Album Review: Liffey Light Orchestra, Jigs and Other Stories

To describe the LLO as the Irish answer to Mike Oldfield is only the half of it. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Paul Egan, the ensemble is a loose amalgam of that much under-feted tribe of Irish musicians who help frontline creatives fulfil their impossible dreams.

This is their fourth studio album, a delightful potpourri of Irish trad, folk, jazz and progressive rock instrumentals, sprinkled over a generous 18 tracks, with Egan’s compositional dexterity well to the fore.

Alongside Egan, the inventive works herein feature impeccable contributions from Anto Drennan (guitars); Michael Buckley and John McCullough (flutes); David Agnew (oboe, recorder); Robbie Harris (bodhrán); Kevin Rowe (electric guitar); and Philip Begley (keyboards), among others.

Unlike on such past adventures as Lekeila and Le French Album, Egan keeps it concise and to the point. Egan and Rowe take the lead guitar roles on ‘Jig For Judy’ and ‘Jester’s Jig’ respectively, with impressive vocals from Anna Egan on the latter. Drennan’s guitar rattles and hums mightily for ‘Na Na Mañana’, while the ghost of Hank Marvin hovers over ‘Twang Twang’, and jazz subtleties adorn the duo of ‘Grande Duchesse’ and ‘Petite Duchesse’.

Elsewhere, David Cross’ violin solo on ‘Ballroom Of Romance’ is particularly poignant, while Egan pays warm tribute to late Hiberno-Jazz maestro Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin on ‘Jig For Mícheál’.

All in all, Jigs And Other Stories affords us an overdue opportunity to celebrate the backroom boys and girls of the Irish music scene – the folks who make our musical heroes sound even better than the real thing. Better still, the grapevine whispers that they have already embarked on a follow-up. No slacking there, then.

8.5/10

Out now