In the 1950s, a bunch of expat Irish musicians began to meet weekly in Cleveland to play Irish music. Then, in the 1970's, a few long-haired music students from Oberlin started to sit in, including Grey Larsen.Larsen's Dark of the Moon is an homage to the founders of the Cleveland club, a collection of Irish reels, airs and jigs that he learned from the men around the table. Most are performed on the Irish flute, with muscular guitar accompaniment by Paddy League. The flute has such a purity and simplicity of phrasing here, and remains so close to the intimacy of breath, that these songs cut through the buzz of Celtic revivalism straight to the melodic root of the tradition.

-- Alistair Highet