Wild Blue
Ivers grew up in an Irish American section of the Bronx, learning her jigs and reels well enough to win the Senior All Ireland Fiddle Championship. But she has also toured the world with Hall & Oates and has jammed with everyone from West African percussionists to American rappers.Wild Blue, named for the color of her violin and the sound it makes, encompasses all of these experiences in an all-instrumental album that connects the discipline of traditional forms to the freedom of improvisation. T-Bone Wolk, Ivers' co-producer and former Hall & Oates bandmate, adds organ and electric bass to most tracks, while Africa's Kimati Dinizulu and America's Ben Wittman add drums. Unlike most modernizers, though, Ivers maintains not just the old instruments but the old musical forms as well.--Geoffrey Himes