It's pretty straightforward.

Absolutely Irish is the product of a one-off performance of various luminaries in the field at the Irish Arts Center in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. The concert, which followed two days of hurried rehearsals by musicians who had known and worked with each other in various capacities over the years, was videotaped for a PBS and recorded for Compass Records.

The resulting CD, which unfortunately carries the sort of title you'd see in Irish-themed gift shops rather than serious Irish music collections, is very good. And there's nothing surprising about it, either in the quality of the music or the music they pulled together.

It's sort of a no-brainer. If you like these performers, you'll like this CD. These tracks aren't available anywhere else, so pick it up and you'll have a pleasant listening experience.

Performers here are, in alphabetical order, Mac Benford (5-string banjo, vocals), Darrah Carr (stepdance), Liz Carroll (fiddle), Karan Casey (vocals), Tim Collins (concertina), Brendan Dolan (piano), John Doyle (guitar, bouzouki, vocals), Seamus Egan (tenor banjo, flute), Eileen Ivers (fiddle), Rhys Jones (fiddle, guitar, vocals), Joanie Madden (flute, tin whistle), Billy McComiskey (button accordion), Susan McKeown (vocals), Mick Moloney (tenor banjo, mandolin, guitar, vocals), Robbie O'Connell (vocals, guitar), Niall O'Leary (stepdance), Jerry O'Sullivan (uilleann pipes, low whistle), Mike Rafferty (flute) and Athena Tergis (fiddle).

It's a Who's Who of Irish-American music, so you know you won't go wrong with this selection. And they don't stint on the track time, either. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of music "events" such as this, which feel a trifle forced and inorganic, but I can't fault a thing about it. The talent is superior and the music quite good.