Martin Hayes & Brooklyn Rider: The Butterfly
In a Circle Records

Brooklyn Rider's penchant for inspired collaborations continues with this endearing album-long set with Irish fiddler Martin Hayes. Included in the group's eclectic discography are memorable recordings with banjo player Bela Fleck, Mexican jazz vocalist Magos Herrera, Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, and Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, the range of artists indicative of the commitment Brooklyn Rider has made to expanding the string quartet repertoire. Issued on violinist Johnny Gandelsman's In a Circle Records and produced by the group's violist Nicholas Cords, The Butterfly is the culmination of a decade-long friendship between Hayes and the New York-based quartet, which also includes violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Michael Nicolas.

Hayes has been an object of admiration for the quartet for some time, in no small part because his playing exemplifies qualities musicians receiving strict classical training would like to see stronger in their own. He brings heartfelt, vocal-like expression and a variety of inflection to even the simplest tune and in doing so elevates the music. Hayes, too, recognizes the benefits that can accrue when a musician operating within a particular tradition collaborates with those outside it, for the simple reason that the latter may approach the music within that tradition in a novel way. Through that participation, the music is energized and avoids stagnancy.

Framing the project in such terms can be misleading, however, in suggesting musical poles widely separated; to that point, the performances on The Butterfly, recorded at Brooklyn's National Sawdust in April 2016, show how deftly parts can blend when the right musicians are involved—not that that should startle when the quartet has developed the ability to play assuredly in any number of contexts. Many of the twelve pieces—all but two traditional folk songs—are widely known within the repertoire, Hayes even claiming some regard them as overplayed, “throwaway tunes” no longer taken seriously (“The Drunken Sailor” presumably, for instance). He argues, however, for their depth and beauty and notes how revitalized they are by the arrangements Kyle Sanna, Dana Lyn, Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin, Cords, and Jacobsen have given them.

Written by Hayes as a teenager, the opener “Maghera Mountain” immediately shows how harmoniously the forces blend. In Sanna's arrangement, the fiddle carries the singing melodies, naturally, but listen beyond it to savour the gently undulating backdrop the quartet provides for Hayes. Even more striking is the contemplative passage that follows, an episode so seamless the five string players blend until distinctions of foreground and background dissolve. Indicative of the artfulness with which the material is presented, minutes pass before the title track assumes a recognizable shape, first emerging from a soft, subtly dissonant intro and then progressing to fragmented teasings of the tune's content; eventually, things come into focus and a theme emerges the players deliver exuberantly and with mounting intensity. Composed by pianist Peadar O Riada, “Bob and Bernie” similarly surprises in opening in austere, neo-classical mode before the fiddle enters to establish the traditional folk music connection.

“Ship in Full Sail” demonstrates that the simplest of melodies is no less endearing for being so; it would likewise be hard to imagine anyone not responding to the swing of “Mulqueen's.” Yet as joyful as much of The Butterfly is, it also makes room for ballads and drones, the traditional “Port Na bPucai” a case in point. Throughout the seven-minute meditation, Hayes' mournful outpourings emerge against a droning background that bolsters his lyrical expressions.

Being so melody-driven, the tunes communicate with directness and cast aside any resistance a listener might have to Irish fiddle music or string quartet playing in general; there's a timeless character to much of it, too, with a representative piece like “O'Neill's March” exuding as much charm today as it would have decades ago. In simplest terms, The Butterfly's merging of Irish folk tunes with the Western classical chamber tradition makes for a thoroughly engaging listen and another distinguished addition to the Brooklyn Rider discography.

September 2019