Ta gach rud tohiontach.

The place of the Chieftains in the annals of music history is assured. For more than 40 years, they have carried Ireland's musical traditions to the world, acting as cultural ambassadors as much as they are talented musicians. The band is foremost among the names of those directly responsible for spreading and cultivating a global love of Irish music; the flood they caused is far greater than the ripple from latecomers and one-trick ponies such as Riverdance. They pioneered many cross-cultural exchanges between traditional Irish music and their peers in popular rock, American country and bluegrass, Breton traditions, Spanish traditions, Chinese traditions and more.

The Chieftains paid their dues and can justly rest now on their laurels -- not that they show signs of resting.

It's probably best to just go out and buy every CD the Chieftains have ever released. Barring that -- or in addition to it -- The Essential Chieftains is a remarkable, two-disc collection spanning four decades of music.

Produced by Jerry Rappaport and band founder Paddy Moloney, the compilation spans the band's history from roots to branches. The first disc boasts 18 tracks from the Chieftains' extensive solo career, while the second provides 17 tracks from their numerous collaborations. Each track has been newly remastered from the original recordings to provide crystal-clear sound.

The very first track of disc 1, "Lots of Drops of Brandy" from the 2000 release Water from the Well, is the Chieftains at their prime. But as tracks progress, from 1977 to 2006, from 1992 to 1978, it quickly becomes clear that the Chieftains were always at the top of their game. Their musicianship is flawless, their arrangements clever and diverse, their devotion to Ireland's native music never in doubt.

But even in the band's solo albums, the Chieftains continued reaching out to other cultures with their music. "Full of Joy" seamlessly blends Irish sounds with a Chinese ensemble in 1987, while famed Spanish instrumentalist Carlos Nunez adds a Galician sound to the mix on 1996's "Santiago de Cuba." Within Ireland's borders, they joined forces with the excellent players of Altan for "The Donegal Set."

Samples from disc 2 include recordings with the Corrs, Van Morrison, Bela Fleck, Sinead O'Connor, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt, Los Lobos, Sting, Elvis Costello and the Rankins. The music is diverse, but the quality is uniform. And the Chieftains' ability to find the common ground between various styles and cultural traditions is nothing short of fantastic.

Since 1962, the Chieftains in one form or another have fostered a love of Irish music that has grown to envelope the world. They have nurtured it all that time, doing more than anyone to keep the traditions strong while building new ties and new appreciations. I don't expect them to stop any time soon -- but in the meantime, The Essential Chieftains will give you a full-course sampling of their work to date.

I still recommend buying up everything the Chieftains have ever recorded. But this two-disc set is worth having on its own merits -- every minute of music is a minute of pure Irish pleasure.

[ visit The Chieftains' website ]