
TÉADA
Coiscéim Coiigh - As the days brighten
Philippe Cousin
It's been almost a decade since Téada last offered us a new album.
As they celebrate their twenty-first year on the road this year, they offer us their sixth album Coiscéim Coiligh - As the days brighten.
Twenty years of existence and yet we can note the stability of the band with the same five musicians since almost the beginning of their adventure: Oisín Mac Diarmada on fiddle, Seán McElwain on guitar and bouzouki, Tristan Rosenstock on bodhrán, Paul Finn on accordion and Damien Stenson on flute.
In recent years they have been joined by Kerry accordionist and singer Séamus Begley and pianist Samantha Harvey, which adds a definite edge to their line-up. And this time they have a guest in the person of John C Reilly, an Irish-American actor, who gives the line to S. Begley on Eileen Óg, also known as The Pride of Petravore and popularised in its time by the Dubliners and Dé Dannan.
On this album Téada remain faithfully rooted in the Irish tradition and the reels, jigs, hornpipes, barndances and marches are their trademark, interspersed here and there with four songs that allow us to appreciate S. Begley's deep and melodious voice. Oisín's subtle fiddle is always the defining element of the band, drawing in the flute, accordion, guitar, bouzouki and bodhrán of his cohorts.
What emerges from this superb collection of 12 tracks is a treasure trove of recent melodies alongside tunes rooted in the past century. This gives the listener an irrepressible desire to discover their music in concert. After twenty-one years together, it seems that the pleasure of playing together is intact for the members of this excellent band.
Gael Linn CEFCD218 - www.gael-linn.ie