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While this album sounds like the Chieftains playing in fusion mode, it is so much more ambitious than anything they’ve attempted before. Some of the music here is contemporary, though much of it is over a century old; yet it reaches past its settings into the present day, telling of the indelibly rich meeting of two cultures oppressed by a third.
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This is a transatlantic musical campaign whose virtuosity, verve and sheer eccentric heart make it hard to resist.
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Other guests include Linda Ronstadt ("A la Orilla de un Palmar"), Van Dyke Parks and Los Tigres del Norte (who both appear on "Canción Mixteca"). The result is as thrilling as it is enlightening.
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This project may be too esoteric for some, but it’s a vital reminder of a history long forgotten.
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MojoThe Chieftains lay a vibrant carpet of colour but veering between joyous and heartbreaking, the fiery Mexican element is what makes it so compelling. [Apr 2010, p.105]
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San Patricio, though, is their most accomplished cross-cultural project to date.
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Q MagazineIt works surprising well. [Apr 2010, p.120]
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The music blends Irish uilleann pipes, whistle and fiddles with Mexican guitars, banjo and trumpets, and the cast of singers ranges from Lila Downs and Linda Ronstadt to the extraordinary, passionate 90-year-old ranchero star, Chavela Vargas. Then there's moody guitar instrumental work and a fine, sturdy ballad (in English) from Cooder. Grammy nominations are a certainty.
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They share the beat, tapping it on the bodhran, and slip in counterpoint from fiddle or Celtic harp. But they don’t try to make their collaborators sound Irish. Like the San Patricios, but with a happier outcome, they put Mexico first.
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UncutAll in all, San Patricio is something of an oddity. [Apr 2010, p.94]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 5
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Mixed: 0 out of 5
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Negative: 1 out of 5
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SamMApr 13, 2010Its Ry Cooder! With the Chieftains! It has to be a 10.