on - what can I say?? A master piece from the master of the pipes himself. This earlier recording of Davy's, puts you right up there on the moors wishing you had a pint of Guinness in you hand. Contains Daire's Dream, the best song Davy ever played. What can I say, BUY IT NOW, how ever have you walked God's green earth without it?"

These are not your father's Uilleann pipes

Robert Shepard Jr. | USA | 03/13/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you've seen or heard Riverdance, you're already familiar with Davy Spillane's hauntingly beautiful Uilleann pipe and low whistle melodies. If you're hoping to find more of that kind of music, "Atlantic Bridge" is probably not the CD you want.I found this out only after I bought the CD. What I heard instead was a really interesting blend of various musical genres, among them bluegrass, jazz and, yes, traditional Irish piping and whistling. You'll notice this quickly. Track 1, "Davy's Reels", starts out with a conventional Irish sound. Then, about halfway through the track, the country-western guitar kicks in.The title track, "Atlantic Bridge", literally bridges the old and the new worlds, starting with a lively, finger-snapping, guitar-picking tune, which eventually turns into a pipe and banjo duet. This is one of my favorite tunes on the CD.If you're in the mood for a lively pipe jig, try "Tribute to Johnny Doran". For more pipes and banjos, try "Sliverish". For the blues, there's "Landsdowne Blues", which my mother says sounds like the kind of music she listened to forty or fifty years ago, when she was growing up."By the River of Gems" features some breathtakingly beautiful piping, Riverdance-style, and ends with another pipe and banjo duet. (A shorter and much more beautiful pipe-only version of this track appears on Davy's 1998 CD, "The Sea of Dreams".)And then there's "In My Life", the Lennon/McCartney tune like you've never heard it before, featuring the low whistle and a hammer dulcimer, both played by Davy.A final note: there's a twelve-second untitled bonus track at the end with a short snatch of guitar music. What it's for is anyone's guess. I keep wondering if perhaps something got left out during the recording session.All in all, this CD's a good buy, if you're interested in unconventional Celtic music."

World Bridge

Perry Dror | Asheville, NC United States | 07/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The more I listen to Celtic music, and its musicians the less easy it is to label any music. This album does more than to bridge the Atlantic, it's more like a "home is where your ears are" kind of experience. Davy and all of his guest artists seem to transend themselves, playing as one person. Davy's virtuoso handling of the uilleann pipes is as superb as always. At one moment it's a wind instrument, at another it's a violin.I bought this and two other Davy Spillane albums on faith, based on his haunting solo in Riverdance. Now you show some faith. Stop reading the reviews and wrap your ears around this wonderful music."