According to the liner notes, "The hammered dulcimer followed the migrations of ancient civilizations across Asia Minor and onto the European continent -- from the Black Sea to the North Atlantic shores." I first heard this lively instrument in the Missouri Ozarks played by a young man on a fresh summer morning with a slight breeze lifting the music out across the hills. I instantly fell in love, but my husband was less than excited and I came away with only the memory. Years later, in St. Michaels, Md., I chanced to hear it again. This time I did buy a cassette and it just happened to be Maggie Sansone's Mist & Stone. Being reunited with her now is like finding an old friend.

Such a versatile musician with an equally versatile instrument guarantees limitless possibilities. When Irish reels or slip jigs are mentioned, I automatically think of pipes or fiddles, but played on the hammered dulcimer, this music glides by like a cool mountain stream. The CD is a musical journey from ancient times to present, from Sweden to Cape Breton, India to Ireland. It's easy to close your eyes and imagine you are sitting in a pub in Dublin having a pint with friends or cross-legged on the floor of a desert tent with the arid winds howling 'round the door.

Maggie started "Samhain Set" on Oct. 31 at the beginning of the "season of darkness." There is an otherworldly quality to the tune and it is easy to imagine spirits slipping through the thin veil between our world and theirs to walk with us. With "The Seas are Deep" she combines a traditional harp tune with improvisation to bring together the ancient Celts and Whirling Dervishes and forge a link between the two cultures.

Included on the CD are the talents of Bobby Read (playing everything except the kitchen sink!), Al Petteway (acoustic guitar and ashiko drum), Bonnie Rideout (Scottish fiddle and viola), Aran Olwell (Irish flute), David Sheim (Celtic harp), Sara Nisenson (Irish fiddle), Andrea Hoag (Swedish fiddle), T.J. Johnson (mandolin and cittern), Debbie Hunter (viola da gamba), Paddy League (bodhran, tabla and dombek) and Robert Jospe (slit drum, mondo drums and marimba).

It is easy to see that Maggie has grown and expanded her musical talents over the years. She consistently surprises and delights.