Up, Down and Around
Claddagh Records****

For sheer chutzpah, Leo Rickard has few rivals. The Dublin piper’s long-awaited solo album is an Aladdin’s cave of baubles, many of which shimmer in the heat of finely chosen tunes, though a few suffer at the hands of over- zealous and flabby guitar and bouzouki accompaniment. Rickard’s piping style is highly disciplined, haughty and genteel in turn, and utterly in concert with the demands of the tune.

What stands out here, though, is his choice of cello and concert flute (from Gráinne Hope and Julie Maisel) as pinprick accompaniments on the Peter Jung-composed Far Away, a tune that straddles classical and traditional idioms with ease. The subtlety of interplay between the three instruments is revelatory, a sign of Rickard's generosity of spirit. Although pipes are the perfect solo instrument, here he reins them in to accommodate some exceptionally balanced arrangements. His treatment of Caoineadh Luimníis another standout.

See leopipinghot.com