Just One Wish

This long-overdue solo debut by the fiddler with US-based trad band Solas opens with a terrific swinging reel called ‘The Princess and the Frog’. Like nearly all the tracks here, it was written by Horan, whose fine ear, deft hand and inventive spirit are evident everywhere on the CD – so much so that it’s difficult to pick out highlights. ‘The Sparkling Fairy/Taro’s Blue Eye’, a pair of wistful little slow jigs, are wonderful, but then so are the mournful title track, the dramatic waltzes ‘A Kiss By Messenger’ and ‘Pâtes Baroni’, the majestic ‘Giants Fall’ (“written for my birthplace and beloved hometown of New York City”), and, well, everything else. Horan’s classical training shows up in her impeccable technique, but it takes more than training to produce melodies like these.