But Joanie Madden isn't any bandleader. Over the years she has shown remarkable resourcefulness in finding replacements for departing personnel in Cherish the Ladies, and as long as she wants the band to continue, it will.

That was clear from the deft integration of talent fashioned by Madden for the Cherish the Ladies concert on Nov. 28 at the Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling, N.Y. Founding members Joanie Madden on flute, whistles, and backing vocals and Mary Coogan on guitar, mandolin, and banjo were joined on stage by Connemara piano-accordion member Mirella Murray, new fiddle member Roisín Dillon, who hails from Belfast and lives in Ft. Lauderdale, and singer, guitarist, and bodhrán player Liz McNicholl, a native of Navan, Meath, and resident of Norwalk, Conn., who was filling in this night for the visa-seeking Heidi Talbot. (Pianist Donna Long, who will be leaving the band after eight and a half years at the end of January, was away in Pittsburgh.)

The evening was certainly a two-way street of adaptation. Madden, Coogan, Murray, and Dillon backed McNicholl on such non-CTL songs as Sting's "Fields of Gold," Tommy Sands's "The Age of Uncertainty," and Robbie O'Connell's "Home Away From Home," all of which McNicholl recorded on her solo debut, "Grand Central Station" (D&G Records, 2002; www.lizmcnicholl.com).

Blessed with a fine, breathy voice and a song interpreter's flair for diversity, McNicholl learned and sang such CTL chestnuts as "The Castle of Dromore" and "The Broom of the Cowdenknowes" to the established accompaniment of Madden, Coogan, Murray, and Dillon. Introducing the latter Scottish song, McNicholl mentioned the reference in the lyrics to "herding his father's ewes." That's when Madden elicited a laugh with the comment, "We say 'yous' in the Bronx too."

Instrumental highlights included the band's playing of an original barndance called "The Windy Road From Elkins," a blast of reels featuring "Trim the Velvet," and a waltz-time rendition of Turlough O'Carolan's "Henry Roe McDermott." There was also an enjoyable guest appearance by Joanie Madden's father Joe on button accordion and her brother John on bodhrán during another waltz.

Among several expert solo spots were Joanie Madden's whistle playing on Gerard Fahy's "Magh Seola" ("The Level Plain"), Mary Coogan's acoustic-guitar picking on her own "Robbie's Reel," and Mirella Murray's piano-box work on slip jigs learned from Máirtín O'Connor, Alan Kelly, and Larry Redican.

CTL gave an engaging, bravura performance, and though some seams and snags were noticeable on occasion, they never tripped up the overall good time provided by the group. With her irrepressible humor and All-Ireland instrumental prowess on flute and tin whistle, CTL leader Madden knows how to entertain. Afterward, she stood at the door to bid good-bye to each customer. This extra personal touch strengthens the bond between band and audience.

Madden's vivacity, stage savvy, and musical ability blend with the skills of her bandmates to create a potent, popular mix that's hard to resist. Warmth and a natural cohesion of colors are what make a patchwork quilt so appealing, and the same was true of Cherish the Ladies' music this night.

MEADE GOES MONTHLY

In last week's "Ceol" column, I lamented the passing of the Friday night Irish traditional music concert series organized by Don Meade in Manhattan. But not long ago at New York University's Glucksman Ireland House, he met with visiting professor Mick Moloney and associate director Eileen Reilly, and I'm happy to report that a new monthly series of concerts will begin in January under the joint aegis of Glucksman Ireland House and Meade's Blarney Star Productions.

The inaugural concert in this new monthly series will be on Friday, Jan. 9, when Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll and Dublin-born guitarist John Doyle perform at Washington Square United Methodist Church, 135 W. 4th St., Greenwich Village.

Further scheduled concert dates include Feb. 6, when the father-daughter duo of Mike and Mary Rafferty will appear with Willie Kelly, Dónal Clancy, and other guests, and April 2, when Armagh-born brothers Niall and Cillian Vallely perform. There's also a possibility that Liz and Yvonne Kane, two splendid fiddling sisters from Letterfrack, West Galway, will give a concert in June.

Christmas has come early with the news that Don Meade's two-decade commitment to presenting Irish traditional music concerts regularly in New York City will continue with barely a hiccup.

COEN-GURNEY GRANT

In my "Ceol" column of Nov. 5, I wrote about Fr. Charlie Coen, the musical pastor of St. Christopher's in Red Hook, Dutchess County, N.Y. More recently, the Galway-born priest won a New York State Council on the Arts folk apprenticeship grant in Irish traditional music, which will be applied to his mentoring of apprentice Dan Gurney, a high-school student who plays button accordion and flute in Rhinebeck, N.Y.

This is the second time Coen has been honored as a master Irish traditional musician in New York's Hudson Valley. In 2001, the All-Ireland flute, concertina, and whistle player and singer received a Dutchess County Executive's Arts Award.

His semimonthly series of Irish traditional music concerts will bring fiddlers Patrick Ourceau, who just joined the band Chulrua, and Dana Lyn to the American Legion Hall on Rte. 9 in Rhinebeck this Sunday, Dec. 14, starting at 4 p.m. For further information, call (845) 758-3732.

STOCKING STUFFERS

On April 13, 1742, the premiere of German-born George Frederic Handel's "Messiah" took place not in his adopted country of England but in Dublin, at the Fishamble Street Musick Hall. There the oratorio received its first acclaim and was first made part of the standard classical repertoire.

Celebrating the 250th anniversary of that initial performance, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields, along with such soloists as Anne Sofie von Otter and Sylvia McNair, performed "Messiah" at Dublin's Point Theatre in 1992. Recently Philips/Universal Classics issued a film of that performance on DVD (cat. no. B0001232-09), and it makes a nifty stocking stuffer for all those who love Handel's masterpiece, a staple of Christmastime.

Another gift worth putting on your yuletide calendar is, well, a calendar. Linda McCann, wife of Tyrone accordionist Leo McCann, sent me a 2004 calendar filled with photos of her charming, 3-D clay models and colorful sketches of such musicians as Altan's Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, flutist Michael McGoldrick, the Dubliners, and button accordionists Joe Burke and Sharon Shannon sitting in a sleigh together.

The e-mail address for Linda McCann of Canndhu Productions is info@canndhu.com, and her website is www.canndhu.com.

LISTS OF CHAMPIONS

In the interest of historical accuracy and completion, I'll be running out the names during the next few weeks of senior All-Ireland champions since 1951, the year of the first Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, for these four categories: fiddle, button accordion, flute, and céilí band. My hope is that they end the armchair debates over who did and didn't win this most prestigious of accolades.

Below are the All-Ireland senior fiddle champions, the years they won, and, in most instances, the counties or cities they hailed from:

1951, Pat Kelly, Tyrone; 1952, Bobby Casey, Clare; 1953, Paddy Canny, Clare; 1954, Aggie Whyte, Galway; 1955, Seán Ryan, Tipperary; 1956, Seán Ryan, Tipperary; 1957, Jimmy McHugh, Glasgow; 1958, Seán McLoughlan, Antrim; 1959, John Gallagher, Donegal; 1960, Cait Ní Chuis, Limerick; 1961, Séamus Connolly, Clare; 1962, Brendan McGlinchey, Armagh; 1963, Séamus Connolly, Clare; 1964, Gus Tierney, Clare; 1965, Gerry Forde, Wexford 1966, Kathleen Collins, New York City; 1967, Maura Connolly, Laois; 1968, Bobby Casey, Clare; 1969, Joe Ryan, Clare; 1970, Máirtín Byrnes, Galway; 1971, Tony Smith, Cavan; 1972, Tony Smith, Cavan; 1973, Paddy Glackin, Dublin; 1974, Vincent Griffin, Clare; 1975, Liz Carroll, Chicago.

Also, 1976, Jim McKillop, Antrim; 1977, Maurice Lennon, Leitrim; 1978, Seán Nugent, Fermanagh; 1979, Frank Kelly, Donegal; 1980, Eileen O'Brien, Tipperary; 1981, Martin Hayes, Clare; 1982, Martin Hayes, Clare; 1983, Jimmy McBride, Donegal; 1984, Eileen Ivers, New York City; 1985, Cathal Hayden, Tyrone; 1986, Brian Conway, New York City; 1987, Brendan Larrissey, Louth; 1988, Bríd Harper, Donegal; 1989, Áine O'Connor; 1990, Brian Lavery; 1991, Thomas Morrow; 1992, Mac D. O'Raghallaigh, Meath; 1993, Áine McGrath, Kildare; 1994, Andrew Dinan, Manchester; 1995, Liz Kane, Galway; 1996, Kevin Madden; 1997, Ursula Byrne; 1998, Mark Lavery, Derry; 1999, Oisín Mac Diarmada, Sligo; 2000, Ita Cunningham, Galway; 2001, Zoe Conway, Louth; 2002, Fergal Scahill, Galway; 2003, Aisling Ní Choisdealbha, Tipperary.