Any fan of solo guitar that’s not clued in to the Tompkins Square label’s long-running Imaginational Anthem series is in for an exquisite awakening. The most recent collection, Vol. XIV: Ireland is out now on vinyl (with a few test pressings still available) and compact disc. It’s an illuminating geographical dive assembled by the terrific Dublin-based guitarist Cian Nugent, who provides notes. Also, for those not yet hip to the Imaginational Anthem experience, the bundle of 12 volumes on CD (including this new one) is on sale through Bandcamp for a very affordable price.
To get right down to business, David Murphy has extensive session credits playing pedal steel, but only one album so far, Cuímhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar, released last year on vinyl by Rollercoaster Records. Murphy’s meditative and very pretty version of the traditional “The March of the King of Laois,” which serves as Vol. XIV’s opener appears to be an exclusive track.
Brendan Jenkinson has also played on a bunch of other people’s records, including a few as a keyboardist in the band of this album’s curator, Cian Nugent. Jenkinson’s original composition “Paris Blues” is a delightful serving of fingerpicking that should please fans of the American Primitive impulse that set the Imaginational Anthem series into motion.
The nimbleness of finger continues across “The Lark in the Morning,” a wonderfully warm interpretation of a traditional piece by Junior Brother, aka Ronan Kealy. As Junior Brother, Kealy has recorded three full-length albums and a bunch of EPs, with everything on vinyl.
Slim of discographical credits is Caoimhe Hopkinson, whose version of “Jamieson’s Favourite,” another traditional piece, is an utterly gorgeous highlight of this set. No less captivating is the contemplative but dexterous “Inside Out,” an original composition by Damian O’Neill, who is noted as the guitarist for melodic punk greats The Undertones and subsequently, That Petrol Emotion.
Set curator Cian Nugent adds his serene yet sturdy reading of the traditional piece “I Am Asleep and Don’t Waken Me” to the sequence. It’s followed by the set’s sole duo excursion, the sublime “The Blackbird” by Mark McKowski (half of the Lost Brothers) & Jerome McGlynn, a trad work arranged by Jerome’s father, the estimable guitarist Arty McGlynn.
The succinct and resonant “Laurie Rose” is an original composition by NC Lawlor, a player familiar to Nugent for playing live on the streets of Dublin. Hopefully, this track will swing the tide toward more studio work from Lawlor. Next up is the superb intensity of Aonghus McEvoy’s unique interpretation of Jimmy Giuffre’s “Cry, Want.”
Vol. XIV wraps up with Sean Carpio’s “Labour of Love,” the set’s most expansive track, breaking five minutes. Inspired by the play of the same name by James Graham, the piece is distinctive in this collection’s sequence in how it interweaves methodical picking and sustained tones. It’s a solid finale to the latest in a series that continues to surprise and delight.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
