fRoots, October 2001
Geographically Belfast, Westmeath and Cork are represented by Hammy Hamilton, Séamus Creagh, and Con Ó' Drisceoil, three fine instrumentalists on flute fiddle and accordeon experienced in playing solo and with other aggregations including The Four star Trio and Creagh's duet with Jackie Daly to mention but two. Taking these three talents and putting them together in a recording studio would be an interesting proposition at least. The good people of Ossian Publications have seen to that and
It's No Secret is the result. The music exhibits a laidback and natural approach with box, fiddle and flute upfront and no extra additives bar Pat Ahern's guitar and the odd blast of melodeon and piano from Ó'Drisceoil. The latter is best found on the "Dances At Kinvara/ The Hills Of Tara" set, where the trio playing is fresh, tight and harmonious. The opener, "Mick Doyle's Favourite/ Dinny O'Brien's", is a sweet blast of laidback traditional music. Their individual nuances are immediately noticeable, Hamilton's sweet northern style of flute playing shows echoes of Dessi Wilkinson and Cathal McConnell especially on the free-flowing cadences of "The Cocktail". Séamus Creagh's fiddle playing has always shown a fine hand with slow airs and "Lament For Oliver Goldsmith" is as good an example of his art as he has put down elsewhere in his career. Con Ó' Drisceoil is a mean accordeon stylist too, with an ear for a good tune best found in "An Cliabh Móna/ Jimmy Doyle's Favourite". They are also three fine singers and in O' Drisceoil's case a composer in the neglected genre of the comic song while Creagh and Hamilton cruise colloquial and lyrical waters. Hamilton with his northern inflections takes his material from the Ulster repertoire sounding not unlike Cathal McConnell at times on "The Sea Apprentice" and "Erin's Green Shore". Seamus Creagh's lyrical take on "The Plains Of Drishane" recalls a period in Irish song when Hedge-School education in the Classics bred articulate ballads both flowery and accurate. "It's No Secret" revels in a relaxed conviviality and unhurried enjoyment of traditional music and its melodic nuances. This is enough to sustain the player's commitment and the listener's attention and it happily stakes its place on the CD deck with increased regularity.
--John O'Regan © fRoots Magazine all rights reserved
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