Anna Murray, small-piper and vocalist, displays a wide array of talent on her debut CD, Trí Nithean. Her fingering and timing make her an excellent piper, and her flexibility in expression and character make her a versatile vocalist. Her recording is a wide mix of traditional and modern tunes, with both traditional and modern interpretations applied to the arrangements. There's a little bit of something for everybody. Murray surrounds herself with backing musicians, including Iain F. Macleod on guitar and bass, and Steve Lawrence on bouzouki, percussion, and other strings. Rhodes piano and harmonica are also featured on a couple of tracks. The instrumentation is unusual, and the arrangements make sometimes bizarre use of the instruments, giving many of the traditional Scottish tunes a modern, jazzy feel. The success of the results will depend on the listener's tastes. She opens with a fiery strathspey/reel set on the small pipes, breathing life and vitality into an already interesting set. The next track, ''S Ghada Leam an Oidhche Gheamhraidh,' a song by Murdo McFarlane, has a distinctly modern feel, although it is sung in traditional Gaelic. Murray's performance has a breathy, ethereal feel, sounding much like Kim Robertson's voice on her harp recordings. There is a set of mouth music accompanied by laid-back guitar, which sounds almost Latin-American in style behind the Gaelic. It is an interesting combination, but somehow loses the passion I associate with mouth music. Another mouth music set also incorporates guitar, but in this one it is more percussive and intermittent, giving an entirely different feel. Murray's vocal forte seems to be in the delivery of airs, as in 'Ailean Duinn' and 'Nighean mo Ghaoil an Nighean Donn Og,' where she puts passion and depth in her expression. In general, her vocals seem to be a bit of a combination of smooth jazz and Celtic influences, making for a jazzy, easy-listening kind of Celtic song. Murray's piping is intense and expressive. There's a wonderful set including 'The Grey Bob' and Donald MacLeod's 'The Cockerel in the Creel.' There's a 6/8 march set with highly syncopated string percussions underneath, making it seem very unmarchlike. The backing instrumentals are more traditionally applied on the traditional jig set 'Lady in the Bottle/Old Hag You Have Killed Me/Price of the Pig.' She closes the recording with another really nice set of reels, opening with solo small pipes. This solo section is my favorite part of the recording. Soon other instruments join in, including a rather strange jew's harp sound and a very bluesy harmonica part. One of the really nice things about this recording for Gaelic singers is the fact that the lyrics are listed in Gaelic. For English speakers, however, there are no translations, leaving many wondering what the songs are all about. There are no explanations about any of the tracks, so the instrumental tracks also lack any information or translation when the titles are in Gaelic, which many of them are. This is a good recording for those interested in finding new Gaelic songs and tunes, and for anyone interested in hearing traditional Scottish music modernized in new and unusual ways.