efn Reviews
Alison O’Donnell & Isabel Ní Chuireáin

“Mise agus Ise” Alison O’Donnell & Isabel Ní Chuireáin
Osmosys OSMOCD033
O’Donnell and Chuireáin have strong backgrounds both in jazz and Irish traditional music. This CD steadfastly refuses to be categorised as it has strong influences from both and will probably offend the purists in both genres. I must confess that, based on the pitch from their PR company, I had been expecting something more strongly in the folk camp.

On the first playing my immediate reaction was that it sounded like Evita scored by Dolly Collins as O’Donnell’s singing style owes as much to her jazz experience as it does to the Irish tradition. O’Donnell writes most of the songs and tunes and arrangements are by Chuireáin.

I particularly liked the instrumental set of By the Weir and Nutwood & McKelvey’s which would not be out of place in any real Irish traditional session. The songs vary in style and content from the surreal Hangover from Hell to the gentle love song A Skip and I Do

In case you were wondering the title means Myself and Herself.

Review By: Peter Crabb-Wyke
From efn issue 131 - June 2006
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