The Session's 'Dream Team'

Hugh Buckley, an oftentimes unsung hero of the Irish jazz scene, is one of the many people that worked with Ronnie on this last album. His input has been invaluable; he had a great grasp of how important it was to make this special, and to ensure that the magic encompassed in this album carried through from the first to the last note.

Here's his take:

"Ronnie and I had spoken over a number of years about the idea of doing an album of songs with jazz style accompaniment. In selecting the musicians for the session, I was looking for accomplished players who could play arrangements in that style but were also spontaneous and creative in the studio. In Myles Drennan and Dave Fleming I most definitely achieved this goal. Special guest soloists Richie Buckley, Paul Sweeney and Ciaran Wilde also most definitely fell into this category. It also helped that we all knew Ronnie and had worked with him on previous occasions. The addition of Gavin Ralston as engineer and Stephen Fanning was the finalisation of this "dream team".

Although Ronnie`s voice, through illness, lacked the strength of former years, it was his mastery with a lyric and his depth of expression which touched me most during these recordings."