Danú
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Shanachie 78049; 55 minutes; 2002
Less than two years since their last album, Think Before You Think,
here is Danú’s third release and one that marks yet another personnel change in
the band’s line-up. Though he appears on almost all of the album’s fourteen
tracks, fiddler Jesse Smith had already departed by the time of this new
album’s release, a fact acknowledged in the liner notes and by the appearance
of his replacement on the cover. The newcomer is Oisin MacAuley, described in
the bands’ typically tongue-in-cheek manner as the ‘Donegal sensation’. 
Those already hooked by Danú’s previous albums and the band’s staggering live appearances will be pleased to find that little has changed, with one exception, to which I will refer below. Omnipresent is the astonishing versatility and exuberance of the band’s members, ever tempered by the desire to allow the tune to speak for itself. The musicianship remains of the highest order with Tom Doorley (flutes and low whistles), Jesse Smith and Benny McCarthy (accordion and melodeon) to the fore while ‘the big man’, Donnchadh Gough, is allowed to wield his uilleann pipes to telling effect on The Wee Lass on the Brae. His bodhrán, alongside Eamon Doorley’s bouzouki and mandola and Noel Ryan’s guitar, forms a backing which is never allowed to dominate the proceedings. The net result is that Danú remain some distance apart from (and several shoulders above) the majority of their contemporaries, especially the many bunches of heads-down-hammer-out-the-reels-merchants. This, after all, is that elusive butterfly of all rarities, an Irish band voted ‘Folk Band of the Year’ in the BBC’s awards!
As before, the band have continued in their quest to dig out less familiar tunes and invest them with new life. So here you’ll find the reel The Old Pensioner, previously recorded by the long-defunct London band Le Chéile or Michelle O’Sullivan’s, a reel from the concertina player of the same name, while Oisin contributes one from John Doherty’s repertoire, the King George IV strathspey.
The major exception mentioned above lies in singer Ciarán Ó Gealbháin’s song choices. Two songs are very familiar, The Wee Lass on the Brae and Easy and Free (sometimes a.k.a. Jock Stewart). Other songs remain less so and include a gem from Elizabeth Cronin’s repertoire, Uncle Rat, and two in Irish: An Déirc, the tale of a wandering vagabond; and, Idir Áird Mhór Is Eochaill, which comes from the singing of Éibhlis Bean de Paor from An Sean Phobal, and makes this listener, at least, wish that he would sometimes be recorded unaccompanied.
Overall, All Things Considered possesses a somewhat lighter feel to its predecessors, but perhaps this is a sign of mellowing age - some of these lads must be at least twenty-five by now!
This review by Geoff Wallis was originally written for Musical Traditions - www.mustrad.org.uk.
For more information about Shanachie visit www.shanachie.com.
Shanachie SH 78057; 51 minutes; 2003
Spinal Tap
got through drummers at a frightening pace, but the Irish septet, Danú, goes a
couple of steps further. The Road Less Travelled sees not only the
return of founding member, Dónal (son of Liam) Clancy, their third guitarist in
only four albums, but also a new singer (and the band’s first woman member),
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, who becomes their third lead vocalist. If Danú were not
such a likeable and gregarious bunch, you’d begin to wonder, but that
affability continues to imbue their increasingly excellent music. 
The band’s
roots synthesise the music of the Waterford Gaeltacht of An Rinn,
provided by accordionist Benny McCarthy and bodhrán-player-cum-uilleann piper
Donnchadh Gough, plus the East coast stylings of the Doorley brothers from
Dublin – Tom on flute and whistles and Éamonn playing bouzouki. One addition to
the blender was the fiddler Oisín McAuley whose driving Donegal style is
immediately apparent on the album’s opening set of reels, especially as McCahill’s
derives from Tommy Peoples and Doherty’s comes from John Doherty, two of
the county’s greatest musicians.
In contrast,
Muireann hails from the West Kerry Gaeltacht whence two of her five
songs originate, the gorgeous aisling or vision song, Ráitachas na
Tairngreacht and the equally sumptuous Beannacht ó Rí na hAoine.
Both songs mark reaffirm her credentials as one of Ireland’s best young
singers.
Musically,
too, The Road Less Travelled reveals all the polish of a band at the top
of its tree and in a far more relaxed mood too (as evinced by The Wonder
Hornpipe and a closing set of polkas) than on previous outings.
Note that
the album scan above depicts the USA version of the CD liner’s cover
(“traveled” instead of “travelled”).
This review by Geoff Wallis originally appeared in Songlines - www.songlines.co.uk/.
Danú’s website can be found at www.danu.net/.
Click here for more information about Shanachie.
Up in the Air
Shanachie SH 78059; 58 minutes; 2004
The
announcement that the members of a particular rock band were each about to
release solo albums was always the cause of much ribald chortling amongst
members of the music press (remember those dreadful Kiss solos?) eager to be
the first to proclaim that the sum was clearly not the aggregate of its parts.
As far as I am aware, no traditional music band has ever considered embarking
on a similar foolhardy journey, but Up in the Air is as close as it
gets, although there is absolutely nothing imprudent regarding its release. 
Subtitled
“Irish traditional music solos played by the members of Danú” (and my copy also
carries a sticker advising that this album is “not to be considered as a
follow-up to The Road Less Travelled”), this latest release by the
septet gloriously proves that the parts are well worth a hearing in their own
right.
Firstly,
however, there’s the need for a caveat. Check a dictionary and you’ll find a
definition such as this for the word “solo” – “a piece or passage for one voice
or instrument, accompanied or unaccompanied” (that’s from Chambers).
Sure, there are other definitions which suggest that a solo is unaccompanied,
but, the former firmly applies here.
This should be
immediately apparent from the opening track which features accordionist Benny
McCarthy playing The Moving Cloud and another reel whose title is
unknown. First of all he is joined by Donnchadh Gough’s bodhrán and
subsequently by Éamonn Doorley’s bouzouki.
Several
other tracks follow a similar pattern, but there are a number of solos in the
strictest sense. One of Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s two songs, Raghadsa’s Mo
Cheaití, is sung unaccompanied, but her second song Molly na
gCuach Ní Chuilleanáin features Donnchadh’s drum. Donnchadh’s own two
piping tracks, however, are both veritable solos and form a couple of high
spots on the album alongside Tom Doorley’s flute rendition of his own tune The
Powerout paired with The Dublin Reel – an exhibition of real flair.
It’s true to
say, however, that there really isn’t a duff track in sight here – far from it
– though this reviewer’s nomination for star of the show goes to fiddler Oisín
McAuley for his dazzling playing of three sets of tunes from southwest Donegal.
The first set comes from Francie Dearg Ó Beirne and the second derives from
John Doherty and includes an effervescent rendition of The Langstrom Pony.
However, his final track, Welcome Home, Grainne, really does evoke the
spirit of Doherty’s playing of this almost ghostly suite to fulsome effect.
If there is
to be one level of disappointment, it lies in the packaging. Those with keen
eyesight will note that Danú’s fada has disappeared from the band’s name on the
cover of the liner and the very minimalist liner notes are riddled with
typographical errors. The apostrophe is virtually absent throughout (e.g. in
tune titles such as Mary Bergins and Kellys Mountain) and there
certainly never has been “a legend [sic] singer called Niclos Toibin” nor a tune
called The Graf Spay. However, do not let this deter you from acquiring
an otherwise staggeringly excellent album.
Geoff Wallis
3rd
August, 2004
Danú’s website can be found at www.danu.net/.
Click here for more information about Shanachie.
Shanachie SH 78061; 50
minutes; 2005
One of this year’s most flourishing rumours was that the
Irish septet Danú had decided to hang up their accordions and stow away the
rosin. Indeed, the title of this, their fifth release, might suggest such was
the case except that it derives from Paul Brady’s inherently optimistic song Follow
On, the album’s second track. 
However, the band has certainly decided to take a sabbatical from their punishing tour schedule (probably the most extensive of any Irish traditional band) at the end of this current round.
As such, and as if to counter the rumours, When All is Said and Done seems to incorporate more energy than a month’s supply of vitamins and packs a substantial punch into its well-chosen collection of instrumental tunes. One of these, the appropriately titled Gerry’s Set, features a guest appearance by the unfeasibly talented banjo player Gerry O’Connor.
None of the songs quite matches the quality of the marvellous Co. Down from the band’s last album, The Road Less Travelled, but singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh exposes an eclectic selection of material. Apart from the aforementioned Brady song, this includes a spirited version of perhaps the most famous example of the comic young-woman-marries-old-man-and-regrets-it genre, Ó Dheara, ‘Sheanduine as well as Farewell, Angelina, the Bob Dylan song which Joan Baez made famous.
Almost an hour in length, When All is Said and Done offers plenty of comfort and joy and as to whether it does actually represent Danú’s swansong we’ll just have to wait and see.
This review by Geoff Wallis originally appeared in Songlines - www.songlines.co.uk/.
Danú’s website can be found at www.danu.net/.
Click here for more information about Shanachie.