Chieftains 9: Boil The Breakfast Early. CD

The ninth album by the Chieftains came at a traumatic time for the group, which had recently lost two founding members, tin whistle player Sean Potts and multi-instrumentalist Martin Tubridy, and was starting to be considered past its prime by some who felt that the ensemble had stagnated artistically. 1980's CHIEFTAINS 9: BOIL THE BREAKFAST EARLY blows a spirited raspberry to that idea.

Replacing Potts and Tubridy with the enthusiastic flute player Matt Malloy (formerly of the Bothy Band and Planxty), the group sounds re-energized. They not only play the jigs and reels with newfound energy (at times recalling the lively cutting contests of the Scottish group Silly Wizard), but also invest more emotion and subtlety in graceful airs, particularly "Bealach An Doirin." Indeed, the album's highest point is a solo vocal performance by bodhran player Kevin Conneff, the heartbreaking "When a Man's in Love." At a time when many bands would be packing it in, BOIL THE BREAKFAST EARLY finds the Chieftains gearing up to explore new musical territories, as they would do throughout the following decade.

Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland. Includes liner notes by Ciaran MacMathuna.

Full title: Chieftains 9: Boil The Breakfast Early.

The Chieftains: Kevin Conneff (vocals, bodhran); Martin Fay (fiddle, bones); Sean Keane (fiddle); Derek Bell (neo Irish & mediaeval harps, tiompan); Matt Molloy (flute, tin whistle); Paddy Moloney (Uillean pipes, tin whistle).

Producer: Paddy Moloney.

Reissue producer: Lawrence Cohn.

Additional personnel: Jolyon Jackson (cello); The Rathcoole Pipe Band Drum Corps.Q (May 2002, p.127) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...[This] group bring[s] traditional Irish folk to a mainstram audience....dipping in and out...can be bliss..."
Uncut (8/02, p.100) - 4 out of 5 - "...Outstanding..."