Hailing from Adelaide in Australia, Senan's Haggart have managed to cross that fine line of innovation without alienating the inherent tradition in the music. Heavily influenced by the traditional Irish music of East Clare, the two tunes on their self-titled debut CD, "Sporting Nell" and "Sean Ryan's," provide the backbone and musical pulse through and around which the instruments -- mandola, bouzouki, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone and two fiddles -- revolve.

When I say two tunes, that is what I mean, "Sporting Nell" times out at 17:45 and "Sean Ryan's" is 26:55. This CD does not stick to known formulas. The tunes themselves are a constantly evolving soundscape, allowing the listener to experience subtle musical nuances at a sensual, languorous pace, departing from the high-speed delivery of much contemporary Celtic music. Through extending the very pieces of music, Senan's Haggart find a place that is neither improvisation nor structured form; it is a place in its own right, of spontaneous exchange, grounded however, in the piece of music from which it originated.

Young Australian musicians Luke Plumb on mandola and bouzouki and Lauren Pittwood on bass clarinet and soprano saxophone join Irish fiddlers Tim Whelan and Bartley O'Donnell for the recording. It is this very exciting marriage of instruments that give Senan's Haggart its unique sound. From jazz to classical, from Irish to experimental music, the sound of Senan's Haggart does not let you rest or find an easily defined musical category. It is like Shooglenifty without the drums, a genus of ambient trance music, somehow taking on new forms and boundaries.

Plumb's mandola playing is the one constant sound in the CD. His almost bare, minimalist backing grounds the ethereal quality of the fiddles which fade in and out, play parts of the tune, move onwards to vamp and chords and then come back to earth, to Plumb. Whelan and O'Donnell bounce off each other. They repeat rifts, harmonise, in union at times, yet at others moving apart to parallel universes that do not clash. Underlying this constantly evolving fiddle duosity is a great sensitivity for the others playing. It is not two fiddles competing for prominence, rather a fusion, that at times appears to be one instrument.

Pittwood's bass clarinet interpretation is exquisite, especially in "Sporting Nell." The definite sound of air, of breath, in her playing blends the strength of the bass lines into the other instruments. It is more discernible than a double bass, yet her discriminating sequences pronounce an underlying delicacy, a euphony that transcends musical genre and style.

Senan's Haggart is a CD that is new and fresh, an ambience that is neither traditional Irish nor jazz or classical yet sits comfortably between classification. This CD showcases the talents of four amazing musicians and emphasises the quality of traditional, acoustic musical innovations that are coming out of Australia.

[ by Bree Delian ]