David Munnelly, Swing (Hummingbird, 2001)
Hugh Morrison, Feet to the Floor (Dun Eistein Productions, date unknown)
Hanneke Cassel, My Joy (Cassel Records, 2001)
Carole & Teresa Lundgren, Random Acts of Fiddling (Owl Mountain Music, 1999)
Sam Amidon, Solo Fiddle (Sam Amidon, 2001)
Wendy Weatherby, Two Loves (KRL, 2003)
France Ellul, The Seven Harps of Avalon (France Ellul )

Solo instrumental playing is as much dependent on the musician’s individual expertise as it is on the company he or she decides to keep. This diverse bunch includes everything from Irish accordionists to American fiddle players English harpists and Scottish singer/cellists and covers a wide range of styles and idioms while working in a traditional framework.

David Munnelly, an accordionist from Bellmullet in County Mayo, is a familiar sight from playing with De Dannan, Niamh Parsons and several other well known artists. Munnelly is a graduate, along with piper Eamon Galldubh and singer/pianist Tina Price, of an innovative University-type Music Industry induction course run in Dublin at the tail end of the 1990’s. Munnelly, Price and Galladubh issued an interesting collection album Triad --Three from Trad at the course completion and proceeded to carve out individual careers.

In 2001, David Munnelly’s debut solo album Swing emerged from Phillip King’s Hummingbird label. Swing captures the three main aspects of David Munnelly’s playing -- style, panache and bounce-- and this is a meaty, beaty, big and bouncy album. With the might of a steam train and the poise of a gazelle it shows in no uncertain terms how Munnelly has his music sussed and his approach down pat. The opening "American Polka" goes for the jugular in true Joe Derrane, Mairtin O’Connor style -- with lots of fancy flourishes and party tricks a-plenty, and "Charlotte's Reel" resembles the "Chatanooga Choo Choo" melody wise. "Jack Cawley’s Jigs" goes for more standard session style presentation yet the energy ante is commendably high and the intensity level is upkept throughout, while "An Carraigin" is a resigned slow air. Ex-De Dannan singer Andrew Murray delivers the one vocal, Dougie McLean’s "Singing Land" in his own modest yet impressive style (somebody get him to record!). While careering through myriads of influences from swing to traditional and back the musical span is big, wide, and full of personality. David Munnelly’s music is good for the soul and the face guaranteed to uplift and elicit a beaming smile and Swing lives up to its moniker.

Born in Wick in North Scotland, Hugh Morrison is another accordionist who plays a button box and is as far removed from David Munnelly’s high-flying approach as possible. His is the tight economical Scottish dance band style of accordion playing where everything is precise and in correct order. That’s not to suggest that the music is not possessed of a soul, because it is -- although one of a more subdued nature than his boisterous Irish counterpart. Feet to the Floor, recorded in Houston, Texas, is a collection of well known Scottish dance band and country dance tunes arranged in the familiar manner of marches, waltzes, jigs and gay Gordons as well as a March strathspey and reel and mixing in some Irish tunes like "The Road to Lisdoonvarna" and "Dingle Regatta" as well. Playing-wise, it is fine, exhibiting a nicely relaxed laid back atmosphere within its chosen grounds. This is Scottish country-dance music played on a Hohner Shand Morino button accordion and as such the Jimmy Shand influence is discernible throughout. Feet to the Floor is good solid Scottish country dance music played with style and grace.

Staying with Scottish music for a minute, the influence of Scottish fiddlers like Alastair Fraser can be heard in many young American bows nowadays (Laura Risk and Athena Tergis, for example). Now this influence can be heard in someone actually introduced to me by Laura some years ago in Boston: Hanneke Cassel. In the intervening years since our first meeting Hanneke’s music has grown and developed into a strong, highly individual style. This individual muse puts her into the thinking cap occupied by progressive stylists like Eileen Ivers and to a degree Liz Carroll. Hanneke’s debut album My Joy has been a long time coming and while issued domestically in 2001, my ears only clapped it within the last 9 months. Indeed it's been produced by her compatriot Laura Risk and the care and commitment with which Laura imbues her music traverses through the sounding board. Hanneke Cassel’s music is a rich cornucopia of styles, idioms and ideas all blown out into a cohesive whole. The obvious influences are easy to see but there exists more than just a fledgling individualism within her musical pores. "Waves in the Sand" takes a dive at Eileen Ivers territory with wide angled strides matched with intense funky rumblings while "The Phunk Bridge" teases like a Liz Carroll tune before crossing into "The Glen Road to Carrick," a classic Donegal favourite. At the other end of the spectrum, "November," a graceful, slow air, plays on the quieter, more baroque-like elements of her music. Special guests include Tony McManus whose guitar work drives and rolls gently with equal aplomb and Rushad Elleston whose cello adds a darker deeper tone to the proceedings. While she still developing an individual sense of style and loquaciousness to lift herself from the crowd, Hanneke Cassel’s music is rich, sonorous and possesses a wealth of ingenuity that screams out for wider exposure.

Using cover images from Holbein’s "Dance of Death," Sam Amidon’s debut solo album Solo Fiddle revels in a bare stripped-down approach. While this idea may hark back to the 70’s and Fusion Orchestra’s seminal progressive rock classic "Skeleton In Armour," and also provides a morbid almost apocalyptic atmosphere, the music recorded on this CD is far from melancholy. Maybe he’s trying too hard to be alternative; the music is enough to sell on its own merits. Here the guest list is left at the door and the focus is on traditional Irish fiddle music played solo with no embellishments or accompaniment whatsoever. This is fiddle music in the barest of quarters and speaks its own truth successfully. Amidon's style is lean and muscular with a minimum of pyrotechnics and is extremely eloquent. Listen to "Spike Island Lassies" and marvel at a steadiness of hand and a lightness of touch that is inspiring, or "Kathleen Collins" where he sounds the nearest to Bobby Casey I have heard in years. Skip the morbid graphics and get to grips with Sam Amidon’s music -- it's good -- very good.

Fiddling sisters Carole and Teresa Lundgren bring us back to variety-land on Random Acts of Fiddling, hitting everywhere from Ireland to the USA and the Ukraine. This is an album that’s literally all over the shop in sound, idiom, and execution, but to their credit this cheery-cheeked sense of adventure works. Adhering to no particular book as regards their repertoire the anything goes nature brings about a buoyant and varied approach. "Captain Campbell/Rakes of Kildare" shows a good command of Irish and Scottish styles while Steve Eulberg adds plaintive recorder to "My Love Has Gone To Sea". They are as likely to launch into "Orange Blossom Special" as Scottish Highland tunes or an unusual setting of "Drowsy Maggie" and pull them off. That is the rag tag and bobtail glory of an album like Random Acts of Fiddling -- the canvas is wide and the success rating is good. Carole and Teresa Lundgren can either stay eclectic or anchor themselves in one musical tradition and stay there 'til kingdom come. Still that’s a decision for another day and Random Acts of Fiddling is a good reminder of their present life and energy.

Putting Scottish cellist/singer Wendy Weatherby’s second solo album Two Loves in amongst a batch of fiddle recordings isn’t as weird as it sounds. With the obvious connections between the fiddle and cello in the string family there also exists a similar eclecticism in her musical approach. A veteran of some latter-day Scottish bands like Calluna and a regular name on albums, it is only recently that her solo career has taken flight. Two Loves, her second solo album, follows up her debut effort A Breath on the Cold Glass and mines a similar field of songs and tunes of mostly traditional inspiration. Weatherby likes to play dance music as well as airs on the cello, as she does on "The Hybrid Set," making a sound both unusual and delightful. She also sings using the cello strings as a drone-like background as in the opening of "Bonny At Morn." Burns' "Wandering Willie" is rendered unaccompanied save for her vocal harmonies. The set of jigs "Cannongate Breeks" introduces James Ross’ piano and accordion and Stevie Lawrence’s guitar and percussion which create a fresh vibrant contemporary Scottish sound sometimes bordering on the surreal. Whether she will be seen in future as the Jacqueline Du Pre of Scottish music, taking the cello into untapped waters, is unknown, but Wendy Weatherby’s talent is a commendable one and Two Loves is a fine slice of her ingenious artwork.

Finishing this bunch is English harpist and singer/songwriter France Ellul’s The Seven Harps of Avalon. This is predominantly a Celtic/Ethnic fusion effort with the title idea taken from the seven harps of Avalon in the King Arthur legends. While there are some well worn names from the O’Carolan phrase book here including "Fanny Poer," "Hewlett" and "Carolan’s Welcome," the bulk is original material including a plaintive "Y Pwr" which begins on solo harp before tablas, fiddle and low whistle add an Eastern touch. This influence also passes through the nine minute opening piece "Anwen." Elaine Samuels, Justine Hoile and Ellul himself handle vocal chores, bringing the mystical, ethereal nature of the music home. Musically this straddles influences from Celtic to Eastern and contemporary habitats and while pleasant and easy on the ear fails to completely command the attention.

So there your are, a widely varying bunch of instrumentalists, some who sing and others who do not. The main thing is that their music sings and dances to the artists' own individual tune. There are some good ideas and challenging approaches here along with strict adherence to traditional values. There should be something to please most taste buds here whether they are looking for an adventure or a rebirth in the traditional values of the music itself.