Playing Time – 50:42 -- Celtic instruments are perfect for capturing the many seasonal moods of winter. Drawing upon material from English, Irish, Indian, Jewish and French traditions, the three women of Banshee in the Kitchen arrange their instrumental tunes with considerable artistic skill. Balancing their audacity with reverence for the art form, “bansheefying” traditional tunes imparts contemporary freshness to them. The Bakersfield trio’s fourth album emphasizes buoyant, melodic tunes that are full of memorable images and perceptions of one’s own device. Several tracks (like the unnamed melody that appears in track four) are quite somber and impressionistic like a Celtic lamentation. Brenda Hunter, Jill Egland and Mary Tulin are proficient multi-instrumentalists who are precise on their hammered dulcimer, fiddle, accordion, bodhran, flute, whistle, guitars and bouzouki. On “Invite the Light,” they are joined by guest Jeff Basile Pekarek on acoustic bass. Hunter is a National Hammered Dulcimer champion (Winfield, Ks.), and she once busked with reels and jigs on street corners in Colorado years ago. Her original “Late Winter Waltz” was inspired by snowflakes drifting on the breeze. Egland’s accordion is best showcased in their “Cook in the Kitchen” set. Tulin’s fingerpicked guitar accompaniment is exquisite, and her flatpicked Irish bouzouki is a treat to hear on an Indian folk hymn from her own spiritual path, “Lagao Meri Naiya Satguru Par,” although some slight percussion would have enhanced the rendition. Dare I say it, but I even had a vision of hearing some synthesized sounds or vocals to embellish some of the frostier musical moods. The “Bottom of the Punchbowl/I Saw Three Ships” set comes across as the most festive track on the disc. Banshee in the Kitchen’s beautiful world music for winter is more pensive than gleeful. The band that takes its name from those wailing female spirits of Gaelic folklore shows that they also have a passionate heart to capture the tranquility of a snowy morning, windy rain, or icy veil of the season. “Invite the Light” is yet another well-wrought artistic achievement for this trio that has been together since 2001. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.)

This CD sets the perfect tone for the season. The selections evoke the full spectrum from the tender beauties of the season to the up-tempo celebratory festiveness. All musicians are incredibly and technically proficent on their individual instruments and so the collective sound is stunningly beautiful.

Many tradional tune, lots of good instruments not always found in other groups