The Irish Dancer Collection

from

Connoisseur Records

Irish Dancer has just had the privilege of listening to a copy of this interesting new Step Dancing CD and couldn't wait to let all our dancing friends know what we thought!

I think that this thoughtful packaging was a nice touch as it makes the CD an ideal gift for someone who dances.

With a title like The Irish Dancer Collection this CD promises much, but does it deliver?

The first track on the listing was St. Patricks Day. I thought that this was a little odd as it is usual to put set dances at the end of the CD. I pressed play and to my surprise was greeted with a lovely little reel! I checked this with my supplier Crashed Records who informed me that there had been some misprinted labels, and I appeared to have one of them. No doubt this problem has been rectified on the retail versions.

Still the packaging isn't really what I'm reviewing so back to the music. The musicians have chosen straightforward tunes and play them well. The tempo is just right for practice and there are six tracks aimed at Beginners, one for each dance. These are all single tunes played just long enough to complete a dance.

The Second set is aimed at the more Advanced dancer starting with a Reel made up of a three tune medley. It ends rather oddly, as if someone has just switched off the microphones. The whole section has a bit more life as you can feel that the musicians are beginning to enjoy themselves adding a little variation to the way they are playing. The section includes a beautiful Slip Jig, a Hornpipe with a gentle rhythm, a bouncy single jig, and unusually a version of the Blackthorn Stick as the Treble Jig.

The final set consists of a selection of Set Dances with the usual four traditional tunes St Patricks Day, The Blackbird, Garden of Daisies and Job of Journeywork leading off. All four are heavy on the accordion with a very simple accompaniment.

The next two tracks are different versions of the same tune. It's one I'm not familiar with called The White Blankets. There is a faster, apparently traditional, version followed by a slower one. I'd be interested to know why this one is on the list, perhaps it's used by An Comhdhail dancers, rather than An Coimisiun. Or of course it might be a regional dance in Ireland itself. An unusual addition and probably, in itself, good enough reason for some dancers to own the CD. I've never seen it elsewhere on this type of collection.

This is followed by two more common sets, Three Sea Captains & The Orange Rogue, both played the way you'd expect. We then come to another lesser known set called Rodney's Glory, which I happen to know originates in the Co. Kerry area. I assume therefore that it could be more commonplace in Ireland.

The set is rounded off by three current favourites, The Hunt, Miss Brown's Fancy and the Hurling Boy.

It makes a nice change to see some different set dances on a CD as most seem to stick to the old favourites, and dance teachers are always trying to move onto something different to set their dancers apart from the rest. To have 11 different sets is also quite unusual, making this CD quite unique.

Overall the music is simply played at a nice tempo and there is a reasonable variety of music that should suit most dancers needs. I would have liked the musicians to have embellished the music a little, but that isn't to detract from the quality. It is all well played, and of an accomplished standard. Unfortunately none of the tracks are really exciting, or inspirational for a dancer.

On the down side the track tempos are not listed, which can be quite an important consideration for dancers, especially for the set dances. Apart from that I think this is well worth adding to your own collection.

If you'd like to hear a sample track visit Crashed Music and click on the Connoisseur Records logo.

You'll also find several other collections of Irish Dance music.