Tempest has played under-the-radar Celtic rock for so many years that it's easy to forget that the band has been around since the late Eighties. Lief Sorbye - Tempest's vocalist, guitarist, and mandolin and harmonica player - has guided the group through ups (the Magna Carta years) and downs (all other years). And now, following the release of one of the finest albums in Tempest's catalog (2006's The Double-Cross) comes this Sorbye solo album of sorts, featuring music and musicians from Tempest, as well as his other projects Caliban and Golden Bough. Recorded in March 2007 at a club in Berkeley, Calif., to celebrate his 50th birthday, Lief's Birthday Bash contains a dozen ditties spanning his entire career. Accompanied by sweet-sounding female vocalists, Sorbye teleports the audience to an Irish pub that's alive with exotic instruments, musicians who live to play and a crowd that eats it all up. From raucous jams ("Slippery Slide") to progressive epics ("Wizard's Walk") to an Irish take on a traditional American tune ("Handsome Molly"), Sorbye and mates made sure a good time was had by all.
Four bonus tracks were recorded two days earlier at a Berkeley radio station, making this an entertaining package intended for serious fans. Newer listeners should check out the 15th Anniversary Collection box set first.
Track Listing:
1) For Three of Us
2) Country Life
3) Oro mo Bhaidin
4) The Midnight Sun
5) Flowers of Red Hill
6) Buffalo Jump
7) Old Man at the Mill
8) Coalminers'
9) Handsome Molly
10) Slippery Slide
11) Cat in the Corner
12) Wizard's Walk
13) The Moving-On Song (Bonus Track)
14) The Serb (Bonus Track)
15) Lady Howard's Walk (Bonus Track)
16) Never Tire of the Road (Bonus Track)
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
