Search - Manus McGuire :: Saffron & Blue

Manus McGuire, who grew up in Sligo, has earned a reputation as one of Ireland's most tasteful fiddlers through his work with the groups Buttons and Bows and Moving Cloud. On Saffron and Blue, his solo debut, he steps away from the familiar band setting to play a collection of dance tunes accompanied by only a piano. The uncluttered backup recalls the classic 1920s recordings of fellow Sligo fiddlers Michael Coleman and James Morrison. McGuire cut his teeth playing for dances where he learned that the mark of a great fiddler was not how fast you played, but how many people you got up out of their chairs and onto the dance floor. He takes many of these jigs and reels at a slower tempo than a fiddler who learned in the competitive session scene might, but McGuire's gentler pace reveals the subtle beauty of the melodies that is obscured when they are played too fast. --Michael Simmons