The Irish concertina wizard Pádraig Rynne has become one of my big, big favorites over the past few years, ever since I first heard his solo album Conscious (2019), a luscious and masterfully played blend of Irish traditions and jazz and prog elements – and what a psychedelic cover art, too! I was blown away, well and truly.
Before and after that particular jewel, he has worked with his Notify project/band, done more solo work and collaborated with fiddler Tara Breen (check out the brilliant Avalla album).
Whatever Rynne does, the adjective that comes to my mind is bright. There is as much joy and life as there is mastery of the instrument, and it doesn’t matter if it’s trad or something newly composed; I listen to his music and I’m happy.
The brand new Odyssey is another gem in the Rynne treasure chest, but it’s also very, very much a team effort and not his solo effort. Tara Breen is there again on the fiddle, and none other than Jim Murray, one of the A+++ class musicians in Ireland, is on six- and four-stringed instruments.
In short, these three playing together are the Rush of Irish folk music – and that is high praise, coming from me. The music is intricate yet effortless, full of notes yet relaxed, never afraid to use odd time signatures if they feel like it, and , perhaps most of all, the music they create feels bigger and fuller than just three people playing their instruments.
So I’d enjoy them even if they played the spotify hits of today – that just might be interesting – but thankfully their material is of a different class altogether, of course it is.
Here, there are tunes from various composers and Odyssey is worthy of its name in that it sails across different waters. It has its share of trad styles (the Finbarr Dwyer’s set, for example), prog folk blasts with odd time signatures (Mount Ievers, High 5’s), ceilidh-ready reels (the Sirius Reel set) and some absolutely lovely slow pieces.
Of these, Palmira is my particular favorite. Written by Fernando Largo, from Asturias in Spain, it’s a beautiful, lyrical 3/4 piece that carries a sense of the European South and their Celtic regions. Not only is the melody enchanting, you have to pay attention to the arrangement and the interplay of the instruments. Perfection, it is.
The entire Odyssey is such a joyful affair, even with its few more melancholy moments. Rynne, Breen and Murray give us a treat I will treasure and return to when the Finnish summer soon ends, darkness descends and I’ll need all the pick me up’s I can get. This is one of the best ones.
FolkNotes 
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