by Brenda Stokes

Artist: Davy Spillane
Album: "A Place Among the Stones"
Year produced: 1985

Davy Spillane is known for his unique sounding instrumentation, and "A Place Among the Stones" is definitely a prime example. Every track offers something new and different to your ears; a graceful combination of traditional and modern sounds, sure to leave you breathless.

I enjoyed nearly every song in this collection. "Darklight," a quiet tune, uses the low whistle to set an ominous tone and then kicks in with the Uilleann pipes midway through. To the backdrop of steady guitar playing, Davy's whistle is like air blowing across nature. It just feels right, and is right. The pipes, however, offer listeners a voice that expresses the emotion of the musician in such a way as to be more dynamic than human voice or words could ever be.

Other favorites include, "Promised Rain," a modern track that builds on itself out of repetition into a composition that places images of Celtic warriors and mythology in my mind. "A Place Among the Stones" features Maire Brennan on vocals in an interesting kind of duet between voice and pipes.

A personal choice, would have to be, "Starry Night," a beautiful display of Davy's talent that features Sean Tyrell singing. The tone of his voice and lamenting music reminds me much of "Carrickfergus" and other traditional songs.

Davy has a special way of launching you back in time, to a land before history and into a culture that still pulses in the veins of Celtic people today. "Callow Lake," elicits this feeling from me, utilizing the low whistle and a background of silence for the perfect effect.

The album ends with "Near the Horizon," a track that captures Davy's versatility in an acoustic guitar solo. This is the CD that essentially acted as this spectacular artist's debut in America, and I can't imagine a better collection to show off the skill and unique qualities of pipes and whistles. A long-held favorite of mine, and is sure to be one of yours' too.

---

Celtic MP3s Music Magazine writer, Brenda Stokes is a freelance writer, former Irish Step-dancer and college student located in Southern California. She dreams in jigs and reels and is pursuing a degree in English with an emphasis in Irish studies. Her work has appeared in Woman This Month and N2arts and she can be reached at brenda@ph-x.com

Labels: cd_review_2005

Posted by Marc Gunn, Tuesday, February 08, 2005.
New to Celtic MP3s Music Magazine? Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or sign up to get email updates. Find free Celtic music downloads from Marc Gunn!