Muireann Bradley
★★★★
I Kept These Old Blues
TOMPKINS SQUARE. CD/DL/LP
American guitar classics revisited and refreshed.
Gary Davis’s Candyman, John Hurt’s Stagolee and Richland Woman Blues, Sam McGee’s Buck Dancer’s Choice, Libba Cotton’s Freight Train and Shake Sugaree – these ageless melodies are among the masterworks of American vernacular guitar, and it’s a bold player who takes them on. Any doubts about Muireann Bradley’s qualifications for the job are quickly dispelled. Within minutes the listener will be marvelling at her command of the ringing harmonics and cascading figures of Blind Blake’s Police Dog Blues, or the intricate patterns of Hurt’s Frankie. Yes, these are familiar pieces, but seldom have they been executed with the verve and grace, as well as the skill, of this young Irishwoman – who also brings to them a quiet, unmannered voice, crystalline and true.