CHRIS CORRIGAN
The Shadowed Gateway
No label
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Armagh-based fiddler and composer Chris Corrigan has unleashed a fiery animus in The Shadowed Gateway which is populated entirely by his own compositions. Corrigan brings his fiddle to bear possibly too subtly on a precocious gathering of tunes: Jim Woods's accordion is afforded much space, as well it might be, given Woods's bold-fingered handling of the opening set, Slippers. Recorded in glorious super audio - Corrigan is also a sound engineer - the melding of Scots and Irish influences is largely seamless, particularly on the quartet, Shadows, Corrigan's fiddle jousting with Liz Doherty's more feisty fiddle contributions and Ivan Goff's pipes. Impish cinematic references lurk among the tune titles (Three Polkas: Red; The Thin Blue Line; About a Bowl) and lend another layer of intrigue to what is a richly honed (if at times overly decorated) debut. www.chriscorrigan.ie