The band The Chieftains has made Irish traditional music popular worldwide. The virtuoso band members Paddy Moloney (whistles, uilleann pipes), Matt Molloy (flute) and Seán Keane (fiddle) enjoyed making occasional crossover albums with artists from other music genres such as country and pop. Their most daring foray into that area was the album San Patricio, featuring Mexican artists. The Chieftains
… is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the album Voice Of Ages, on which many 'trendy' American guests from the roots / americana and indie rock corner can be heard. This results in several successful covers of well-known folk traditions. Nice examples are those of Pistol Annies, Carolina Chocolate Drops and the Punch Brothers. The only Anglo-Saxon artists are Lisa Hannigan and Paolo Nutini. It is a pity that The Chieftains can only be heard 'solo' on one track, but fortunately for eleven minutes. Special is the contribution of a NASA astronaut: Cady Coleman played floating in the space shuttle on an Irish flute borrowed from The Chieftains. The album ends with a festive bonus track featuring the Galician bagpipe player Carlos Nuñez. (SvdP)more
