The Tap Room Trio

With no frills or adornments to distract the ear, the sympathy of style and ornamentation between the Tap Room’s two lead players – Belfast flute player Harry Bradley and US-born fiddler Jesse Smith – stands out in sharp relief. Londoner John Blake sticks mostly to tasteful if undistinguished piano accompaniment, which is a pity; his guitar backing to ‘In The Tap Room/O’Donnell’s Sligo Maid/The Pullet’ is quite lovely, and he also plays a nice flute duet with Bradley on ‘The Sweet Flowers Of Milltown/Gorman’s’. On the latter tune, they’re joined by the sean-nós dancing feet of Seosamh Ó Neachtain; John Carty also shows up to play a fiddle duet with Smith on ‘The Contradiction’.