Most brilliant low whistle/flute albums in recent memory?

[AngelicBeaver]

Does anyone have any albums that they've heard within the last few years or so that they find to be truly amazing? I have a few that I love, but my selections are getting a bit old. My favorite albums are

Brian Finnegan's "The Lovely Genius of Bones"

Realta's "Open the Door for Three" (Brilliant mix of low whistles an Uillean Pipes, with a few songs thrown in).

Julie Fowlis and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh did an album called "Dual" that is among my all-time favorites, even without much (or any) low whistling.

For me, a lot of trad music sort of blurs together in that it's nice, but forgettable. Every once in a while, an album comes around that fantastically sets itself apart and bears repeated listening for years. I'd like to add some new music to my collection, but it's hard to search by instrument, or even sift through the many albums that are in that "nicely played, but kind-of like all the other trad albums out there" category.

[Mikethebook]

Well, for me, Davy Spillane's Between Longing And Belonging is unsurpassed but I also love Troublesome Things by Brendan Ring.

[AngelicBeaver]

Well, for me, Davy Spillane's Between Longing And Belonging is unsurpassed but I also love Troublesome Things by Brendan Ring.

Davy Spillane needs to get his stuff on Amazon's digital downloads. I like having all my music in one place for convenience. It's really nice when artists put their stuff on Amazon digital music because so many albums get expensive when shipped overseas. I heard Damien Mullane when I was in Ireland a few years ago and enjoyed his playing (accordion), but his album is only available as a physical CD and ends up being nearly $30 shipped.

I do like Brendan Ring's album, for the most part. I dislike his use of the regulators, though. They overpower the rest of his playing on certain tracks and just hop between a couple of notes. There are a couple of tracks that I feel driven to skip each time. His whistle tracks are excellent.

[AngelicBeaver]

I would also add the album "Small Towns and Famous Nights" by the Alan Kelly Gang to my list of favorites. Accordion playing features prominently, but it's got some lovely whistle and flute. The instrument mix gets changed up constantly, so it doesn't end up being an Accordion album with a capital A. I've listened to it for years now and still enjoy it.

[Mikethebook]

I would also add Drifting Through the Hazel Woods by Davy's Moving Hearts contemporary, Declan Masterson, a lovely low whistle CD with both traditional pieces and more mystical ones.

[sfmans]

Hunter's Moon by Calum Stewart and Heikki Bourgault is, for me, the standout flute album of the past few years. Great, strong, inventive, inspiring, and beautiful flute playing with really interesting accompaniment on (often multi-tracked) guitar. Some tracks are lead by uilleann pipes, and that's fine by me, but it's the flute tracks that really do it for me.

Standout tracks: Schottische Kerlou, The Hurricane, le Heure Avant Le Herbe, and, well, all of them really!

[Ketil]

If you are ok with low whistle in combination with pipes John McSherrys "The seven suns" is absolutely superb!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te1NVWrhp6I

[Ketil]

And also "The Olllam" is great. Pipes and low whistle presented in a not so traditional way. But a really nice album!

[kenny]

There's a lot of low whistle recordings coming out of Scotland at the moment. Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton have recently released a CD called "Symbiosis", which you might like. Hamish Napier also released a CD of his own compositions, called "The River".
Most brilliant flute albums from last year :
"Now" - Ciaran Somers and Nicolas Quemener
"White Island" - Laurence Nugent [ quite a lot of low whistle as well as flute ]

[AngelicBeaver]

There's a lot of low whistle recordings coming out of Scotland at the moment. Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton have recently released a CD called "Symbiosis", which you might like. Hamish Napier also released a CD of his own compositions, called "The River".
Most brilliant flute albums from last year :
"Now" - Ciaran Somers and Nicolas Quemener
"White Island" - Laurence Nugent [ quite a lot of low whistle as well as flute ]

Thanks, Kenny. "Symbiosis" is certainly one of those "hidden" albums on Amazon. There's no way to find it unless you know it's there. There isn't even an indication of what kind of music it contains until you begin listen to the tracks. I wish Amazon would link to a music service that specializes in folk music, or smaller, self-produced albums. It's tiresome to be offered the same Celtic Women albums or random opera albums (or simply contemporary pop music) because Amazon has no idea what to do with musical interests that fall outside the mainstream.

I happened upon Realta because I was searching for the Exile's Jig, but a lot of groups rename their tune sets to something like "Sashay" or "Blue" so it won't always show up in searches.

[kkrell]

Thanks, Kenny. "Symbiosis" is certainly one of those "hidden" albums on Amazon. There's no way to find it unless you know it's there. There isn't even an indication of what kind of music it contains until you begin listen to the tracks. I wish Amazon would link to a music service that specializes in folk music, or smaller, self-produced albums. It's tiresome to be offered the same Celtic Women albums or random opera albums (or simply contemporary pop music) because Amazon has no idea what to do with musical interests that fall outside the mainstream.

I happened upon Realta because I was searching for the Exile's Jig, but a lot of groups rename their tune sets to something like "Sashay" or "Blue" so it won't always show up in searches.

Two resources for finding where certain tunes are played, and alternate titles:
https://www.irishtune.info/tune/494/

https://thesession.org/tunes/1327


As to other music resources, you might find that CD Baby provides access to other musical interests. It's less expensive for musicians to list their CD or downloads with CD Baby, and they receive a greater portion of the sale price. Amazon changed their Marketplace structure, so it is a higher, yearly fee for selling product through them for the small producer. Items available through major distributors are more readily available, and usually then sold by Amazon directly.

[Joe Gerardi]

Does it have to be low whistle? Because K.C. Jiang's "Chinese Music for Irish Whistle" is fantastic, if you enjoy Chinese music at all. I'm pretty sure it's a mix of low and high whistles, and they're simple, wonderful Chinese melodies- nothing complex as say, "The Butterfly Lover's Concerto."

I bought a copy for a friend who owns a Chinese buffet, and when she first played it, all her waitresses kept coming up asking what the music was, as they all recognized the traditional Chinese tunes, but the played on the whistle, it really caught their attention.

When they closed the restaurant, they gave me back the CD, so now I get to enjoy it.

..Joe

[Geebawn]

Abyss by Talisk. Although it's not a whistle/flute album it's IMO the best Irish music album since TRGOB by Finnegan:)

[jadphoto]

Anyone know where to find Symbiosis (Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton) in the US? I've tried iTunes, Amazon, even MusicScotland (and they usually have everything).

Thanks in advance...

JD

[AngelicBeaver]

Anyone know where to find Symbiosis (Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton) in the US? I've tried iTunes, Amazon, even MusicScotland (and they usually have everything).

Thanks in advance...

JD

Sure. It's on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Symbiosis-Ross ... biosis+ali

See what I mean about it being a hidden album? The artists are "Ross & Ali", as if it needed to be any more obscure.