The Black Rose has been playing nearly non-stop since I first slipped into my stereo last night. It's that good.

Given the caliber of the recording, I'm somewhat amazed that the duo Tir na n'Og escaped my notice for nearly three years. Fortunately, fate brought us together and I didn't miss the exciting partnership between Long Islanders Liz Knowles and Colleen Donahue.

Knowles has already earned some renown as a fiddler, soloing on the Riverdance tour, recording with accordionist John Whelan and receiving high praise for her solo album, The Celtic Fiddle. Donahue, who plays guitar, mandolin, cittern, bodhran and bones, has also performed with the Long Island band Orion's Belt and in duos with Scottish fiddler Deborah Nuse and flutist Sean Grace. Combined, they work magic -- and it doesn't hurt to add guest musicians including John Whelan (accordion), Barry Crawford (flute), John Ballesteros (percussion) and Christopher Layer (Scottish small pipes) to the mix.

The album begins with a slow, gorgeous air, "Rosin Dubh (The Small Black Rose)," featuring Knowles on solo fiddle. It's a beautiful piece, but by the end I was itching for them to pick up the pace. They didn't disappoint me. The second track is a set of reels -- "Paddy Fahey's Reel/Mountain Road/Tam Linn/Morse Avenue" -- which begin at a cantor and move quickly into a gallop. It doesn't hurt that "Tam Linn" is one of my favorite tunes, and Knowles provides us with two distinct versions before seguing into her own composition, the fast-paced "Morse."

From their they proceed through a set of laidback hornpipes, a gradually accelerating jig set (on which Knowles substitutes an 18th century baroque violin for her fiddle), a dance set blending tunes from the Shetland Islands and Jamaica. "Gallagher's Jig" starts out slow and sultry, not a typical jig at all, before kicking into a higher pace. Perhaps more than any other track on this album, this one shows the influence Eileen Ivers has had on Knowles. Then Donahue shows her introspective side in the mandolin solo "Man of Steel," which she wrote for her father, and then livens things back up with an original jig set with its inspirations as diverse as a Long Island beach, a grey cat and "all those music loving organic gardeners out there."

They go a bit old-timey for a heel-kicking rendition of "Whiskey Before Breakfast/Grumbling Old Man, Growling Old Woman" (on which Knowles is credited for playing "fiddle, feet, Mr. Happy & the Woodplank"), then bluesy for a set beginning with a joint composition titled "Nocturne for Cittern and a Fiddle Foray in A" ... which somehow manages to slip seamlessly back into a traditional set of rip-roaring reels. The album ends with a touching waltz, "Far Away," which brings together a few fiddles, a flute and a 12-string guitar.

All in all, it's a fine production, with solid playing throughout and enough variety to keep a listener's ears perked through many repetitions. I certainly hope to see these two working together again!

[ by Tom Knapp ]