Hey, anybody know any good bagpipe jokes? Let's start off this review with a nice, juicy Highland kneeslapper? OK, here goes...

Oh alright, maybe not.

See, when I first listened to Michael O'Neill's Ontophony, the idea came up that it would be fun to turn the tables on those people who are always having fun at the expense of the bagpipes. But after several more listens, it became fairly obvious that O'Neill's music more than holds its own.

Ontophony brings together O'Neill's Mearingstone group (four bagpipes, plus percussion) with the percussion ensemble Uzume Taiko. With three taiko (Japanese drum) drummers, tablas, shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), and snare drum, this makes for a big group with an even bigger sound. Imagine the bagpipes acting as a gamelon orchestra, taking on the music of Philip Glass, leavened with the percussion approach of Bill Laswell. This is not music from the St. Patrick's Day parade.

The opening track, "A Walk Supreme," is a perfect example of the Ontophony sound. Since it's not possible to completely avoid the sound of the pipes, we're presented with that trademark drone. Thirty seconds in, a very angular melody forms, supported by the melodic signature of the tablas. Periodically, other bagpipes move in to add circular and repetitive lines that would not be out of place in a Steve Reich composition. With its intertwined melody lines, Ontophony has a modern sound unlike anything else I've ever heard.

"Migration of a Triad" take the sound a bit further out with lots of magnificent dissonance. In a jazz composition, notes from the next octave up are often added for coloration (flatted nineths, elevenths, etc.) "Migrate" takes advantage of the presence of multiple instruments to allow notes only a half-step apart to be sounded. While this may set some listeners ears on edge, I happen to hear beauty in the chaos.

Drawing on the entire bagpipe and percussion ensemble, "Luffness" features an extended weave of pipes, taiko drums, shakuhachi, and didgeridoo. It somehow manages to sound traditional and 'out' at the same time. While "World Music" has become an almost meaningless in descriptive usefulness (sort of like "ethnic food"), this particular composition does showcase the cross-cultural aspects of the Vancouver music and arts scene—melding various Eastern and Western musics to produce sounds that neatly fuse all elements. Impressive and sometimes magical stuff.

So, two bagpipers walk into a bar...