Unless there is a CD that I've jumped to the top of my stack for a specific reason, I choose which CDs I listen to for review fairly randomly. Of the CDs I review about one-sixth go into my "heavy rotation" stack of CDs that I regularly listen to; two-thirds I listen to occasionally; and one-sixth I never intend to listen to again. Given the random nature of my CD selection and the percentages, every now and then, I'm going to hit a hot streak of outstanding CDs that will be going into the heavy rotation shelf. And I've just hit such a 4-CD hot streak.

Previously known as Double Indemnity, Empty Hats is a Florida-based group, comprised of Carl Asch on guitar and whistle, Gary Mazzu on guitar, and Lynda Kavy on bodhran, with all three doing vocals. Their first CD under their new name, The Hat Came Back, is an excellent collection of Celtic and English traditional and tradition-inspired music.

The title track embodies the feel of the CD. Written by Asch, the song tells of an Irishman who returns late from the pub and follows the tradition of tossing a hat into the house to determine whether his wife is angry with him. If the hat comes back, it means he's not welcome in his house that night. Asch's singing is both expressive and light and there's some nice fiddling by guest Felipe de Souza. Another song written by Asch is "If It's a Rose (Then it Will Bloom)." Set to the tune of "The Lakes of Ponchartrain," this is a lovely song about the concerns about new romances. I don't think anyone will ever do a better job on "The Whistler" than Jethro Tull, especially with Ian Anderson's flute solos. But Empty Hats' version does the original justice.

The masterpiece of The Hat Came Back, "The Twa Magicians" is kind of a touchy song. For all the sexual banter and punning, the tradition song describes what is, for all intents and purposes, a rape. There have recently been some versions in which female magician turns the tables on the male, but these versions have come off as too obvious and overwrought. Besides, the battle of the sexes remains unresolved in these versions. Asch, however, has come up with a completely different twist, giving this song, for the only time I'm aware of, a satisfactory conclusion that matches the humor and sexuality of the song. Bravo.

I had the opportunity to see Empty Hats, minus Mazzu, but plus fiddler de Souza, at the Hogtowne Medieval Faire this past February. While I only heard a few songs, what I heard was excellent. Taking a look at their schedule they seem to make more than a few of Renaissance faires, doing Florida in the spring and Pennsylvania and upstate New York in the summer, which demonstrates that

Empty Hats doesn't have empty heads when it comes to the weather.

Whether it should be considered a debut or not, The Hat Came Back is a great, upbeat CD. I'll be looking for more from Empty hats -- and I'll be on the lookout for them at the next Hogtowne Medieval Faire. Anyone else who wants to join me on the lookout, can check their web site.

What do you get when you cross a Scottish piper with a jazz saxophonist? Well, if the piper is Hamish Moore and the saxophonist is Dick Lee, what you get is The Bees Knees, an impressive blend of Celtic and jazz. The leadoff track, a set of "Thunderhead" and "The Easy Club Reel" demonstrates how well the blending works, especially near the end of "Thunderhead" (from about the 1:30 mark) where Moore is performing basically a straight-ahead reel, while Lee plays a hot jazz sax. If I separated the two tracks out, I probably would think there's no way the two can be blended, but they work perfectly together. There's also some good work from The Hamish Moore Band, including Wendy Weatherby's vocals and Jim Hannah's keyboard.

The set of "Nighean Dubh Alainn" is tilted rather strongly to the Celtic, starting off with a lovely Irish air written by Moore and finishing with a sprightly jig written, surprisingly, by Lee. The only instrumentation is Moore on whistles and Lee on recorder, both of which are played quite well. The set of "The Slow Hare," "The Mongoose in the Byre," and "The Bees Knees" is much more tilted towards the folk with the saxophone opening feeling like an avant-garde version of "Rhapsody in Blue" -- the best description this jazz-deficient reviewer can come up with.

If there is any weak track on The Bees Knees, it's the set of "The Rock and the Wee Pickle Tow," "Bannocks of Beremeal," "Song for Julie," "Thoir a Nall Aihan Thugam," "Jenny's Chickens," and "Jenny Dang the Weaver." There's nothing wrong with the musicianship, but the set does not flow easily from one tune to another. The final track of "Anne's Tune," "Buccleuch Street," and "The

Famous Ballymoate" brings things full circle, as another fine blend of jazz and Celtic, highlighted by an incredible jazz riff on bagpipes by Moore about half way through. Dick Lee's Chamber Jazz provide back-up, with Jerry Forde's double bass and John Rae's drums particularly good. Jazz riff on bagpipes... I'm not going to get a chance to type that too often.

For all that there's a lot of good Celtic fusion out there, the seams often show. But there's not a seam showing on The Bees Knees, as Moore and Lee adapt their instruments to each other's styles and manage to faultlessly blend jazz and Celtic.

Tim Readman is a singer, guitarist, and Geordie transplant from England to Vancouver. He has joined up with Fear of Drinking, which includes Alison Russell on vocals, Brendan Rideout on bass, and Revellie Nixon on percussion. On the remarkable live recording, In Black & White, they are joined by Shona Le Mottee on Fiddle and Amy Stephen on Accordion and Whistle.

You know you're in for an unusual time on the first track, when, in the middle of "Ye Jacobites By Name," they stick a chorus of "Staying Alive" -- yes, the disco song -- in the middle. The thing is, musically it works, as it does thematically -- at least, once they explain in the liner notes. It doesn't hurt that this is a bang-up rendition of "Ye Jacobites By Name," as well.

Of the two lead singers, it is Russell who is something special. With a sensuous, husky alto, her voice expressively catches all the humor in "The Widow," a tale of the Devil and an insatiably randy widow. Then she defiantly nails the blues, "Ain't No Sweet Man Worth the Salt of My Tears." There's some nice accordion work by Stephen, as well. (Hey, after jazz bagpipe in the last CD, I have no problems with the concept of blues accordion.)

Which isn't to slight Readman, who is as good a storyteller in song as Russell is. "Blaydon Races," which he brought over from the North-East of England, jovial retells a hazardous coach-ride, just to see the eponymous event. Readman sings of his adopted home and attempts to make an arrest on behalf of fashion police in "The Shorts All Year Round Boys," noting that "If you where shorts in winter/ You look like a fool." As he points out, Vancouver doesn't have too many songs -- though I'm perhaps in the wrong corner of North America to be able to confirm that.

I could easily praise every song on this CD, but I have to single out the group's strong, percussive rendition of Stan Rogers' "Barrett's Privateers. With Russel taking the lead in an enthusiastic hell-for-leather version -- with the audience clapping and cheering along -- this comes damned close to displacing Rogers' own version as my favorite.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of another live CD, where the performers sound like they're having as good of a time as Tim Readman & Fear of Drinking are. Credit Derek Bird, as well as Russell, Readman, and anyone else involved in the engineering and mixing for one of the most crystal clear live recordings I've heard. With the band having a good time and the live audience whooping it up, listening to this CD is a treat. Tim Readman and Fear of Drinking have an excellent web site.

Based in Belgium, Urban Trad's One O Four is something else. The key performers are Yves Barbieux, who composed the music, and Nicolas Vandooren. But there more than performers on this CD, comprising what the first song describes as the "Crew." The music has a strong Celtic base, mixing in other traditions, New Age, urban, jazz, computer-generated music, and a lot of imagination.

The leadoff track, "Subway Call" starts with an Irish-sounding air that fades into the sound of a subway, followed by a brief rap that sets the mood for the CD as "We'll be shaking up traditions to its urban heartbeat." The rap might have felt out of place, but the CD cuts straight into the next track, "Avreel," which features several good instrumental solos, including a fine bit with muted trumpet.

"Vodka Time" is a self-described funky bit of Russian-style music with some interesting computer-based percussion effects. The effect sounds like an electronic circus, and I mean that in a good way. "Brass Corto" features excellent accordion playing from Requel Gigot, backed nicely by a brass section that includes a bass tuba. Gigot's playing is all the more impressive in that it was improvised. The most impressive track is the final one, "Mecanix," in which each member of the Urban Trad crew introduces themselves and performs a brief solo, over a solid, driving beat.

If the quotation from "Subway Call" may be taken as a mission statement, then One O Four meets and exceeds expectations. If my descriptions of the songs have been a bit brief, it's because I really don't have much to compare it to. The closest I can think of is Nahoo, but Urban Trad takes less of a tribal and more of an urban beat as its base. But one similarity with Nahoo is that it will be joining my favorites. Hopefully, this will not be the only CD to come from the Urban Trad crew. Urban Trad has a home page here.

Like I said, I've been on a hot streak. I've gone through funked-up and fairly traditional recordings with musicians from The United States, Canada, Scotland, and Belgium and everyone of them have been excellent. It can't last, but it's been a fine run. You can purchase the CD here.

[Chuck Lipsig]