With Special Guests:
Cathy Jordan: Bodrhan
John Carthy: Banjo
Conor Byrne: Flute
Tony Byrne: Guitar
Rick Epping: Harmonica/Concertina
Tony O'Connell: Concertina
Andy Morrow: Fiddle
Cyril Donoghue: Bouzouki
Seamie O'Dowd: Guitar
Audio
The Laurel Tree:
Junior Crehan's Poll Ha'penny:
Seandunine Doite:
Track Listing
1 Jigs: Apples In Winter/Peataí Leary's/Tom Billy's
2 Reels: The Limerick Lasses/Johnny McGoohans/The Laurel Tree
3 Hop Jigs: Tommy O'Dea's/The Silver Slipper/Shaving The Baby With A Spoon
4 March & Reels: Bonaparte Crossing The Rhine/Dogs Amongst The Bushes/Gabe O'Sullivan's
5 Slow Air: Iníon An Fhaoit' Ón Ngleann
6 Hornpipes: Junior Crehan's Poll Ha'penny/Moran's Fancy
7 Jigs: The Foxhunter's/The Besom In Bloom
8 Set Dance: Mount Fabus Hunt
9 Reels: Gerry Commane's/The Pride Of Cloonsha/The Maid In The Meadow/ Seanduine Dóite/A Tailor I Am
10 Jigs: The Cauliflower / Seanduine Doite / A Tailor I Am
11 Slides: The Peeler And The Goat/ Dan Jeremiah's/Paddy Canny's
12 Fling & Reels: Kitty Got A Clinking/Sarah's Reel/The Bog Carrot
13 Set Dance: Planxty Davis
14 Slow Air: O'Rahilly's Grave
"Leonard Barry's new album is New Road and it is new, indeed. He is a wonderful pipe player-totally trad and totally new at the same time. An important album and a great musician are on the scene now. Top drawer all the way." www.liveireland.com
"It all makes for a very satisfying listen and some of the most masterful uileann piping you're likely to hear anywhere". Colcannon
www.liveireland.com Livie Awards 2015 MALE MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: Leonard Barry
North Kerry Piper Leonard Barry is releasing his second CD entitled New Road in January 2014. This new album explores Leonard's musical journey over the past decade, reflecting both the music he has played and the musicians who have influenced him.
The combination of solo, duets and ensemble playing is a feature of the CD. Joining Leonard as guests on the CD are John Carty (banjo), Rick Epping (harmonica and concertina), Seamie O'Dowd (guitar), Cathy Jordan (bodhran), Conor Byrne (flute), Andy Morrow (fiddle), Tony Byrne (guitar), Cyril O'Donoghue (bouzouki) and Tony O'Connell (concertina).
Leonard draws on the diverse individual and regional styles of the guest artists and surprises the listener with instrument combinations that are rarely heard together — like harmonica and pipes. As a collection the music draws from the Traditional sources, staying true to their roots featuring music that Leonard has been playing for many years.
Leonard's first CD entitled Mind the Pipes was released in 2002 to critical acclaim, being mentioned amongst the top CD's in The Irish Times (2002). Leonard has recorded and performed with many leading artists including Luka Bloom, and John Spillane amongst many others. Leonard has performed at various festivals internationally including the Tonder Folk Festival (Denmark), Hong Kong Folk Festival, and the Shetland Folk Festival. The CD is due for release in September and will be followed by performances at festivals in Europe and Ireland, together with a nationwide tour in Autumn.
More details at www.leonardbarry.ie
Press Reviews
Froots 374 August 14
Lastly comes New Road , the second solo album by the North Kerry uilleann piper Leonard Barry and, boy, is it a beauty!
Though, like many of his contemporaries, Leonard has a tendency to accelerate his tunes, his sheer dexterity and control of one of the most difficult instruments on the planet raises his music to a higher plane.
For instance, on the set of reels The Limerick Lasses / Johnny McGoohan's / The Laurel Tree he employs chanter, regulators and drones to invigorate the tunes with both drive and passion. His pipes can also march steadfastly in cahoots with John Carty's banjo on Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine , and his version of Clare fiddler Junior Crehan's Poll Ha'Penny somehow imbues the tune with an esoteric sense of yearning, wholly against the usual run of your usual hornpipe playing.
Of course, the true test of a piper is his or her playing of airs and Leonard offers two for our delectation. The first is the tune of an unrequited love song, Iníon An Fhaoit' Ón Ngleann , played with glorious restraint, while the second, O'Rahilly's Grave , is an emotional tour de force.
Perhaps best of all is a storming rendition of Carolan's Planxty Davis in which Barry's pipes soar, swoop and wail in staccato excitement to the accompaniment of Rick Epping's harmonica and concertina. The resulting effect on at least this listener's ears is one of utter jubilation. Such should music be. Geoff Wallis
The Living Tradition 101
Leonard Barry has recently released his second album, New Road . It appears to have been quite a while in the making considering 11 years have passed since his debut album. We often hear age old clichés such as 'good things come to those who wait' and about patience being a virtue. Leonard Barry's second album certainly lives up to any words of wisdom to this effect. He brings us on a musical journey that is very close to the grassroots tradition accompanied throughout by a host of guests such as Cathy Jordan, Cyril O Donoghue, Rick Epping and Seamie O'Dowd to name but a few. At all times throughout the recording, these guests truly compliment the gentle touches and melodic sounds from Leonard's pipes.
Since recording his debut album, Leonard has moved to Dublin but has certainly not forgotten his native North Kerry roots as can be heard throughout this album. The opening set of the album comprises one of my most favoured jigs, the four part version of Apples In Winter , a tune which originally came from Padraig O Keeffe and associated with the late Johnny O'Leary. This opening set almost creeps up unexpectedly at a mighty yet solid tempo.
No piping album would be complete without a slow air and this is no exception, with no less than two contained. Both airs portray Leonard's command of the uilleann pipes and display the beautiful tone that Leonard can achieve. John Carty also features on the album and in particular we are offered a throwback to the days of Tony MacMahon & Barney McKenna with Bonaparte Crossing The Rhine with Carty's powerful banjo intro! Another track of note is The Foxhunter's Jig / Bessom In Bloom , where Leonard is joined by Conor Byrne. This particular track for me is an excellent display of Leonard's musical ability, comprising some lovely rolls and ornamentation with excellent accompanying tones coming from the drones.
From beginning to end, each track encompasses everything that is Traditional Music. This album is a must for every traditionalist's music collection and I certainly hope that Leonard Barry does not keep us waiting as long for the next instalment. Emmet O'Halloran
Colcannon
This is Leonard Barry's second solo recording and it's very good. I say that upfront because the sophomore recording is the most nerve-wracking for any recording artist. It's especially so for a soloist and may be even more of a challenge for a performer on a less common instrument — in this case, uileann pipes.
The soloist is a hero, a champion of his instrument and a champion for the tunes he plays. I have several different recordings of the Bach partitas, for instance, and the different soloists bring their different understandings of the pieces to me thereby enriching my understanding. A soloist in Irish traditional music will have to show their interpretations of well-known pieces, introduce new pieces that the audience might not have heard before — all the while holding attention with a sound palette (no matter how lovely) that might get tedious over the course of a listening. No such problem here. This is an accomplished and assured work with plenty of breadth, richness and depth.
The slow airs ( Iníon an Fhaoit a' Ghleann and O'Rahilly's Grave ) hold together with a musical and emotional coherence than is rarer than one might hope and the dance sets pop with perfect pacing and highlight some of the great work by the people who accompany Barry on this recording. (Tony O'Connell and Tony Byrne on Mount Fabus Hunt and Rick Epping, Cathie Jordan and Seamie O'Dowd on Planxty Davis ) There's also some fine flute playing by Conor Byrne on a set of jigs and an exhilarating bouzouki by Cyril O'Donoghue on a fling and set of reels. Cathie Jordan plays some lovely subtle bodhrán, John Carty, on banjo, brings a swaggering beat to a set of marches and Andy Morrow on fiddle is almost telepathic in the way he locks in on a set of slides.
Through all of this, Barry's piping shines bright and the totally apt and finely-judged accompaniment is just exactly enough to keep the ears perked. There are some very well-known tunes here — oddly enough, The New Road is not one of them. But there are a few that were unknown to me — The Cauliflower , for instance, or the wonderfully named Shaving The Baby With A Spoon. It all makes for a very satisfying listen and some of the most masterful uileann piping you're likely to hear anywhere. Colcannon
The Boston Reporter 3.14
North Kerry-born Barry got the uilleann piping bug as a teenager listening to The Bothy Band and Planxty, so naturally his early influences were Paddy Keenan and Liam O'Flynn, along with Finbar Furey. But he also went farther back in the piping tradition, to Seamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome, Willie Clancy, and Johnny Doran.
Settling in Cork as a young adult exposed him to the music of Sliabh Luachra (Johnny O'Leary, Julia Clifford, Denis Murphy), and a sojourn in Galway furthered his development. All of which enabled Barry to become a top-flight piper (good enough to work not only with a plethora of great traditional musicians but also singer-songwriters Luka Bloom and John Spillane) and a collector of some impressive tunes not necessarily found in the piping repertoire.
After nearly a decade's sabbatical from music, he's back at it and 'The New Road,' his second recording, should impel us all to urge Barry not to put down the pipes ever again.
Christy Moore, for one, has praised Barry for the 'hop' on his regulators and the 'seductive' nature of his drones, but you don't need to know piping terminology to realize that this fellow plays with masterful control and skill.
Listen to the very first track, as he skirls his way majestically through a trio of Sliabh Luachra jigs from the O'Leary repertoire, including a less familiar version of 'Tom Billy's Jig,' or a medley of reels that begins with 'Gerry Commane's' — one of those august D-major tunes that make you glad the Irish music tradition exists. His featuring of relative rarities like 'The Cauliflower' or the marvelously titled hop jig 'Shaving the Baby with a Spoon' should send more than a few musicians scurrying to tune archives (or maybe thesession.org at least).
Aiding Barry's cause on some of the tracks is a quite distinguished lineup of musicians including Cathy Jordan (bodhran), Seamie O'Dowd (guitar), Rick Epping (harmonica, concertina), John Carty (banjo), Andy Morrow (fiddle) and Cyril O'Donoghue (bouzouki): Epping's harmonica- playing makes for a particularly robust combination with the pipes, notably on a trio of slides; Carty moves effectively between rhythm and melody on the march 'Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine,' which segues into a pair of reels; O'Donoghue adds lovely textures to the reels that follow Barry's solo on an intriguing North Kerry fling 'Kitty Got a Clinking'; and Epping, O'Dowd and Jordan ladle on the exuberance in Thomas O'Connellan's festive 'Planxty Davis.'
Closing out the album is another dose of Sliabh Luachra magic, the slow air 'O'Rahilly's Grave,' which provides further evidence of Barry's virtuosity — and will undoubtedly leave you wanting more. Add him to the list of People You'd Really Like to See Here in Boston.
The Living Tradition 4/5.14
Leonard Barry has recently released his second album. New Road. It appears to have been quite a while in the making considering 11 years have passed since his debut album. We often hear age old cliches such as "good things come to those who wait' and about patience being a virtue.
Leonard Barry's second album certainly lives up to any words of wisdom to this effect. He brings us on a musical journey that is very close to the grassroots tradition accompanied throughout by a host of guests such as Cathy Jordan, Cyril O'Donoghue, Rick Epping and Seamie O'Dowd to name but a few. At all times throughout the recording, these guests truly compliment the gentle touches and melodic sounds from Leonard's pipes.
Since recording his debut album, Leonard has moved to Dublin but has certainly not forgotten his native North Kerry roots as can be heard throughout this album. The opening set of the album comprises one of my most favoured jigs, the tour part version of Apples In Winter a tune which originally came from Padraig O Keeffe and associated with the late Johnny O'Leary. This opening set almost creeps up unexpectedly at a mighty yet solid tempo.
No piping album would be complete without a slow air and this is no exception, with no less than two contained. Both airs portray Leonard's command of the
uilleann pipes and display the beautiful tone that Leonard can achieve.
John Carty also features on the album and in particular we are offered a throwback to the days of Tony MacMahon & Barney McKenna with Bonaparte Crossing The Rhine with Carty's powerful banjo intro! Another track of note is The Foxhunter's Jig / Bessom in Bloom, where Leonard is joined by Conor Byrne. This particular track for me is an excellent display of Leonard's musical ability, comprising some lovely rolls and ornamentation with excellent accompanying tones coming from the drones.
From beginning to end, each track encompasses everything that is Traditional Music. This album is a must for every traditionalisrs music collection and I certainly
hope that Leonard Berry does not keep us waiting as long for the next instalment. Emmet O'Halloran
FolkWorld #53 03/2014
New Road, New Pipes, New Lease of Life
Sometimes you just have to take a break, walk away, find a new passion, get to a clearing where you can seethe wood from the trees. Leonard Barry took a long sabbatical from Irish traditional music, now he's back, playing better than ever, full of ideas and ready to make a new road of his musical career. You see Leonard Barry has been missing from the scene for far to long, so it was during a late September afternoon in Dublin's Templebar that Seán Laffey eventually cornered the man with the pipes.
Leonard is from the south West of Ireland, from County Kerry, the tradition in that county favours the button accordion, the tune repertoire is currently dominated by slides and polkas, very much dance music, and it is still being played for dancers in spontaneous pub session around the county, so being a piper in Kerry is an unusual road to take. However, 150 years ago, the great music of the southern half of the country was made by pipers. Today the best pockets for piping in the Province of Munster are probably in Cork. Leinster, Dublin and Wexford have strong piping traditions too. Elsewhere the fiddle had been more or less the major instrument for the past 100 years.
Leonard calls me on his I-phone, he wants to know where I am. I'm on my way down stairs I say, I turn the corner, he turns round and there we are beside the snug door. Handshakes and greetings flow, it's been a few years now, was it eleven years ago that he released Mind the Pipes . Yes. And wasn't he living in Kilkenny? Yes he was, but now he's in the big city, in Dublin, in Inchicore, where the big CIE railway depot is. He is settled into family life, happy out and ready to start making serious music again.
He tells me he moved to Dublin 'a few years ago' and began working with the Simon Community. A charity that looks after the homeless and destitute, as the recession bit the job got bigger, there were more casualties of the economic crash to work with, more people in a desperate condition. Professional music wasn't on his agenda, booking gigs, going into recording studios or following the festival circuit were all put on hold. But he didn't give up on the tunes. Music was a social release from the day job, a 'necessary release'. He still plays a couple of social sessions each week and he loves them. They give him a chance to meet other players, it keeps him on his mettle and there are always new tunes to be learnt . He also teaches classes in a circle of towns 80 kilometres from Dublin: Portlaoise, Dundalk and Drogheda, but it is only 'occasionally, it's for the Music Generation Project . Working with young people from disadvantage backgrounds who have talent but not necessarily the money to buy instruments or afford the best lessons.' Which, he says was a challenge at first but it has been really rewarding. 'It made me look again at how I play the pipes and it has made me a more mature musician.'
This past year he sat back and re-evaluated his job situation, he'd run his course with the Simon Community, he knew it was time to do something else, he was thinking of getting back to some serious music. He says his family is 100% behind him, and so he began working on the album The New Road , last spring.
There's a new set of pipes in the Barry household too, which feature on the New Road album. He tells me they have a presence. 'They aren't loud or brash, but they have this something else, they fill the room.' They were a new set made for him by Victor Mullaly in Kilkenny and reeded by Mick O'Brien in Dublin. 'Mick and Victor have really done their research with these pipes, I love the sound and how easy they are to play. As Mick is a piper himself he was able to get the best voicing out of the chanter and I'm delighted with the result.'
What of his old set, has he kept them as a back up? No he says, he sold them to Colm Broderick, a young piper from Carlow, 'who is really very good and if he gets half the enjoyment I got from them he will be in for a treat.'
So what of the new album, what are we to expect? The tunes reflect the road Leonard has been on for the past decade, for example there is a set of jigs: Apples in Winter / Peataí O'Leary's / Tom Billy's and some Hop jigs; Tomeen O'Dea's / The Silver Slipper / Shaving the Baby with a Spoon , and some big slow airs such as Iníon an Fhaoit' ón nGleann . He says all the tracks are traditional, with one reel composed by the flute player Hammy Hamilton, on balance the majority of the tunes are from the southern half of Irealdn, form the province of Munster, but there are pieces on the album from the Sligo and Leitrim traditions, because as he says he has 'spent many a night in sessions in Carrick on Shannon and at Shoot the Crows in Sligo. Those are legendary sessions in Cryans in Carrick on Shannon and I've playing a lot with Andy Morrow who would be the source of the Leitrim influence.'
Expect some glorious solo pieces, but also some interesting collaborations. One of those is with John Carty who plays banjo on the album. 'I'd met John at the Shetland Folk Festival in 1997 and we talked about recording some tunes. Then about a year ago we met up and he said 'why not give it a go' so we did and the duet made its way to the album.'
The album is a mixture of solo work and ensemble pieces. There isn't a core band as such, but things are progressing. He says this gives him the flexibility of working in duos and trios and he thinks this will be attractive to festivals when they come to book him. 'I have tracks with John Carty (banjo), Rick Epping (harmonica and concertina), Seamie O'Dowd (guitar), Cathy Jordan (bodhran), Conor Byrne (flute), Andy Morrow (fiddle), Tony Byrne (guitar), Cyril O'Donoghue (bouzouki) and Tony O'Connell (concertina). I mean it's pretty rare to hear the pipes and harmonica, well outside of Wexford it is' he laughs.
The exciting new group which grew out of the sessions for Leonard Barry's new CD, New Road, have played their debut gig with a special guest at Whelan's of Dublin on Tuesday the 25th of February. Opening for the lads was none other than legendary Irish folk artist, Christy Moore, surely no band has got off to a better start, and we expect them to maintain the excitement in their live dates in 2014. There's a wide new road ahead for Leonard Barry.© Seán Laffey
Folk World 53
This is only Leonard Barry's second album after "Mind the Pipes" 11 years ago. Inbetween he moved from rural Co. Kerry to the Irish capital Dublin. Still most of his chosen tunes are from Munster - comprising the southern Irish counties Clare, Cork, Limerick (incl. the Sliabh Luachra area), [42] Tipperary, Waterford -, with a small selection of Sligo/Leitrim pieces. All tunes are trad, besides one reel composed by Hammy Hamilton, the Belfast born flutist who is residing in Cork these days. Leonard Barry plays some expressive solo pieces on the uilleann pipes and is not shy with the regulators. There's two grand slow airs, "Iníon an Fhaoit' Ón Ngleann" (as heard by the Begleys) and "O'Rahilly's Grave". It is no solo piping throughout, duet and group settings feature fiddler Andy Morrow, banjoist John Carty, flutist Conor Byrne among others. The set dance "Planxty Davis" (Killicrankie), composed by Thomas O'Connellan (c.1640/5—1698) to commemorate the Battle of Killiecrankie 1689, features The Unwanted [39] Rick Epping on harmonica/concertina and Seamie O' Dowd on guitar; another set dance, "Mount Fabus Hunt" (Galtee Hunt) introduces concertina/guitar duo Tony O'Connell and Tony Byrne. Unusual versions of the "Apples in Winter" jig (Sliabh Luachra fiddler Padraig O'Keeffe's four-part version) and "The Bog Carrot" reel with a third part added by accordionist Jackie Daly make the pyrotechnics of this awesome uilleann piper perfect. © Walkin' T:-)M
R2 March/April ****
Leonard Barry, from Tralee in County Kerry, is one of Ireland's finest uilleann pipers. He has played and taught the pipes all over the world and has worked with many Irish singers, including Luka Bloom and John Spillane. Barry started his musical journey at the age of eight, under the guidance of his uncle Bert O'Brien.
On New Road, Barry has chosen a wealth of traditional tunes and pairs his pipes with an excellent cast of musicians, including Cathy Jordan (bodhran); Andy Morrow(?ddle); John Carty (banjo); Seamie O'Dowd (guitar); and Conor Byrne (flute).
The excellent set of reels, 'The Limerick Lasses', is a ?ne ?ddle/pipes duet -the two instruments playing as one, in true traditional style. 'Bonaparte Crossing TheRhine' is a march, followed by a set of reels. Here Barry plays a duet with John Carty on banjo.
Barry's skill as a piper is perhaps best demonstrated on the solo set of reels, 'Gerry Commane's'. His playing is in the style of the traditional travelling piper's fast and flowing.
New Road is a first-class collection of traditional uilleann piping tunes, played with energy and flair. Keith Whiddon
www.folkwords.com 'New Road' from Leonard Barry '… to wholly beguile the listener' (January 11, 2014)
An English poet and playwright of considerable repute once wrote: 'When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions'. The antithesis of those words flew into my head when I first listened to 'New Road' by noted North Kerry piper Leonard Barry - when superior music comes, it comes not single tracks, but entire albums. This is an album that does just that. It drinks deep from the enduring well of Irish traditional music, sipping the delights of North Kerry, the mountainous Sliabh Luachra region of Munster along the Cork-Kerry border and West Limerick, whence comes much of Leonard's influence.
There is a positive wealth of solo pieces, duets and ensembles, across an abundance of reels, jigs slides and slow airs that weave and entwine their charms to wholly beguile the listener. There's the energy of jigs and reels: 'Apples in Winter/ Peataí O'Leary's/ Tom Billy's' and 'The LimerickLasses/ Johnny McGhooans/ The Laurel Tree' ; enchanting slow airs like: 'Iníon An Fhaoit' Ón Ngleann' and 'O'Rahilly's Grave', and set dances with 'Mount Fabus Hunt' and 'Planxty Davis' . Beyond those there's so much more. In addition to the cornucopia of music the album cover also provides the avid listener with an introduction and background to every track.
What more can you say? Familiar with Barry and his talent on the pipes? The seduction continues with 'New Road'. Not encountered this master before? Prepare to be amazed. Simple as that.
On 'New Road' Leonard plays a set of Victor Maullaly pipes with guests Conor Byrne (flute) Tony Byrne (guitar) John Carty (banjo) Rick Epping (harmonica and concertina) Cathy Jordan (bodhran) Andy Morrow (fiddle) Tony O'Connell (concertina) Cyril O'Donoghue (bouzouki) and Seamie O'Dowd (guitar) joining him in the album. Reviewer: Tim Carroll
Irish Music Magazine
Hardcore piping from a man who's been off the scene for a while. Leonard Barry released an album Mind the Pipes over a decade ago. Since then he's moved from his native Kerry to Dublin and spent his time rambling round sessions collecting tunes and collaborators. He's joined here by John Carty on banjo, Andy Morrow on fiddle, Tony O'Connell on concertina, Conor Byrne on flute, and several other well-known names. Leonard's choice of material is straight from the heart of the tradition, with a bias towards Munster tunes: slides and jigs, tunes associated with Johnny O'Leary, Padraig O'Keeffe, Julia Clifford and many more Sliabh Luachra players. Some are well-known, like Tom Billy's, The Peeler and the Goat, or The Bog Carrot. Others are new to me, at least the names: Dan Jeremiah's, A Tailor I Am, and the evocatively titled Shaving the Baby with a Spoon.
There's a lovely rounded sound from Barry's new set of Mullaly pipes, best appreciated on the two slow airs. Inion an Fhaoit' on nGleann is a powerful plaintive melody, showing very tasty ornamentation as well as haunting held notes and plenty of right-hand tremolo. New Road finishes with the great lament O'Rahilly's Grave, played quite simply but with wonderful expression.The drones are quite prominent on this recording, with a rich bass note, but Barry's chanter is well able to handle that.
He puts the regulators to work now and then too, on the airs of course, but also on the dance tunes: The Pride of Cloonsha/The Maid in the Meadow, A Tailor I Am, The Laurel Tree and other melodies benefit from smooth or rhythmic regulator harmonies. Elsewhere, accompaniment is provided by the likes of Rick Epping, Seamie O'Dowd and Cathy Jordan from the north west, Cyril O'Donoghue from the south west, and Tony Byrne from the east. There's plenty more to enjoy here, from Carty tearing into Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine to Epping's harmonica duetting with the pipes on Planxty Davis. This CD gives every indication of a long and successful road ahead for Leonard Barry. Alex Monaghan
www.trad-connect.com
New Road is Leonard Barry's second recording and it is a follow up to his debut, released some 11 years ago called " Mind the Pipes ". Rick Epping joins Leonard on the recording as does Conor Byrne, Tony Byrne, John Carty on banjo, Cathy Jordan, Andy Morrow, Tony O' Connell, Cyril O' Donoghue and Seamie O' Dowd. This collection of accompanying talent sit very much behind Leonard's pipes to give a very nicely balanced recording that brings it very much into the mainstream. This makes the album a much more rounded affair and as a result it should have a broader appeal. Commercially this is a big plus because solo piping albums can have a restricted audience. Yes the sound of solo pipes in the hands of a master can be a wonder to behold. However add in some great guests as Leonard has done here and the album takes on a different hue. Together they have crafted an outstanding album that celebrates one of our best pipers in both solo, duet and group settings. It's the variety that makes it work. A set of reels called Bonapart Crossing the Rhine/The Dogs Amongst the Bushes/Gabe O' Sullivan's features Leonard and some stripped bare banjo work by the irrepressible John Carty. They keep it simple and well paced even as they tackle the last two numbers in the above set which are reels. On other tracks, such as the hornpipes Junior Crehan's Poll Ha'Penny/Moran's Fancy, he goes solo with another well paced set that gives a clear taste of his style with great use of regulators and drones sitting nicely under the main melody. For the often underappreciated set dance he includes two. The first called Mount Fabus Hunt introduces Tony O' Connell on concertina and Tony Byrne on guitar. The second Planxty Davis features Rick Epping on harmonica and concertina and Seamie O' Dowd on guitar. With such a fine team of accompanists the risk of Leonards pipes getting lost in an array of competing sounds never happens. It's a piping album on which he uses these resources sparingly but to great effect. The album remains focused on pipes while at the same time achieving much more commercial appeal with arrangements that provide a fuller texture and sound when required. There is plenty for everyone in here and it brings the supreme talents of Leonard Barry back into the public eye once more on one of the years best piping albums. Tony Lawless
