As the sleeve notes say, "a Scotsman, an Irishman and a Frenchman walked into a bar...." The gentlemen in question are Johnny Cunningham, Kevin Burke and Christian LeMaitre, collectively known as the Celtic Fiddle Festival, and after a couple of live albums demonstrating their tremendous skills and understanding of Celtic music, what better than a studio album celebrating their talents?

Their excellently recorded live albums capture the excitement of a concert performance. My fear was that this might turn out to be sterile in comparison. But nothing could be further from the truth.

"O'Carolan's Concerto" has been performed countless times, but here it takes on a new lease of life as it opens the album. A breath of fresh air as it is played in chamber style -- three fiddles, a cello (courtesy of Christine Harrington), guitar (Ged Foley) and bass (Eric Fontana). The frantic percussive approach normally heard is replaced by playing which throbs, emphasizing the beautiful melody, while harmonies and counterpoint weave in and out creating complex, delightful patterns.

I have never been a great fan of Breton music, but on the examples featured on this album, I can't help but be amazed at LeMaitre's playing. His tone is rich and full, his bowing brings out the best in his instrument. I am still not happy with the stops and hops in the style of music, but I love the sound he creates, the ornamentation, the movement.

Johnny Cunningham leads the "chamber" group on the "Skye Boat Song," an unusual selection for the album. But again, a much-played tune takes a new turn with its inventive arrangement. Slow and mournful, the melody lulls you, but the ideas unfold and inspire.

A Michael Coleman standard by Burke and Foley brings you back to earth -- the flowing, dancing fiddle, the dynamic, intricate accompaniment and you can't sit still. "Laride/Gavotte" continues the dance theme with the question-and-answer style of music from Britanny presented by the fiddlers on a guitar background. Described in the notes as "jaunty" (lovely word -- so apt in this case), the musicians play a couple of hornpipes to round out this dance section of the album.

"Cam Ye By Atholl" is a delightful Highland air, its beauty enhanced by the accompanying cello which weeps a bass line behind Cunningham's sensitive melody. Another Breton set follows, starting with an air before bursting into life with four tunes. Accompanying LeMaitre is Nicolas Quemener, whose guitar style with its chord progressions provides a good contrast to Foley's.

No album such as this would be complete without a Scott Skinner tuner and here the three fiddlers (and cellist) plunge into the bonnie "Lass O' Bonn Accord" with relish, creating a version that is certainly idiosyncratic and great fun, to boot.

Almost any album sporting the work of Kevin Burke is worth buying and the Sligo reels demonstrate why: the driving, tuneful way he plays is simply brilliant. I am reminded of a comparatively recent concert where he performed solo for over two hours -- I left convinced I had heard a whole band and I was exhausted from the moving way in which he plays. This set is just like that. For me, the highlight of the album!

"Gwerz Ar Vezhinerien" is a moody, dark tune, a complete contrast to the preceding track, which the musicians seem to delight in emphasizing. Again, they use the fiddle and cello approach and the arrangement seems to reflect the cold waters off the coast of Britanny. But one could not end an album such as this on a lonely note; so three fiddles and a guitar launch into a pair of jigs (including one of my favorite tunes of all time, the "Kilfenora Jig") and the CD lightly steps to a close.

One could talk for hours about the talents on display here -- it would be hard to find three finer exponents of Scottish, Irish and Breton fiddling, and it would be hard to find three such musicians who gel as well as Cunningham, Burke and LeMaitre. There is not one false moment on this album as they combine styles and move with ease from one culture to another, entertainingly demonstrating their own music while sensitively complementing each other.

And special mention must be made of Harrington and Foley. The pair mostly remain behind the fiddling, but unobtrusively create cello and guitar accompaniments which round out the performance of the Celtic Fiddle Festival.