CD Review
The Essential Chieftains
The Chieftains

Quintessential Chieftains

    On the two-disk set, The Essential Chieftains, the Oscar and Grammy award-winning Irish band continues to do what they have done best for the last forty years: provide classic Celtic sounds in a refreshing and unique fashion. The Chieftains have forever changed how the world views Celtic music. By traveling the world and interacting with global musicians, the Chieftains have left behind a musical record that is almost unparalleled.

The band uses only traditional Celtic instruments and plays them with care and precision. The Chieftains never use modern instruments, such as the guitar. Even though traditional instruments are featured, the Chieftains have often collaborated with modern musicians from the worlds of country, rock, folk and Latino music. On The Essential Chieftains, the listener gets the best of both worlds. Traditional sounds of Ireland and the best of the band’s work with popular artists.

On the first disk, the Chieftains include their greatest hits through the years including the pounding “O’Sullivan’s March (The Theme From Rob Roy),” the lively “The Munster Cloak/Tabhair Dom Do Lamh,” the light and airy “Sea Image” and the energetic “Chasing the Fox” from the National Geographic television program “Ballad of the Irish Horse.” Also featured is the seasonal “Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve,” the Chinese influenced, “Full of Joy,” the Spanish-tinged, “Santiago de Cuba,” and the ever-spirited “The French March.”

The second disk includes an impressive list of collaborative efforts with some of the greatest stars of popular music. Some of the highlights of this disk are “Shenandoah” featuring the soulful voice of Van Morrison, “The Squid Jiggin’ Ground” with the unique styling of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and an incredible version of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” with Ricky Skaggs. Other tracks of note are “Guadalupe” with Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos, Sting’s “Mo Ghile Mear” and “Love is Teasin,’” featuring the surreal and almost otherworldly voice of 1960’s survivor, Marianne Faithfull. The second disk is so full of sensational performances; it is truly difficult to mention only a few.

So, if you haven’t purchased a Chieftain’s CD for your collection, this is definitely the one to own. Not only do you get the best of the band through over forty years of work, you also get the best of The Chieftains’ collaborations with the musical stars of a generation. This two-CD set is not just the best of the band; it’s The Essential Chieftains.

**** (Four stars = Excellent)