by William Ruhlmann
The basic approach taken by Celtic fiddler Natalie MacMaster and her producer, arranger, and guitarist Gordie Sampson is to take a group of traditional tunes, for example, the march and three reels mixed together and called &The Farewell,& and come up with a folk-rock arrangement that emphasizes MacMaster's lyrical playing as well as a sturdy backbeat. But the two feel the need to spice things up even more, and so there are several unusual tracks, starting with the lead-off title song, in which MacMaster recites a lyric in tribute to her instrument, and including &Space Ceilidh,& which features some appropriately spacy &programming&; &Olympic Reel,& a rock workout with new age elements written by Mark O'Connor, who duels with MacMaster on his own fiddle; and &Get Me Through December,& a ballad with Alison Krauss on vocals. The result is a hybrid album intended to appeal to a broader audience than the purist Celtic crowd, or perhaps to introduce them to some new sounds without putting them off.