My post on Cormac Begley’s Vicar Street concert was out in the web world before I got a copy of his album, B. It arrived this week, and it’s a thing of beauty. The playing, the music, the design, and the dedication to delivering a concertina concept album. That’s the beauty on the left of the photograph.

I also recently received a “hard copy” of another album I recommended in that post, Niall Vallely’s Buille Beo. It, too, is an exceptional musical achievement, a live album recorded in Ballyvourney, Co Cork. Vallely is partnered with his brother Caoimhin on piano, Ed Boyd on guitar, Brian Morrissey on percussion, and Kenneth Edge playing some gorgeous soprano saxophone. Almost all the tantalizing tunes are composed by Niall and Caoimhin. The one that isn’t, In A Silent Way, is a Joe Zawinul composition immortalized by Miles Davis in an album of the same name. The version here is simply delightful, paired with an Indian-influenced tune written by Niall Vallely.