Bap Kennedy - The Sailor's Revenge (Limited Deluxe Edition) (2012)

Bap Kennedy cut his musical teeth with Belfast band Energy Orchard and he has gained a well-deserved reputation as a solo artist. Van Morrison, Steve Earle, Shane MacGowan and Nanci Griffith are a few of the luminaries who have sung his praises.
Kennedy is an interesting, atypical figure in the music business. He has a diploma in Diamond Gemology. "I’m kind of an expert on diamonds. I can tell a good diamond from a poor diamond. If you ever want to get engaged, come and see me and I’ll steer you right," he joked. His wife Brenda, a singer-songwriter, is a former solicitor who has written books on autism.
Dire Straits's guitarist and vocalist Mark Knopfler has produced and collaborated with Kennedy on his latest album, The Sailor's Revenge, which is a confident, assured piece of work. Some of it sounds a bit Cal-like - a fine soundtrack album Knopfler made with Paul Brady in the 1980s.
On The Sailor's Revenge, the tracks are well written, the singing is good and the musicianship first class - unsurprising, since Jerry Douglas, James Walbourne, Guy Fletcher, Glenn Worf and John McCusker are among those playing. Special praise, too, for Michael McGoldrick, who is stunning on flutes, pipes and whistle.
But it's Bap - the 50-year-old older brother of singer Brian Kennedy - who is the real star of the show. He's an adroit songwriter and he can cover soul, country and folk with ease. All 11 songs are of high quality - the standouts perhaps being Jimmy Sanchez and The Sailor's Revenge - and it's easy to see why Van the man rates Bap the Chap so highly.