Doolin'

They may incite the odd begorra (or sacre bleu), but the oddity of a sextet of Frenchmen from Toulouse peddling traditional Irish folk under the moniker of County Clare’s most renowned music centre is obliterated by the band’s polish and panache. Corroboration comes in a self-titled sixth release. The fact Doolin’ was produced by a stalwart of the American-Irish folk scene, John Doyle, in a Nashville studio with assistance from local legends serves only to consolidate the band’s credentials, which are showcased in a perfectly balanced set. Sophisticated interplay between instruments (violin, accordion, guitar, whistles, bodhran and bass) that echoes Irish luminaries Lunasa and the Bothy Band combine with influences from jazz, rock and funk — even rap — to add spice to traditional jig and reel medleys. Doyle’s rhythmic drive on bouzouki helps propel The Road to Gleanntan and Wind Her Up to standout status. In other instrumentals, Mike McGoldrick’s flute imbues Reel Africa with trance feel; Jerry Douglas’s dobro lends sustain to the reflective Le Dernier Kouign Amann and Mary Shannon’s tenor banjo authenticates Mary’s Jigs. Elsewhere, Alison Brown’s five-string banjo embellishes readings of Steve Earle’s The Galway Girl and Bob Dylan’s Ballad of Hollis Brown, rendered by Doolin’s resident singer-accordionist with an inflection that’s more Gaelic than Gallic. The only real assertion of Wilfried Besse and the band’s identity comes in his/their version of Jacques Brel’s Amsterdam, and even that classic chanson gets an Irish makeover.