The second series of Transatlantic Sessions ( the first made in 1995 never came out on CD ) made fascinating viewing on Scottish television in 1998. It was fronted by Shetland fiddler Aly Bain and dobro wizard Jerry Douglas and featured a large group of top performers gathered together in a big house and making music.
"..this second series was commemorated with these two CDs. The layout for the show consisted of getting a bunch of talented musicians from Ireland, Scotand, and the USA together in a front room and seeing what happened. The idea worked as some pretty big names like Paul Brady, John Martyn, Maura O'Connell and country hotshots Roseanne Cash, Nanci Griffith, and Radney Foster signed up; backed by an excellent house band led by Gerry Douglas. So if the ingredients sound good and the recipe flexible enough to allow some interesting cross-pollination, the results should satisfy -- and they do. Not everybody plays with house band backing, some play solo or in duets with kindred spirits from other places. Fusions like this can be hit and miss at times depending on the atmosphere in which they are created and promoted. Transatlantic Sessions 2 Volumes One and Two are role models in getting things just right".... Review in The Green Man http://www.greenmanreview.com
Track List Volume Two:
Track Listing
1) Jerry Douglas - Passing the Bar
2) Nanci Griffith - Boots of Spanish Leather
3) Paul Brady - Arthur McBride & the Sergeant
4) Tommy Hayes/Fiona Kennedy/Karen Matheson - Sanseptique
5) Aly Bain - Bonaparte's Retreat
6) Maura O'Connell - Trouble In the Fields
7) Radney Foster - God Knows When
8) Ishbel MacAskill with Iain MacDonald
Piobaireachd Dhomhnaill Dhuibh
9) Ricky Skaggs - My Father's Son
10) Sharon Shannon - Magic Foot
11) John Martyn - He's Got All the Whisky
12) Eddi Reader - Footsteps Fall
13) Michael Doucet - Jolie Blonde
14) Sharon White - Mansion On the Hill
15) James Grant - Evangeline
16) Iain MacDonald - Puirt-a-Beul
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