The New International Trio

This intriguing release is a collaboration between experts in Celtic, European Renaissance and Cambodian music. The Celtic influences come courtesy of Dick Hensold, who plays the recorder and the bagpipes; he also brings to the table a pair of compsitions by the legendary Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan. Barb Weiss is the European delegate, heard on harpsichord and the related virginal; her expertise is on display on a William Byrd galliard, a medieval motet, and two trouvere songs from the 13th century. About half of the record's songs come from Cambodian Bun Loeung, a multi-instrumentalist master of the khim, hammered dulcimer and a number of members of the two-stringed fiddle family. Though most of the tracks are indigineous to the players, they also re-work a pair of American standards, Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" and Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk."