Music at Matt Molloy's

Molloy, the Chieftains' flutist, owns a pub on Bridge Street in Westport in the County Mayo, where musicians from all over Ireland gather for a pint, a slice of pizza, and the kind of impromptu sessions where traditional Irish music thrives best. Last year Molloy allowed sound engineers to set up in the upstairs room and hang microphones above the musicians' favorite tables in the pub. On the resulting tapes, the conversation and clinking glasses soak into the music, as they should. Except for Molloy and Patrick Street's Arty McGlynn, the musicians aren't famous, but they are quite skillful and contribute some mighty lively music--which, as the liner notes point out, is not the same as fast music. --Geoffrey Himes