February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Some might chalk this up to a pathology of perfectionism. I prefer to think of it as a symptom of real talent striving for optimal expression.
After I received the new Poozies’ CD, “Changed Days, Same Roots” (Greentrax 249), I got this e-mailed comment from founding member Karen Tweed, whose mother is from Ballybunion, Co. Kerry: “I think it’s OK, but we have a better one still to come.”
There’s nothing remotely “OK” about this album. It’s uniformly excellent and stimulating, full of invention and imagination, taking risks without risking self-indulgence.
Formed in 1990 and recording together since 1993, the Poozies belong in that rank of accomplished Celtic ensembles — Macalla, Bumblebees, Cherish the Ladies, Fallen Angels, Shine — who’ve moved far beyond the initial promotional gimmick of gender. These are artists who happen to be women, not the other way around, and for over a decade the Poozies have outshone most of the trad acts touted as the “next big thing” in Britain’s folk scene.
The current lineup of the Poozies comprises Tweed on piano accordion and vocals, Eilidh Shaw on fiddle and vocals, Patsy Seddon on electro-harp, gut-strung clarsach, fiddle, and vocals, and Mary MacMaster on electro-harp, metal-strung clarsach, and vocals. No other group in Britain today can match their combination of diverse, challenging repertoire, beautiful, layered vocal harmonies, and intricate, virtuosic instrumentals balancing energy with subtlety.
All of those musical qualities are abundantly present on “Changed Days, Same Roots,” the Poozies’ fourth full-length studio album. It ranges from member-written compositions to Irish, Scottish, English, Scandinavian, and, on one track, Polish music.
Otherwise known as Sileas, MacMaster and Seddon lead off the 7-minute-plus “Great Debate” medley with some spirited twin harp playing of “The Kylebrack Rambler,” an Irish traditional tune Tweed learned from the playing of Connemara button accordionist P.J. Hernon.
From that melody the band slips into “Paddy Ryan’s Dream,” a tune that Tweed learned from her former teacher, button accordionist John Whelan, and performs with great drive and dexterity on the piano accordion.
“Bridge of Dee,” a Scottish tune, follows on smartly, and the medley ends with “Sam’s Tune” in an almost American old-timey setting.
Another outstanding medley features “The High Road to Fort Augustus” and “Lost in the Loop,” the latter reel composed by Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll. There’s a Solas-like use of counterpoint in this Poozies’ medley, and their arrangement provides the kind of clever, complementary textures for which L_nasa is celebrated.
Where Tweed gets to strut her stomach Steinway with free-swinging vigor is in a medley called “Daniel’s Potatoes.” She leans into a hornpipe written by original “Riverdance” fiddler M