World Music
By Don Heckman

Accordionist John Whelan, who performed in the original production of “Riverdance,” takes Irish music into an energetically eclectic direction on the aptly titled “Flirting With the Edge” (Narada). Guest performers include Bernadette Peters, Latin guitarist Oscar Lopez, Ugandan singer and kalimba player Samite and Irish multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan, in a program that finds magical associations between Celtic sounds and many of the world’s other musics.