Ensemble Ériu is a project being developed by concertina player Jack Talty and double bass and flute player Neil O’Loghlen that centres around combining a wide range of influences and musicians from many backgrounds to create ‘contemporary settings for traditional Irish music’. The ensemble’s debut recording is due for release in October 2012.

While O’Loghlen is best known as a jazz improviser and Talty is strongly associated with traditional music (he has recorded a duo album, Na Fir Bolg, with fellow concertina player, Cormac Begley), their musical interests go way beyond those backgrounds.

Guest musicians, revealing the range of influences involved, include Matthew Berrill on clarinet and bass clarinet, Matthew Jacobson on marimba and drums, Úna McGinty on violin and viola, Jeremy Spencer on fiddle, Paddy Groenland (Leafzang) on guitar, Sam Perkin on piano, Colm O’Hara on trombone, and  sean-nós singer Saileog Ní Cheannabháin.

ensembleeriu.com