John McCusker

Item: Goodnight Ginger
Author: Alex Klages

Goodnight Ginger

(2003)

Reviewed by Alex Klages

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Pure Records / Compass RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

celtic folk world

Imagine if Dave Matthews were a traditional Celtic fiddler. Then you'd have some idea of what John McCusker's overall style is. While a Celtic fiddler of the highest order, he stretches the boundaries of Celtic music in the same way that Dave Matthews and his band stretched folk-rock from its comfortable boundaries and chord progressions.

While I often weary of Celtic fiddle music midway through an album, McCusker has a certain liveliness to his style and the arrangements which accompany his playing which keeps the music fresh and exciting. Perhaps purists would complain that he goes a little far, with Ian Carr's almost jazzy, Matthews-like guitar licks accenting the opening track, "A Mile Down the Road/Johnny's Jig/Goodnight Ginger" but the effect works very well. It grabs at the ear in a different way than most Celtic
albums do.

The band has a very tight sound, with different players on different tracks, but always John McCusker's fiddle and Ian Carr's guitar interplaying. To add to the diversity of the overall sound of the album, Kate Rusby contributes beautiful vocals on the track "The Bold Privateer"--a refreshing moment midway through an otherwise instrumental album.

Most of the material on this album is new, the only exceptions being "Sean Maguire's," part of the medley of the fifth track, and the eleventh track, "McGoldrick's/The First Month of Spring." The net result is that the musical experimentation of McCusker and companions is not hindered by expectations of how the songs should sound, and the result is a free yet compact style which does not become overwhelming or repetitive.

If nothing else, this album gives hope that Celtic music is not a dead genre of old ideas being repeatedly rehashed. There is newness and experimentation in Celtic folk, and thankfully John McCusker is around to help lead the charge.

4.5 tocks