Dervish have form, having delivered 37 years as one of the premier traditional folk baton holders from the Emerald Isle. Back in 2019, they released “The Great Irish Songbook, Volume I,” culling a bevy of faithful standards from the vaults of the tradition, songs predominantly by trad.arr. This time around they celebrate the current crop, this century and last, of Irish troubadours and songbirds, enlisting, once more, an all-star cast of compadres to expand and embellish the legacy. Last time it was the likes of Steve Earle, David Gray and Rhiannon Giddens. For “The Great Irish Songbook, Volume II” it is the Indigo Girls, Del McCoury, Sarah Jarosz, the recently deceased Moya Brennan and a whole lot more. Songwriters chosen include Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Sinèad O’Connor.

But don’t let these guests steal the limelight from the actual band. For, in Cathy Jordan, they have one of the purest, sweetest voices of the Irish. Add in the vivacious talents of Brian McDonagh, Tom Morrow, Shane Mitchell and Liam Kelly, who, between them, ply all manner of fiddles, boxes, flutes, whistles, guitars, bouzouki and mandala. Jordan also thumps a good old bodhran and can rattle the bones as well as anyone.
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