Lunar

This double CD is a fascinating mix. The legendary lyra player Ross Daly and his student, the equally brilliant musician Kelly Thoma, have put together a very personal homage to the moon as an inspiration and a source of mystery. So much for philosophising, how does it come across? As might be expected, the searing quality of the lyra lends a particular feel to the music, particularly on ‘Nishakara’, and many of the tracks where it is centre-stage are meditative, occasionally verging on the experimental, as on ‘Hecate’. Daly doesn't restrict himself to just the lyra and also plays, among other instruments, saz (long-necked lute) on ‘Mahzarin’ and ‘Çoban’, the latter being one of the few non-original tracks composed by the late saz-player Talip Özkan. The mood lifts considerably with the traditional Cretan ‘Kontylies of Messara’, and there is a wonderful excursion into the sound world of the Afghan rubab (lute) on ‘Aylin’. If you are looking for contemplation of a deep tradition, of which Ross Daly is undoubtedly a master, but reimagined and expanded, then you will find much of value here.