The tin whistle (or pennywhistle) is such a simple instrument, but in the right hands it can be used to stunning effect. Dublin native Gavin Whelan possesses such a pair of hands, and on Another Time -- his second album -- he deploys his skills across a breadth of traditional tunes.

The opening set of reels, "The Stone in the Field/Ambrose Maloney's/The Small Hills of Offaly," demonstrates a tour de force of whistle-playing, with Whelan skipping effortlessly from note to note and the enchanting sound of the whistle cascading from your speakers. On this track and the set of jigs that follow, Whelan is backed up by Donnacha Moynihan's simple but rhythmic guitar accompaniment, and Colm Murphy's outstanding bodhran provides a phenomenal heartbeat to the tunes. The bodhran often gets a fair bit of flack from traditional music aficionados, but when played with the flair and talent demonstrated here, it makes a mesmerizing contribution.

There is just one occasion on Another Time where Whelan chooses to ditch the whistle in favour of his uilleann pipes -- the set of reels "Paddy Mills/The Connacht Heifers." This track benefits from a particularly sparse arrangement, with Whelan's pipes accompanied solely by Zoe Conway's fine fiddle playing -- indeed it isn't even until the second of the tunes in this set that Whelan deploys the drones of his pipes. However, Whelan and Conway both do a fine job filling all the gaps on these tunes, producing a satisfyingly full sound from their combined instruments.

Another Time isn't just a collection of jigs, reels and hornpipes -- there are also a couple of winsome slow airs that demonstrate the expressive nature of the whistle when a relatively restrained technique is employed. I found "Anach Cuain" to be the most engaging of the slow airs -- a mournful tune that tells the story of a fatal boating tragedy on Lough Corrib, perfectly evoking the emotions of loss and longing that such an incident would stir up.

The sleeve-notes are informative, with a brief description of the history of each tune, which always adds considerably to my enjoyment of this type of music. Whelan is more than just an accomplished exponent of the whistle, displaying also an impressive knowledge of the tradition. There are no tricks here or technical wizardry, just plain and simple traditional music, played exceptionally well -- exactly as it should be!

by Mike Wilson
Rambles.NET
13 January 2007

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