Search - Moving Cloud :: Foxglove

The Celtic music renaissance of the late-1960s set up a windfall of interest in the traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales. Since the 1960s groups have generally followed one of two paths: either the speed-demon aesthetic of virtuosity captured on many jigs and reels, or the cloudy, seamless tone poems known as airs, which capture the more sublime side of the Celtic world. Moving Cloud, a quintet originating in County Clare, Ireland, straddle the two worlds with the finesse of a well- schooled chamber group. On this, their sophomore CD, the band echoes the Chieftains' graceful approach to what can, in many cases, be raucous. The tunes on Foxglove are largely jigs and reels but take on the depth of airs thanks to Carl Hession's piano and the twin fiddles of Maeve Donnelly and Manus McGuire, which create a deeply- recessing reach into a dynamic range many Celtic groups can't touch. --Andrew Bartlett