What do you get when an Irish fiddler records an album with a Cape Breton pianist, a BC trumpeter, an English percussionist……? Basically a record that sounds like the sum of it's many parts.

Liz Doherty has had a long, winding career to date. I first remember seeing her on the tradumentary "River of Sound" explaining the evolving relationship between computers and traditional music. At the time she was studying music at Cork University, her specialty being the fiddle music of Cape Breton. She then came to notice with the band Nomos, which sprang out of her courses and the session scene in Cork. Shortly after she hooked up with The Bumblebees for a run or two while completing her Ph.D. in Limerick. She then went back to Cork to teach at the university there and currently pursues a full time performing career.

A product of the Dinny McLaughlin school of fiddling, this Donegal native has positioned herself smack in the middle of a fiddling tradition that stretches from Scandanavia over to Cape Breton and this, her second solo effort (Last Orders is the other), fully reflects these influences. Her playing is unmistakably from Donegal but she excels in many other styles. Of the 12 tracks on this record only one, a set of Barndances, is traditional Irish. There is a traditional French Canadian set and a Gaelic Air but apart from the odd tune thrown in here and there the rest are composed by various people, all familiar names in the new tradition.

The opening track sets the mood for the rest of the album. Two reels bound into play, and culminate in a finale using Daniel Lapp's trumpet to colour the interplay in a style reminiscent of La Bottine Souriant. From there on you have Liz successfully interpreting a myriad of styles from French Canada, Cape Breton, Ireland, Scotland, the Orkneys, to -- you name it. With a stellar support crew of Gerry O'Connor, Tony McManus, Eilidh Shaw and others, she conjures up images of sessions spanning the Atlantic and bringing the house down where ever she goes. Jigs, reels and hornpipes abound in generous dollops.

Liz gets a fantastic earthy tone out of her fiddle and her playing really swings. While this album may not be for the purists it shows a vibrant young fiddler at her best in the company of some great friends. It reflects the modern trend of interaction between various styles, tune writing and tune swapping.

[Pat Simmonds]