The latest releases reviewed.

CON CASSIDY, Traditional Fiddle Music from Donegal, Claddagh, ****

Magical: there are few other words that do justice to this magnificent collection of music from Cassidy, a key player in the Donegal tradition. A major influence on Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and a musician whose repertoire now finds itself among the collections of fiddlers from Tommy Peoples to Ciaran Tourish, Cassidy had a distinctive grace and elegance in his playing that sparkles with effervescence on this voluminous 33-track collection, rendered complete by the thoughtful inclusion of three conversational excerpts with the self-effacing fiddler himself. Refreshingly, single tunes dominate, all the better to savour Cassidy's high-rolling decorative style, as it alights on mazurkas, jigs, double jigs, waltzes and the gentlest reading of Parnell's Marchimaginable. Transcendent music from a sublime musician.

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Download track: Con Cassidy's Jig

SIOBHÁN LONG

JOE BURKE, BRIAN CONWAY AND FELIX DOLAN, A Tribute to Andy McGann, Cló Iar Chonnachta, ****

There's a sense of the circle being squared with this live tribute to Andy McGann, the late fiddler whose New York-Sligo fiddle style was the bridge that united the charismatic playing of Michael Coleman with generations that succeeded him. Coming some 42 years after Joe Burke and Felix Dolan had recorded a tribute to Coleman with McGann, there's a certain piquancy to this trio's gathering, with McGann's

protege, fiddler Brian Conway, taking up the mantle with verve and delicacy. Attempting to bottle that quintessential McGann finesse is no mean feat, but Conway nails it, particularly on a witty reading of The Flogging Reelsand The Boys of The Lough. History rarely sounds this sweet.

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Download track: The Coolin

SIOBHÁN LONG