BRIAN HUGHES & DAVE SHERIDAN - However Long The Day
Private Label
Pipes, fiddle and whistles, with a range of strings and percussion backing - this album takes its title from an Irish saying that there's always the evening for music and craic, which is amply borne out by the selection of fine tunes here. There are a few surprises - a medley of tunes from Scotland and Spain, a slow version of the lovely Ben Lennon reel Stone Of Destiny, and actually the fact that among a crowd of contemporary Irish compositions there are none by Hughes or Sheridan - but for the most part However Long The Day is classic Irish dance music taken at a somewhat relaxed pace which allows all its facets to sparkle. Highlights for me include The Sparrow Polka, Tumble The Tinker and The Night Before Larry Was Stretched.
Kildare piper and whistler Brian Hughes has a lovely touch with tunes from several traditions. His interpretation of the Burns anthem A Man's A Man adds another Scottish march to the list of Irish slow airs, and his version of Malcolm Reavell's jig, The Road To Banff, flows sweetly into the Asturian Muñeira De Rengos. Swapping between pipes and whistles for solos or duets with Sheridan's fiddle, Hughes has an engaging warmth in his playing, and an exuberance which occasionally has to be checked by his colleagues. Dave Sheridan has not toured or recorded as much as some, but he is a great performer and a valued contributor to concerts and sessions around his native Offaly as well as internationally; his smooth style matches Hughes on reels, jigs, hornpipes and more. I particularly enjoyed the way tracks are started as a solo and then finished as a duet, giving great scope for different textures throughout this album in addition to three full solo tracks. There's plenty of variety in a very pleasant hour of music on However Long The Day.
Alex Monaghan
This review appeared in Issue 143 of The Living Tradition magazine