Celtic Christmas: A Windham Hill Sampler

These 13 holiday selections stay true to the Celtic tradition. Includes When the Snow Melts Phil Cunningham and Manus Lunny; Solus Triona Ni Dhomhnaill; On a Cold Winter's Day/Christmas Eve Kevin Burke & Miche+¥l O Domhnaill; the Winter's End Liam O'Flynn; Ciara Luka Bloom; Nollaig Na Mban Cormac Breatnach, and more.

Another satisfying collection of Celtic music, traditional and contemporary, that includes such modern-day folkies as Luka Bloom and, for the lack of a better term, New Age composer Loreena McKennitt. Fans who remember Planxty, the Bothy Band, Silly Wizard, and Capercaillie will embrace the performances here by individual members of those critically acclaimed and popular groups. Nightnoise singer Triona Ní Dhomhnaill, who was once described as one of the greatest voices of the century, sings a haunting piece called "Solus," while her brother and former Bothy Band fiddler Kevin Burke create an enchanting place on "On a Cold Winter's Day/Christmas Eve." In the end, Celtic Christmas really is all of a piece. Each work stands on its own, but taken together they form real feelings for the holiday that run from reverence to revelry and from joy to solitude. Moody and transcendent stuff. --Martin Keller