Fiddle Music review

by Siobhán Long

Seldom does a musician utterly inhabit a tradition while still expressing him or herself with such originality. Danny Diamond has already cast his line with Mórga and with nyckelharpa player Aki, and he now finds his own voice on this outstanding new solo recording. The reach of Diamond’s distinctive fiddle style (itself the product of a rich mix of influences, from Seán Keane and Tommy Potts to the lean and spare Donegal stye) is ambitious and authoritative. His bare fiddle, accompanied by drone-based contributions on accordion, pipes, fiddle and nyckelharpa, mines the further reaches of the familiar, but crucially, exposes fresh elements of the tunes with a low-key delight. His own tune set Danny Diamond’s Jigs, is a joy: richly melodic and musky, with Aki’ nyckelharpa and violincello accompaniment. Diamond’s musical vision is a formidable one, and Fiddle Music articulates it with chutzpah. A definite contender for CD of the year.

Review by Siobhán Long, published in The Irish Times, 1st August 2014.