Reviews

Marie’s, long awaited first CD is a jewel casket of well known and newly crafted tunes which are tastefully ornamented and played at a beautifully relaxed pace which allows the music to breathe."

Micheal O'Neill, Renvyle CCE

Marie Walsh is a back to back winner of All-Ireland titles for piano accompaniment and button accordion.
Her pedigree is without question and she is joined on this album by the Clare connection of All-Ireland fiddle champion, Mícheál O' Rourke

Custys Music Shop

Irish Music Magazine Review

MARIE WALSH

The Red Box

Own Label, 18 Track

A quick look at Marie’s impressive website at brings us this invaluable biographical detail: ” As a young girl, Marie, mastered the tin whistle, accordion, fiddle and piano and, indeed, it was no great surprise when, in 2003 and 2004, at the All-Ireland Fleadhanna Cheoil in Clonmel she put two Senior All-Ireland titles in piano accompaniment and button accordion back to back. She has been awarded the Comhaltas TTCT Diploma as a teacher of Irish Traditional Music and enjoys a growing reputation as a dedicated and much sought after music teacher.”

And this album at 18 tracks shows just how accomplished an accordion player she is, with a wide range of tunes covered from reels to hornpipes, highlands to laments and of course jigs too. The CD notes comes with a glowing paragraph from Michael O’Neill chairman of Renvyle CCÉ and huge thanks to Marie’s father for his years of teaching. The red box in question is the classic Paolo Soprani a favourite of Fleadh judges over the years.

So what do we get? Well at 18 tracks we haven’t the space here to consider every one in detail so excuse me if I go for the litmus test of reels, jigs and slow airs. First her reel playing is steady and always on the pulse of the tune, she doesn’t attempt any exaggerated jazzy shifts or tremolos to enhance a melody and her paying is crisp without any tendency to showy over punctuation. Always in pace with her accompanists this is the sort of stuff that wins All Irelands. Then for something a bit more robust, her playing of the jigs Paddy Canny’s Favourite/ Seamus Shannon’s is full or dark passages and the box sounds wonderfully full here.

Her masterpiece is surely the Lament for Oliver Goldsmith, touches here of a MacMahon appreciation of the aching beauty of a tune. As a debut album this is right there in the top drawer and deserves a spin or two on your CD player.

Seán Laffey