21 years-from stage to stage

Dervish’s latest gift to the world is a bunch of live recordings from concerts in Sligo and California, alongside a DVD of tracks recorded in RTE. Both concerts crackle with the intensity we’ve come to expect from Dervish, with an intriguing mix of folk songs, vigorous dance tunes and haunting airs. The whole mélange is flavoured with the deftest of touches from Tom Morrow’s fiddle on ‘The Bealtine Set’, the flute-playing of Liam Kelly on ‘The Coolea Jigs’, and Shane Mitchell’s constant wizardry on accordion. Brian McDonagh is in the driving seat with his guitar and mandola, and there’s some tasty bouzouki work from Michael Holmes. Cathy Jordan holds it all together with her musical voice and sparky introductions, although her prelude to ‘Lord Levett’ is half as long as what is a long song anyway, and grates a little on repeated listening. But her take on Dylan’s ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’ is a true joy, and she gives Sonny Condell’s ‘The Cat She Went A-hunting’ a sprightly spring-clean. Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill join the group for a rambunctious run at the Scandinavian tune ‘Slangpolska efter Byss-Calle’. Dervish are a prime example of how Irish trad has engaged with material from outside the tradition and miraculously made it fit as if it truly belonged there.