TÉADA - Ainneoin Na Stoirme / In Spite Of The Storm
Gael Linn CEFCD205
Since their inception in 2001, Téada have been at the forefront of Irish traditional music, drawing their inspiration from the rich wealth of musicians who have gone before. The five strong line-up (fiddle, accordion, concertina, flute, guitar, bouzouki, piano and bodhrán) has recently been augmented by Kerry singer and box player, Séamus Begley (who is cropping up everywhere at the moment) and he joins them on this CD release which marks part of Gael Linn’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
In Spite Of The Storm bursts into life with a lively set of reels, before Séamus sings the first of four songs, An Spailpin Fánach – it’s an impressive start, and a high standard that they manage to maintain during the CD’s running time (short though it may be at 40 minutes).
The boys play with an assured maturity throughout and Séamus’ silky smooth voice adds another welcome dimension, particularly when singing in Irish. The trademark tunes still make up the bulk of the playing time though and the variation chosen is excellent – reels, slip-jigs, slides, barndances. This is good, solid traditional music with no messing about and you can hear it comes straight from the heart. You can also hear that the Téada boys are having great fun and they admit that the addition of Séamus not only brings an interesting inter-generational aspect to the band, but also a great sense of fun and a stronger stage presence. Having seen Séamus in action, I can well believe that to be true!
The quintessential Irish boy-band - and not a Louis Walsh in sight! Don’t miss them.
Jim Byrne
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 99 of The Living Tradition magazine. |