Harpist Rachel Hair and guitarist Ron Jappy renew sparky musical acquaintanceship with a second duo album. It opens at a brisk skelp with the Transatlantic Proposal jig set, one of several exuberantly paced excursions such as Tom Toi’s Polkas, Hair’s harp skipping brightly over Jappy’s tightly syncopated guitar and guest Adam Brown’s bodhrán. Another jig set, this time from the Cape Breton tradition, also rolls along in an easeful manner, while the closing sequence, To the Rock, is a vivacious manifestation of Hair’s Manx connections.
It’s not all fireworks, however: a pairing of waltzes includes Hair’s own fond tribute to grandparents, Irene’s Waltz. Another of her compositions, Dinan Dawn, revolves gently, Breton style, before leading on to Shetland fiddle patriarch Tom Anderson’s Daybrak, and there’s a fine stillness to the air McLeods of Waipu, inspired by her visit to New Zealand’s immigrant Hebridean community
Jim Gilchrist