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Artist: Abby Green
Album: Éiníní
Abby Green’s Éiníní is, quite simply, gorgeous. Her website gives her away as a native of Texas, but without that she could easily be taken as a native of much further north. She is a serious student of Irish Gaelic, as borne out here, and a veteran of Istanpitta Early Music Ensemble, the sensibilities of which echo in this CD.
Her voice is lovely, without blending in with all the other pretty voices singing in the Celtic tradition. She accompanies her clear, powerful, soaring soprano on an octave mandolin, with E.J. Jones joining her on some tracks playing flute, Scottish small pipes, or great highland bagpipes – and on “Bheir Mi O” she sings unaccompanied but for a beautiful harmony looped in.
Words like “sprightly” and “delightful” are raised back above lukewarm compliments for this CD. The range of tracks in Gaelic, French, and English travels from the haunting title song to the sweetly jaunty “I Know My Love”, to the lullaby-lilting “Castle Dromore”, the wistful “Bheir Mi O”, and the passion that comes through in “Quant Je Sui” whether the words are understood or not. Her voice is polished without ever sounding slick or generic, and the obvious pleasure she takes in her music is almost as great as the pleasure of listening to it. This is her first solo CD, and may it be the first of many.
Tracey Stewart is a writer, card-carrying member of the IWG, and, in real life, an office supervisor living in Southern Connecticut. She reviews books, television, movies, and whatever else comes her way on twinned blogs, Stewartry and Walk in the dust, and is delighted to join the crew of Marc Gunn’s Celtic MP3′s Music Magazine.
