Recording

Merry Christmas Tonight The Isles of Rhythm

« previous cut

Listen to a sample of Raise Your Spirits Jig

next cut »

Inspired by the Christmas seasons of 2006 and 2007, Pat Ireland wrote the jigs and reels included on this CD (Raise Your Spirits Jig; Holiday Spirit/Holiday Reel; Holiday Spirit Jig; Christmas is Coming/Christmas is Here), and gave them Christmas titles. The jig, is a popular Irish folk dance written in 6/8 time. The term jig comes from the French word gigue, which means “small fiddle” and is used to describe the dance and the accompanying music. Jigs and reels usually consist of two eight-bar sections, each repeated.

— Kevin Sanders, April, 2009