After having it lodged in the CD tray of my Mac all week, I'm finally getting a quiet Saturday morning that's allowing me to listen critically to Ross Crean's Blackwater album...you can tell how old I am; I still say "album".

Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure, I do know Ross and I had the pleasure of actually buying the CD from him while he was standing in at the front counter at my buddy John's music store. Believe me when I say that I don't automatically give a thumbs up to any of my friends' projects unless they're worthy...and this is SO worthy.

Senor Crean has a remarkable voice and an incredible range and uses both to advantage on the album. At times, I'm tempted to call him "The Human Uillean Pipes" but I don't know if he'd take that as the compliment that I intend it to be. Last summer he told me about the album and that he was trying to do the entire thing in Gaelic. He didn't; it's about 60/40 Gaelic/English. It's driving and haunting at the same time.

I recommend this one. Might be difficult to find but try. I think that there are a couple of samples on Ross's MySpace page and his web home page...listen.

Best

AA