Simple Beauty is the 2010 album release of Celtic fusion artist Bill Leslie. Famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma calls Leslie, a North Carolina native, one of the greats in modern Celtic music. Reviewer R.J. Lannan of zonemusicreporter.com calls Bill Leslie the sovereign of American Celtic. It has been said that great melodies are never produced. They are born. They rise up out of joy. They germinate from seeds of sorrow. They set sail on wings of love. Some of the world s greatest melodies have emerged from the Celtic cauldron of Scotland and Ireland. These songs are blessed with a simple beauty, honesty and grace. This album took root with four ancient Gaelic tunes Bill Leslie learned from mentor Micheal O Domhnaill of Ireland. They are songs that excite Bill's Scots Irish DNA. Pianist Bill Covington and Leslie carved out fresh instrumental arrangements for the four tunes. Bill let them marinate for a while. Eventually they helped him give birth to a new set of tunes which he has featured in this collection.