From the opening bars of the first track I said to myself (yes I do talk to myself!) "I'm gonna like this album"!
Blues For a Few Bucks has a double meaning, it also refers to the fact that the band includes three members of the Buckley family with guitarist Hugh joining his cousins Michael and Richie. It's a bop influenced blues with solos all round apart from bass and drums who lay down a solid, but not rigid, foundation.
Like One Moment, an introspective piece with piano and guitar perhaps recalling some past memory. Punctuations from the horns stop it from becoming over-sentimental.
I'm Just Nearby features flute and is based on an overheard conversation. Delicate and probing, maybe Donegan's experiencing guilt at his earwigging.
By the Waters of Glencar was immortalised in verse by the poet W.B. Yeats. The locale is beautiful, the poem likewise and Donegan's solo piano rendition adds his own magic to make the portrait complete.
Rendezvous kicks off in 3/4 then goes into 4/4 for solos from piano, tenor, alto, trumpet and bass before returning back to 3/4.
We Will Meet Again, Sometime suggests that this won't be the last time they record together. Richie is featured on tenor with a lyrical chorus from Bodwell on bass.
Edgy Moments has a few twists and turns - a bit like the background music to a movie car chase down Les Champs Élysées or maybe O'Connell St. except that, in this case, the car chase would be the background to the music. More gutsy sax soloing.
La Vita e Bella. A themeless improvisation based on a couple of chord sequences. Donegan lets his fingers do the walking. Maybe he didn't know where he was going when he set off but it was a journey of tranquil beauty all the way.
Round and About. A circular theme with piano intro leading into the head and solos by trumpet, tenor and alto followed by a round or two of fours before bringing it home safe and sound.
A Ballad For Louis. No guesses as to who Louis is - Louis Stewart, Ireland's greatest export and that includes Guinness. Fittingly, Hugh is given the first solo and he does Louis proud. Cousins Michael and Richie keep it in the Buckley family. Very emotive.
Little Miss Cleo, written for his youngest grandchild, born December 2023, it's a swinger and I bet she will be too!
Quick Now lives up to the title with an upbeat groove that has the horns taking advantage of a chart that is absolutely begging to be blown. La noblesse oblige.
Loved every minute of it. Lance.
Available October 2024.
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