Heathery Breeze

Irish flute player Matt Molloy is best known to fans of Celtic music as a member of the Chieftains, but he has also had a richly productive career as a solo artist. The Heathery Breeze is one of his best albums. It opens with “The Moving Cloud,” one of the loveliest tunes in the Irish repertoire. He makes his way through other favorite tunes as well, like “Drowsy Maggie,” “The Bush in Bloom,” and “Frieze Britches,” accompanied primarily by guitarist/bouzouki player Donal Lunny. Molloy’s technique is astounding — he can play more ornaments and articulations using his throat than other flutists can execute with their fingers — but he never loses sight of the tune itself.