Review: Ruth McGinley Album Launch

To have a chance to start again at something you love is a beautiful thing.

This very sentiment, expressed by Derry-Londonderry pianist Ruth McGinley at the launch of her aptly titled debut album, Reconnection, is keenly and truly felt in and around her intimately relaxing and enlightening early evening performance at the city's Playhouse Theatre.

Accompanied by a piano (of course), red and purple lighting (her favourite!), a full house, and question-and-answer interludes affably conducted by the BBC's Stephen McCauley, it is an event that coasts by smoothly and sweetly, bringing the artist at centre stage and everyone around her into touch with the emotional, elucidating and entertaining aspects of performance art.

How apt a title is Reconnection, really? As we find, the variance in the songs played here, a mixture of Rachmaninoff, Piazzolla, Philip Glass and an indelible movie anthem, is no coincidence. Because, for McGinley, the evening and album are about more than simply the music itself: they're also about rediscovery. Through the spoken interludes, we get an indication of exactly how, as McGinley's own album notes indicate, the intensity of her early career in music had caused both burnout and a questioning of the dream she seemed born to live... and how, over the years, she gradually found her way again.

It's something everyone can relate to: the need to relax and enjoy one's profession, in a refreshing manner that regularly encourages spontaneity and inventiveness rather than laborious monotony. When she says that young musicians need to be looked after, to "have a bit of fun" as well as focus on performing, one's heart immediately goes out to her - and indeed everyone involved in what can be a very unforgiving business.

And so the night, and album, are about her slow but sure period of - yes - reconnection with what she truly loves about music and performance. Dressed a little like a rock chick, in leather trousers and all, McGinley simply entrances with the kind of tunes that, with apologies to Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, make one wish to stop the world and not want to get off.

The first song, Rachmaninoff's Moment Musical Op. 16 No. 5, is a breezy exhibition of concentrated playing and elegant posture that recalls Debussy in its tone, tempo and depth. McGinley seems to glide over the keys, intermittently and effectively pressing down for emphasis, a generally soothing trend that continues into the other songs.

Piazzolla's Oblivion is performed with a high octave ripple effect that is strikingly romantic. Along with the piece that follows it – more on that in a moment – it is distinctly meditative and relieving, a sign of the sensitivity which, as McGinley herself hints, rests in the heart and art of many a musician.

The ripple effect gains pace, mood, dominance and feeling in Philip Glass' Opening From Glassworks, for me the undisputed highlight of the evening. The kind of music one would feel at ease with following a punishing exercise session, it lulls one into a sweetly entrancing state of gentle relaxation in the most pleasant of company - and in being so, it is quite possibly the greatest summation of Ruth McGinley's tale of rediscovery, the very essence of who she is as a person and musician.

Or is it? Perhaps the conclusion of Over The Rainbow, where McGinley successfully captures the weary longing in Judy Garland's voice - hopeful dreams from drifty melancholy, or worse, apathy – is even more fitting. By positively reconnecting with everyone around her and everything she truly loves about music, this Dorothy has surely struck gold at the end of her rainbow, and will undeniably continue to do so.

Simon Fallaha

Reconnection is out now on Lyte Records.