Dermot Byrne & Floriane Blancke

This album from Dermot Byrne and Floriane Blancke is a tasteful mixture of their musical backgrounds. Dermot, who hails from Donegal, was influenced by the traditional music of South West Donegal and by it's musicians. Teelin, where Dermot's father comes from has a deep musical heritage and Dermot was fortunate to meet and play with many of the musicians of the area from whom he learned many tunes and the traditional etiquette that went with the music. He is an accordionist nonpareil, whose style is firmly rooted in the tradition, whilst at the same time being able to adapt easily to other idioms. The accordion will forever be associated with Paris, the City of Light, which is where Floriane Blancke hails from. She is the grand-daughter of jazz musician Stanislas Suranyi and also of Marthe Blancke, a classical French singer and violinist. Having studied classical music for 10 years in the conservatoire of Bordeaux, Floriane then spent a few years studying jazz and World music. Together, their repertoire comprises a rich mixture of varied origin - earthy melodeon tunes, joyful waltzes, a haunting French love song, a fiendishly intricate Scottish hornpipe but to mention a few. Theirs is an art par excellence, and their craft is one of finesse and nuance, all executed with a warm joie de vivre.