Michael Londra's Beyond Celtic

Ex-Riverdance Irish tenor Michael Londra goes, as he puts it, "beyond Celtic" on this live performance, also videotaped for frequent broadcasts on public television (and available as a DVD) in the sense that his repertoire extends further than the standards of the repertoire, though he sings those, too, among them versions of "Danny Boy" and "The Water Is Wide." Londra also sings songs in the adult contemporary and soft rock modes. But in addition, the show extends well beyond him alone. Londra may have left Riverdance, but he has, in a sense, brought it with him, conceiving an evening that finds him, supported by a 16-piece orchestra and the traditional Irish group De Dannan, handing off the spotlight to fiddler Frankie Gavin, among whose efforts is a reading of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" that, in accelerating tempo, begins to justify his ranking as the fastest fiddler alive by Guinness World Records. The O'Leary Sisters of Sephira also get to sing a couple of songs, and, though they are not visible on an audio disc, Irish step dancers entertain the audience periodically, pounding the floor with their driving rhythm. Despite disappearing while these guests perform, Londra manages to dominate the concert with his elastic voice, particularly at the end, when he closes with an a cappella encore of "Black Is the Color" and then again goes beyond traditional Celtic music by doing a medley of two songs that may sound Celtic, but were written by Americans for 1940s Broadway musicals, "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" (from Finian's Rainbow) and "Come to Me, Bend to Me" (from Brigadoon). ~ William Ruhlmann