Cé

Between Words

Self Produced 12 Tracks running Time 42 minutes 10 seconds

“Veterans of the Midwestern Irish music scene, Cé belies their age with outstanding playing and musical ability. Led by flute player, Asher Gray, the trio has produced one heck of a great work in “Between Words”. It is one of those albums that is just track after track of well played, robust music, almost a throwback to the days before players had to stretch the envelopes of convention in order to get noticed. This work lets the musicians say all they need to, with fiddle, whistle, flute and banjo.

Devin McCabe and Gray team up on “The Old Man Rocking the Cradle”, a Leo Rowsome piece, in which McCabe’s fiddling pulls up all the melancholy a good slow air should, and is punctuated by a slightly more sprightly playing on whistle by Gray of the same tune. “Waltz Harry Lane/The Steampacket/Crowleys” highlights Randy Gosa’s guitar playing, as he switches from lead to rhythm seamlessly. “Maverick Angels/Wing Commander Donald MacKenzie’s” has Gray playing full bore, matched note for note by Gosa.

McCabe steps back into the forefront with the “Salamanca”, a well nuanced version of a long travelled session tune. On “Un Ivrogne a Table/Boules et Guirlandes/Mrs Crehan’s”, they start as a slow waltz, building to a faster dance, with all three of the band members adding their own layers to the cake.

The album ends with the Huey Lewis Reel”, recorded and written in three pieces, with Gray starting, Gosa putting in the second, and McCabe the final. Sounding nothing like a Huey Lewis tune, it was named in his honour, and it a perfect collaborative way to complete the album.

The tunes are well noted as to where they were found. This is an album that will be playable in ten, or thirty years time. I would dare say this is one for the ages. It may be “Between Words”, but sometimes words aren’t needed as on albums like this the music does all the talking.”

Brian Witt