Search - Eileen Ivers :: Eileen Ivers

Dazzling Celtic fiddle playing with a contemporary flair

01/10/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eileen Ivers, a New Yorker of Irish ancestry, plays traditional Celtic music with flawless technique. Stylistically, she seems to be on her own, not adhering strictly to any style in particular (such as Cape Breton, Donegal, etc.); however, her childhood fiddle teacher of many years was from County Limerick, so that was probably a formative influence. She is daringly eclectic in her repertoire and her stylistic techniques, as when she takes a traditional hornpipe and arranges it to dovetail melodically with Pachelbel's Canon ("Pachelbel's Frolics). But even when playing a set of traditional tunes in the traditional way, the music shimmers and moves like that of few other players. Her playing is strong and delicate, clean and impetuous, wild and sensitive. . . for people who are serious about taking traditional music forward into the present there is a lot here to listen to and to meditate on, as well as to learn from. Ivers is not just a fiddle player, but a creative contemporary musician whose arrangements are expanding the limits of her art."