If you like piping at all, you need this album. It is chock-full of some of the most amazing piping you are ever likely to hear.

A small disclaimer is in order, however. Most of the piping on this album is accompanied, as it comes from groups as opposed to solo pipers. On the plus side, virtually every kind of pipe and style of piping you could hope for is included.

Beautiful, haunting, rousing -- however you enjoy your pipes, there is some of it here. Planxty, Milladoiro, Wolfstone, Mark Britton, Bleizi Ruz, Cunla, Moving Hearts, Sean Talamh, Bagad Kemper and the Strathclyde Police Band provide a wide array of styles, tempos and instrumentations.

Each group has been chosen for its impressive contribution to the world of piping, with groups coming from Ireland, Scotland, Galacia and Brittany. Milladoiro's haunting, almost Middle Eastern-sounding pipes provide an interesting counterpoint to the more commonly heard uilleann pipes of Ireland or the Highland pipes of Scotland. The Breton style used by Bagad Kemper is also an interesting twist on an otherwise standard instrument and includes some truly amazing percussion to go along with it.

Wolfstone's track provides a fantastically high energy version of a well-known Highland dance tune, while Mark Britton's compositions are given a vibrant feel by piper Pat Dalton. Cunla provide a beautiful, slow piece as a counterpoint to the faster playing of many of the other groups represented on this album before speeding up and adding snare drums. Moving Hearts' Davy Spillane's melodic uilleann pipe playing is also a highlight of the collection.

The Strathclyde Police Band end the album with a rousing version of "Highland Cathedral." All the glory and splendor of pipe bands come out in this piece.

This CD is well worth owning if you like pipe music. It is a high-quality collection of some of the best pipers of today, along with the accompanying musicians who bring the music beyond the mundane. With the four major Celtic centers of piping represented, the album pays tribute to one of the most loved and recognizable instruments the genre has to offer in an intelligent, well-compiled collection. The liner notes, as always with ARC recordings, are thorough and trilingual (English, German and French).

- Rambles
written by Jean Emma Price
published 14 May 2005