El McMeen
Dancing the Strings
Piney Ridge Music (2004)
www.elmcmeen.com

Probably one of our best known Celtic guitarists, El McMeen has been playing for many many years. His latest album, Dancing the Strings, is a mix of Celtic and contemporary music.

McMeen is a "finger-picker," his pieces often reminiscent of the classical guitar you hear on OPB. If you think of guitar music as a metaphorical stream, then El McMean's tunes are gently landscaped rivulets flowing over cobbles through an emerald garden. Sometimes, they flow clear and true, sometimes the streamlets separate into treble and bass and bubble cheerfully. Sometimes the melody spreads diffuse over flooded lawns. Sometimes you can look across the brooklet and see waves and ripples, a clever way of saying that McMeen likes using vibrato. But the brooklet never turns into an angry torrent or a strident set of rapids. Dancing the Strings is a quiet album!

The Celtic tunes in particular skip merrily with a dash of jazz influence, for instance, "Hugh O'Donnell" and "The Humors of Ballyloughlin"; El McMeen really is a good guitar player! As predicted, the strong melody of this somewhat subdued version of "Skye Boat Song" stands as a focal point for the album. Many of the strongest...and most recognizable melodies are found on the "contemporary" songs. My favorite is an almost playful version of "Perfidia" from Casablanca.

Despite the obvious skill, talent and aestheticity that has gone into making Dancing the Strings, two problems may exist for listeners. One is that at times McMeen's strings may dance and flow too quiet and diffuse. For instance, if you're using his tunes as a background for studying Gaelic grammar, they fit very well. If you're driving through Wyoming in the dead of night, you may find yourself sleeping in the ditch at Rock Springs. The other is that the "contemporary" tracks on the albums, aren't all that contemporary; many are common pop and r&b tunes composed around forty years ago. If you're a Celtophile, you may not want to hear "There Is A Rose In Spanish Harlem" or "Working My Way Back To You" for the hundreth thousanth time no matter how brightly diffuse the arrangement.; you probably want to hear a repeat of "She-Beg She-Mor" instead.

El McMeen mentions on his web page (check it out for guitar tips!) that the arrangements of contemporary songs are a recent undertaking; guitar/acoustic enthusiasts will appreciate the diversity. Celtophiles may want to try one of the many earlier albums first!

gennett at gorge dot net

The Columbia Gypsy