In Session

I’d always thought of bouzouki player Eoin O’Neill as a Clareman through and through, but Pat Pidgeon’s eloquent liner notes reveal that he hails in fact from Clondalkin. That’s the main revelation here; O’Neill’s infallible sense of rhythm and sensitivity as an accompanist have been well known for decades now. The title is apt, with O’Neill taking a back seat for the most part, preferring to leave the spotlight to the various players who take the lead on the tunes. One notable exception is ‘Paidir’, a melancholy dirge (in the best sense of the word) penned by O’Neill and recorded the evening of the day it was written (on the premises of a Chicago radio station, with Chicago concertina player John Williams chiming in on piano, tin whistle player and accordion). Let’s hope for more O’Neill originals on album number two.