•Andrew Caden & Conor McDonagh: “Across the Atlantic: Irish Music on Fiddle and Flute”

Principal Personnel – Andrew Caden (fiddle), Conor McDonagh (flute)

Notable Guests – Catherine McHugh (keyboard), John Blake (bouzouki), Ryan Sheridan (keyboard, bodhran)

Distinctive Tracks – “McGuire’s Favorite/Drag Round the Road,” “The Galway Bay/Jim Coleman’s,” “O’Dowd’s/James Murray’s/The Ballinakill,” “The Pullet Wants a Cock/Do It in Jig Time”

The Sligo music tradition is in the spotlight here, with its long, distinguished history and legacy that includes a significant presence in the US, especially the New York City area, where many Sligo-born musicians settled – notably Michael Coleman and James Morrison. These ties are represented by McDonagh, a native of Killavil (as Coleman was), and Maryland-born Caden, a 2024 Boston College grad who became a mainstay of the local Irish scene during his years at the Heights. Both have had accomplished Sligo-style musicians as teachers/mentors: for McDonagh, Michael Hurley, who grew up in the UK but settled in Ballymote, south of Sligo town; for Caden, American-born Brian Conway, a student of the legendary Martin Wynne.

Those attuned to regional styles in Irish music will appreciate the Sligo hallmarks, but you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy “Across the Atlantic” – and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds of listening to conclude that these two are masters of their respective instruments, displaying remarkable control yet with plenty of lift and lilt. 

What particularly animates their playing are the variations they add, going up or down an octave here, adding a subtle yet discernible flourish to finish a measure there, while staying in synch. Ultimately, they simply rely on their instruments’ salient features: For “The Pullet Wants a Cock/Do It in Jig Time,” for instance, Caden stays in a lower register throughout, making for an especially striking contrast with the flute. 

Reels and jigs dominate the album, but there’s an exhilarating pair of polkas (“Up and Away/Kiss the Maid Behind the Bar”) and a medley of hornpipes, beginning with “The Galway Bay,” which the pair play in A minor instead of G minor, giving it a brighter sheen. 

The two have solo tracks as well. Caden offers up “The Woodland Flowers,” a schottische composed by Scottish pianist Felix Burns that Michael Coleman later recorded as “Mrs. Kenny’s Barndance,” and he astutely navigates the preponderance of triplets (especially in the B part). McDonagh plays a robust set of reels, “Widow’s Daughter/The Gentle Dentist/Speed the Plough” (the second one composed by Desi Wilkinson).

McDonagh and Caden certainly deserve the accolades, but they also benefit from the presence of fine accompanists. McHugh and Blake are on most of the tracks, while Sheridan plays keyboard on three and bodhran on two – including the trio of reels that concludes the album, ably complementing his own keyboard. 

Current or former residents of the Route 128 metropolitan area may take some delight in finding local references amidst the album’s sleeve notes: Caden and McDonagh learned the reel “Bowling Green” from a recording by none other than Jimmy and Maureen Kelly, habitués of some of Boston’s most popular sessions, and the jig “Young Tom Ennis” via the estimable duo of fiddler Paddy Cronin and pianist Helen Kisiel.  [racketrecords.bandcamp.com]

•Amelia Hogan: “Burnished”

Principal Personnel – Amelia Hogan (lead vocals) with Christa Burch (harmony vocals, bodhran), James F. Murphy (guitar, mandolin), John Weed (fiddle), Lewis Santer (guitar), Maureen Brennan (harp), Marla Fibish (mandolin, mandola), Ray Frank (guitar, harmony vocals), Richard Mandel (guitar), Skyler Blakeslee (flute, whistle), Steven O’Neill (bass)

Distinctive Tracks – “Rolling in the Gold,” “The Snow Hare,” “Bay of Fundy,” “Home by Bearna,” “Come Away In,” “Dh’eirich Mi Moch Maidainn Cheitein”

Northern Californian Hogan has a talent for assembling songs (Celtic and otherwise) from traditional sources and contemporary songwriters, typically around a theme or concept, and investing them with care and reverence, subtlety and lilt – sung graciously in a mid- to lower-range voice that covers the emotional spectrum without excess. “Burnished,” her third album, includes a waulking song in Scottish Gaelic, a traditional Irish song and a popular American spiritual as well as works by the likes of Dominic Behan, Julie Fowlis, Gordon Bok, Karine Polwart and even the team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (“They Call the Wind Maria”), plus her own pen.

The CD’s inner sleeve notes the related yet discrete definitions of “burnished,” conveying the idea that it not only connotes appearance (an object rubbed smooth and shiny) but also a process by which something (such as a reputation) is improved or heightened. The word appears in the first track, “Rolling in the Gold,” a beguiling Hogan original she describes as a “love song” to her home state, but which also laments the long history of exploitation of California’s natural resources.

A number of other tracks on “Burnished” also speak to the idea of humanity’s presence – for good or ill – in the world: as explorer or traveler, like in the Sliabh Luachra-based traditional song “Home by Bearna” (an illustration of how important it is to know your way through the landscape); or as existential threat, a la “The Snow Hare,” in which the titular animal is a symbol for the menace posed by climate change (the song’s numerous co-authors include Fowlis, Polwart and Kris Drever). But elsewhere it is the natural forces which hold the upper hand, as described in the haunting “Bay of Fundy,” one of Maine singer-songwriter Bok’s most iconic works and a contrast to the blithe, breezy maritime anthems that make life at sea sound like a grand vacation.

 In addition to refreshing takes on familiar songs like “The Patriot Game” and “Poor Wayfaring Stranger,” Hogan champions lesser-known material like Polwart’s “Come Away In” and Kate Long’s “Who Will Watch the Homeplace?” that speak to the concern for the wellbeing of others, and for the loss of connection to place. 

As on her previous recordings, Hogan is well served by her musicians, and a less-is-more approach to arrangements. [ameliahogan.com]

•Flook: “Sanju”

Principal Personnel – Brian Finnegan (whistle, wooden flute), Sarah Allen (alto and concert flute), Ed Boyd (guitar), John Joe Kelly (bodhran)

Notable Guests – John Calvert (ukulele bass, keyboards, shaker), Stevie J. Jones (keyboards, tambourine), Konstantine Tumanov (piano), Patsy Reid (fiddle, viola).

Distinctive Tracks – “The Farther Shore/Winter Flower,” “Jig for Sham/The Dawn Wall/Johnny Ds/Timewaver,” “Koady/The Burning Lion,” “Tie the Knot in Georgia/Ed’s Big Five-O/Faqqua,” “Where There Is Light/The May Waterway/Ninety Years Young”

 Some things work just because they do, and this Anglo-Irish instrumental quartet has been living proof for its three decades of existence (although technically one could deduct the five years of service time in which they were disbanded), as is referenced by the album’s title, a Japanese word that roughly translates to “30.” Flook is based around the phenomenal chemistry and empathy between Finnegan and Allen, playing variously in unison, harmony or counterpoint, while Boyd and Kelly complement with diverse, sometimes complex rhythms. All the tunes featured in “Sanju”’s five tracks are originals by Finnegan and Allen, and characteristically, alongside the elements of traditional music are improvisations and hints of jazz, classical and world music.

The task of trying to classify or pigeonhole Flook just seems irrelevant when they produce gorgeous stuff like “Tie the Knot in Georgia” – written for a pair of newlyweds in that country – which includes a subtle, sublime piano accompaniment by Konstantine Tumanov, and is followed by the equally winsome “Ed’s Big Five-O” before concluding with “Faqqua.” The tempo gets a bit faster as they proceed from one tune to another, and the overall tonality, and tint, of the medley changes by the end.

One particularly outstanding, shape-shifting set opens with the minor-key “Jig for Sham,” featuring Patsy Reid’s fiddle paired with Finnegan’s whistle, and then – following a rhythmic break by Boyd and Kelly – ramps up to the reel “The Dawn Wall,” initially led by Reid and marked by a striking run in the B part; Allen enters for “Johnny Ds” and “Timewaver,” which feature dramatic turns in tempo and time signature. 

And there are plenty of those quintessential Flook earmarks, like Allen’s percussive puffs on “Koady” and “The May Waterway,” Boyd’s sublime arpeggios – especially when they’re complemented by Kelly’s drumming, such as on “Tie the Knot” – and Finnegan’s improbable swoops and glides. Here’s to another 30 – at least. [flook.co.uk]