by Alex Henderson
Although Irish/Celtic jigs and reels are Sharon Shannon's musical foundation, it would be wrong to call her a purist. The risk-taking accordion player and instrumentalist is far from that -- her approach is quite expansive, and on Out the Gap she demonstrates that Irish/Celtic music can be fused with everything from calypso to French-Canadian Quebecois music to Scandinavian folk. In fact, many of the songs that Shannon interprets on this CD didn't come out of Ireland or Scotland. While &Butterflies& is a traditional Finnish folk song and &Reel Beatrice& is a French-Canadian Quebecois tune, &Sandy River Belle& is a number that experts on American folk will recognize. &Bjorn Again Polka& successfully incorporates polka, and &The Mighty Sparrow& (named after the famous calypso singer) has a strong Caribbean influence. For those seeking something fresh and adventurous from Celtic music, Out the Gap would be an excellent choice.