Dance to Your Shadow
Kim Robertson has created a unique harp style by playing Celtic melodies with a jazz improviser's sense of rhythm and a classical harpist's sophisticated technique. OnDance to Your Shadowshe uses Irish songs and dance tunes as a launching pad for a series of improvisations and meditations that blend traditional Celtic sounds like the harp, fiddle, flute, and accordion with instruments from other cultures like thedjembe, didgeridoo, and tabla. Robertson is joined by an excellent crew of accompanists, including fiddlerLiz Carroll, accordionist John Williams, and George Winston, who sits in on harmonica. It is a tribute to the musicality of Robertson and her fellow musicians that selections like "Morning Dew," with its mix of Celtic melody and Indian rhythm, and the title track, which features a beautifully ethereal vocal by Robertson herself, sound so organic and unforced. The music onDance to Your Shadowhas its roots in the ancient music of Ireland, but its spirit is universal.--Michael Simmons