Christine Tobin - Sailing to Byzantium (2012)

The award winning Irish singer-songwriter Christine Tobin is one of the UK's most richly expressive and original voices. Accompanied by guitarist Phil Robson and pianist Liam Noble she brings to life the lyrical magic of the poetry of Irish poet W.B. Yeats with her own euphonic and sensitive settings of twelve poems. 'Sailing to Byzantium' features a special guest, the renowned actor Gabriel Byrne, who reads three of the poems. Byrne's presence on the album is of special significance as he was her teacher when he led drama classes at the secondary school she attended in Dublin. Poetry and music have always been of equal importance to Tobin, both as singer and composer. She was particularly drawn to the love poems such as When You Are Old, and also his poems that celebrate the transformative power of art and his desire to find a deeper spiritual truth, as in Sailing to Byzantium. Christine debuted the album at the Southbank Centre during last year's London Jazz Festival and the reviewer on the London Jazz Blog said: "… every note felt inspired. With this Yeats material she really does deserve fulsome bouquets and acclaim."

Tracklist:

01. When You Are Old
02. The Lake Isle of Innisfree
03. The Song of Wandering Aengus
04. The Wild Swans at Coole
05. The Fisherman
06. The Pity of Love
07. The Second Coming
08. In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Constance Markievicz
09. What Then?
10. Sailing to Byzantium
11. Byzantium
12. Long-legged Fly
13. The White Birds

Personnel:

Christine Tobin (voice, piano - 2),
Liam Noble (piano), Phil Robson (guitars),
Gareth Lockrane (flutes), Kate Shortt (cello),
Dave Whitford (bass),

Special guest:

Gabriel Byrne reads poems (2,6,13).