Search - Rory Dall, Jack Sheedy, Custer LaRue :: The Mad Buckgoat - Ancient Music of Ireland

Beats "Riverdance" in its own modest way

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 10/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You can read part of the contents of this delightful CD above on this website--actually there are 21 tracks to fill up the 60 minute program--but you will just have to imagine the spirit with which they are played by the never-seeming-to-fail Boston Consort. Custer LaRue has done fine things for the Dorian label and her work here is distinguished as ever. the lyrics are thoughtfully provided. This CD might be subtitled "Ancient Music of Ireland," but it sounds every bit as jolly as any similar Galway program or "Trip to Ireland" program. The use of "authentic" instruments adds that extra charm that makes this offering irresistable. In short, Dorian has done it again!"

Timeless Music

Lisa T. Davis | Elkton, MD USA | 12/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Baltimore Consort has an incredible knack for infusing early music with a vitality, vibrancy and an improvisational accessibility rarely matched in the genre. They succeed beyond wildest expectations in this more recent of their efforts, featuring "ancient music of Ireland." Happily, they intentionally transcend stereotypic modes on this recording, having as their goal neither "to become a modern traditional Irish band, nor ... to re-create a performance from eighteenth-century Dublin." The result is an intoxicating evocation of ancient spirit interpreted through the twentieth-century mind on historic instruments.As in their 1990 recording, "On the Banks of Helicon: Early Music of Scotland," the tunes selected for this album amaze in the extent to which they feel remarkably contemporary, to the point where the listener might well reexamine the liner notes and exclaim, "This song originated in the 1690s?!" Compare the hauntingly gorgeous Jacobian air "Wild Geese" (Track 13) to James Horner's love theme from Titanic: they bear some similarity, although the former makes the latter seem decidedly lack-lustre!A full two-thirds of the album is instrumental; Custer LaRue employs her appealing soprano to the ballads. Those who thirst for the strains of the pipes so often a component of Irish music will be disappointed (pipes make only one appearance), but fans of wooden flute and whistle are certain to be in seventh heaven.This is a delightfully rewarding collection of tunes certain to coax from within a depth and breadth of emotion that reflect the timelessness of humanity as it is expressed through music."

Not like any Irish music you've ever heard.

Deborah Torgler | Lincoln, NE USA | 06/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although it doesn't say so above, this CD was recorded by the Baltimore Consort: Mary Anne Ballard, Mark Cudek, Custer LaRue, Larry Lipkis, Ronn McFarlane & Chris Norman (the unnamed star of this CD). The Baltimore Consort has well-deserved fame as interpreters of 17th & 18th century popular music, and this CD is a classic example of their exquisite work.The selections date mainly from the 18th century. I believe Mary Anne Ballard is to be credited with most of the research into the music of the period for the group. There are several traditional Irish hornpipes, reels and jigs, the style of which hasn't changed much over the centuries. Chris Norman's flute, however, raises these pieces well out of the ordinary and into the area of mind-blowing. Custer LaRue has several wonderful ballads, some sung in Gaelic and one in English: "The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow." According to the liner notes, this is said to be "an unlucky song because it so charmed the ear of a priest going on a sick call that he tarried and arrived too late." One can see how.If you are not familiar with the Baltimore Consort's work, this is as good a place to start as any. If you do know others in their wonderful discography, this is one not to miss."