St. Fin Barre's

St. Fin Barre's is the cathedral of Cork City, guitarist Mark O'Leary's hometown. From the start, the title of this album — his tenth release and tenth different trio lineup on Leo Records — sets the stage for something different. Yes, St. Fin Barre's was recorded inside the cathedral. And yes, the recording venue had a huge influence on the music. Accompanying O'Leary are Supersilent keyboardist Ståle Storløkken at the church organ and percussionist Stein Inge Braekhus. The album opens with the ringing of the church bells signaling the beginning of the proceedings and Braekhus answering its call with thundering rolls, before O'Leary steps in with one of his most tender and introspective instant melodies, punctuated by delicate organ inserts and voicings. That four-minute piece sets the tone for the album, which will unfold over two extremes: meditation ("Evensong") and turmoil ("Epilogue"). Storløkken employs all the resources of the church organ, although he focuses more on its aerial textures than its bombast. And, while previous albums seemed built on a principle of equality between improvisers, as a whole this trio session leaves the spotlight more squarely on the guitarist, whose melodic volume-pedaled soloing is the main feature throughout. And in this particular case, it is not a bad thing, as St. Fin Barre's works strikingly well. Note that, in the sequence of O'Leary's releases for Leo Records, this one marks a step back in time, for the session was recorded in November 2002 but issued only in late 2008. ~ François Couture, Rovi