Diamond Mountain Sessions

Amazon.co.uk Most of the tracks on The Diamond Mountain Sessions were laid down while fiddler and accordionist Sharon was holed up with her extended musical family in the Old Monastery Hostel, in Letterfrack, Co. Galway, literally in the shadow of Diamond Mountain. This created a relaxed environment for music and merry-making. The range of co-conspirators is rather impressive: apart from token instrumentalists Donal Lunny and Carlos Nunez, all the guests are vocalists, and a well-varied bunch at that. Along with Steve Earle's semi-Cajun strummer, there are songs for Jackson Browne, John Prine and the Hothouse Flowers, and on a more hardcore level, John Hoban and Dessie O'Halloran, the latter's groany-old-codger reading of "Say You Love Me" being the unlikely though inspired choice for a single, complete with added remix version. With her Woodchoppers acting as house band, Shannon heads for a more democratic sound, framing her guests and not stepping forward for too many flashy solos. This is where the bonus "Live in Galway" disc comes in handy, pared down to just the 'choppers, racing though a barrage of frisky instrumentals, with only a few duplications from Disc One. It's a typical souvenir of a prime Shannon gig, this time recorded at the Warwick Hotel, in front of what sounds like a horde of board-crunching dancers. --Martin Longley