Fiddle
Showing 81–96 of 135 results
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Micheal Hynes, Charlie Lennon, & Steve Cooney – Ceol Sidhe (Shee Music)
Press Reviews
Irish Music Magazine
A well-known Galway musician, piano accordionist in his youth and later switching to the concertina to save his back, Micheal O’Hynes has a sureness of touch and a fondness for the nuances of slower tunes which comes with a certain maturity. He also acquired a strong interest in more unusual traditional dance forms – clogs, strathspeys, flings, clan marches and the like – from his Clare and Galway parents. Many of these are to be heard on Ceol Sidhe along with more familiar reels and jigs such as Bunker Hill, Brennan’s, Rakish Paddy and Munster Bacon.
Micheal is joined on this impressive recording debut by adopted Galwayman, Charlie Lennon on fiddle and the well-travelled Steve Cooney on guitar. There are two of Charlie’s compositions here, and four of Micheal’s own: the rest are broadly traditional. The pace is restrained, but that only enhances the quality of this music. Like a fine malt whiskey, this album reveals more with time. And after all, as the title of Micheal’s delightful jig says, What’s the Hurry?
Ceol Sidhe, music of the magical and mischievous Irish faery folk, doesn’t actually include any of the numerous tunes attributed to fairy musicians – with one possible exception. The slow air The Enchanted Valley may be such a tune, ancient, modal, haunting on .solo concertina. Much of Micheal’s music is similarly magical, particularly his slow airs: faster Snow, The Wild Geese, Da Auld Resting Chair by the late Tom Anderson from Shetland, and a spellbinding version of Limerick’s Lamentation which progresses from march to jig to air. Green Grow the Rushes and Jimmy Lyons’ Highland are familiar as flings in Donegal, and continue the Scottish strand here, which culminates in as fine a pair of strathspeys as I’ve heard from Irish players. There’s also a great selection of hornpipes and clogs: The Tailor’s Twist, City of Savannah, The Locomotive and Charlie Lennon’s Salthill. Charlie features prominently on a superb pair of reels, Micheal’s Welcome to Charlie and his own composition The Twelve Pins – named after the pub in Finsbury Park, no doubt.
Grace and charm, musicality, and plenty of expression: that’s the music of Micheal O’Hynes. Alex Monaghan
www.liveIreland.com
Ceol Sidhe features Steve Cooney, Charlie Lennon, and Michael Hynes on guitar, fiddle and concertina, respectively. There are 19 cuts on the album, each more brilliant than the other. Believe it or not, there are only two sets of reels! This album is adults playing Irish music. Perfectly. Not 305mph, like so many of today’s children. If you love Irish traditional music, this is the perfect instrumental album. We know Copperplate in London has it. Bill Margeson
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Mick Conneely – Selkie
- Jenny’s Wedding / The Old Bush/Scotch Mary
- Cailleach an Airgid / The Cat in the Corner/ The Looharadhawn’s Jig
- The Road to Cashel / Salthill Prom
- The Providence / The Eel in the Sink / The Culfada
- A Roll of the Dice / A Fig for a Kiss
- The Showman’s Fancy / Free as a Bird
- Dinny O’Brien’s / Farewell to Connaught/ The Gravel Walks
- Farewell to Jim / That’s More of It
- The Jug of Punch / Sergeant Early’s Dream
- McGlinchey’s / McFadden’s Handsome Daughter/ I Have no Money
- The Humours of Bandon / Planxty Maggie Brown
- The Glen of Aherlow / Ril Bhearra / The Green Fields of Glentown
- The Bird in the Bush / The Longford Tinker
Press Reviews
Dirty Linen Reviews. 01/02
Mick Conneely was born in England of Irish parents and grew up in a musical environment. Indeed, his greatest influence was his father, who is heard here on a great set of duos. Conneely plays with an almost fierce attack but great melodic subtlety, and it is curious to note that, while his style defies regional categorisation, it has a very old – fashioned feel to it. Not that there’s anything obvious about the music on this impressive debut: Conneely is as convincing with a quirky slip-jig as with a finger busting reel. His ear for a good tune is matched by his desire to pass on as much information about them as he can. In fact, all three of these releases are graced with superb liner notes, and all should be eagerly sought by lovers of Irish Music. Duck Baker
The Living Tradition
Another young fiddler with an impressive CV is Mick Conneely. Mick was eleven when he began lessons with Brendan Mulkere who arranged for him to meet and play with major figures of Irish music. Later he was a founding member of the band, Long Acre, with whom he recorded. Since then he has toured Scandanavia, Europe and the US with Mary Bergin, De Danann, Micho Russell AND Tony MacMahon.
It is obvious that a lot of care and attention has gone into this recording. The result is an album of robust, atmospheric and exciting fiddle music of outstanding quality.
Selkie also features Mick’s father on fiddle and Niall O’Callanain on bouzouki, whose contributions add nicely to the feel of the album.
I highly recommend all of these albums to any enthusiast of fiddle music from whatever tradition. One warning though, with rumours of more gems to come your interest could become expensive. Danny Saunders.
East Bay Express Dec/01 The Best Records of ’01 Mick Conneely Selkie Clo Iar Chonnachta CICD 148
It’s been a great year for Irish music, with veterans like Tony MacMahon and Seamus Creagh producing stunning discs rivaled by such newer faces as John Wynne, John Carty and Johnny Connolly.
I could argue for any of the above against my choice of Mick Conneely’s, Selkie, but it would be hard going because this young fiddler has done so many things right, He’s firmly rooted in the music, having learned from his father, who is heard here on a great set of duos. Conneely plays with an almost fierce attack, but great melodic subtlety; while his style defies regional categorisation, it still has a very old-fashioned feel. Duck Baker
Fiddle On Magazine Review Oct/Nov 2001
This fiddle album was recently in the top ten of traditional music CDs as reported to Mike Harding’s Radio 2 programme by Dublin record shops.
No gimmicks, no Far Eastern tunes or rhythms, this is pure Irish traditional fiddle.
The sleeve notes don’t assign Mick to any particular regional style. Although Frankie Gavin is cited as a favourite fiddler Mick’s playing is a lot edgier with plenty of strong single bows, and he gets really spiky on the Donegal tunes such as “The Gravel Walks”.
The extensive sleeve notes tell where the tunes can be found. Eighteen of them can be found in classic tune books sucha s O’Neill’s Music of Ireland and Ryan’s Mammoth Collection; four are simply from the tradition; twelve are by modern writers including Charlie Lennon and Tommy Peoples; and there is one O’Carolan piece.
Mick is no mindless speed merchant; he’s willing to take reels at a canter rather than a gallop where it suits the tune. The disc includes a gentle set of reels played on fiddle by Mick’s father, accompanied by son on a zingy bouzouki, and they duets delightfully on one track. Niall O’Callanain provides effective but unobtrusive bouzouki support whenever needed.
I might have said that such a pure fiddle album would be of narrow appeal, but this is an excellent CD, and well worth hearing. Tom Bell – Richards.
The Irish Voice Review
In Irish legend, a selkie was a creature half-seal and half-human. On land, a selkie could shed the seal skin and pass for a man or woman. If the skin was lost, however, the selkie was trapped in human form. If the stories they tell in Connemara are true, the Conneely clan are descended from some of these magical beings. If there is some kind of magic in the Conneelys of Errislannan near Clifden, it is a very musical sort of spell. Mick Conneely, Sr., like his father Máirtin before him, is a highly regarded fiddler. The long-time resident of Bedford, England is better known these days, however, as the father of tin whistle player Kathleen Conneely, tenor banjo players Bernie and Pauline Conneely, and fiddler Mick Conneely, Jr. Mick, Jr. is the topic this week as he has just released his first recording, Selkie, on Ireland’s Cló Iar-Chonnachta label. This may be a debut recording, but Mick’s reputation as a musician has been growing for many years. Glowing tributes in the liner notes from Chieftains flute great Matt Molloy and Donegal fiddle star Paddy Glackin attest to the regard in which he is held by his fellow musicians. Some American fans may remember him as the fiddler who stepped in to replace an injured Frankie Gavin for a De Dannan tour a few years ago. Others, in England, Ireland and the Continent, have been lucky enough to hear him perform with his group Errislannan. The rest of us can now enjoy Mick Conneely’s distinctive style, superb technique and impeccable good taste on disc. A solo track featuring Mick Sr. gives some clue to the origin of the son’s style. Both fiddlers play with a nicely measured pace and with a very straightforward rhythm that avoids the excessive swing and backbeat popular among many young hotshots. Mick Jr. has an extraordinary bow hand, playing with a very strong tone and with a great facility for bowed triplets. The tunes he chose are for the most part timeless classics to which he gives his own unique interpretation. Mick is obviously a bit of a music scholar as his notes include correct tune titles, composer credits and references to their history in print. Bouzouki ace Niall Ó Callanáin provides nicely textured and understated backing, venturing some modern jazz harmony on the final selection, an intriguing reworking of the reels “The Bird in the Bush” and “The Longford Tinker.” Don Meade
Traditional Music Maker Magazine Oct/Nov 2001
I can personally attest to the excellence of the fiddle playing within Mick Conneely’s, SELKIE. Mick was born in Bedford, but of Irish parents, and his father is accomplished on the instrument as well. This is Mick’s debut release, a superb fiddle album, but given that he’s toured with the likes of De Dannan in the past, the man is certainly no slouch. Essentially, the CD features Mick’s traditional fiddle, very up front and to the fore, with just a modicum of instrumental accompaniment. It should appeal to students, players and fans of traditional playing alike.
Irish Music Magazine Oct 2001
The root of the interesting title on this debut album is based on an Irish legend that the Conneely’s come from the seals, and the word means “half woman, half seal”.
Mick Conneely displays his personal style of music on this album, honed from his own family tradition and the knowledge and influence gleaned over the years listening to musicians visiting his home in Bedfordshire in England, trips t London, Ireland and further afield.
The music here is bare bones with accompaniment from Niall O’ Callanain on bouzouki and the addition of Mick Conneely senior, himself a fine fiddler and the greatest influence of all on his son’s music.
Mick himself plays Greek bouzouki too in accompaniment to his father’s rich solo set of reels. Impeccable history and notes accompany all the track on this well compiled collection.
Some tunes stand out; the duet with his father Mick snr, the hornpipes, The Showman’s Fancy and the complex Free as a Bird is quite breathtaking. Mick has chosen four of Carl Hession’s compositions to feature on the album and the pair of jigs, Farewell to Jim/That’s More of It” sing out and swing.
Mick’s own solo on McGlinchey’s Reel is perhaps the best track to my mind. Ita Kelly
Taplas Review Oct/Nov 2001
Mick Conneely’s first solo album has already joins Kevin Crawford’s recent offering on my top five traditional CDs of 2001.
It’s everything a classic fiddle recording should be, carrying echoes from the past in his duets with his father, Mick senior, acknowledging the influences of the likes of Frankie Gavin as well as displaying an individual character that looks to the future.
Distinctive triplets are a particular trademark and both the selection of tunes and their execution are a joy to listen to.
Mick in also a fine exponent of the Greek bouzouki (as opposed to the flat-back hybrid) and his accompaniments are a pleasure, inviting comparisons with the classic recording Gavin and Alec Finn made in the 70s. Elsewhere, he’s joined accompanied by ex- Deisal bouzouki player, Niall O’Callanian.
A brilliant and highly recommended CD. Nick Passmore.Born in Bedford, England, of Irish parents, Mick was immersed in Irish music from a very early age. His father, Mick senior, who came from Errislannan near Clifden, is a fine fiddle player and the Conneely home in Bedford was always filled with the sound of great Irish music, dancing and singing.
Mick began formal lessons in Irish music at the age of eleven with the legendary Clare musician and teacher, Brendan Mulkere. Building on the foundation laid down by Brendan’s teaching, the young Conneelys learned tunes from their father, from records and tapes and from the many musicians who regularly visited the house. As Mick got older he travelled to sessions all over England meeting with other great musicians, and it was at one such weekly session in Birmingham that Mick met Joe Molloy, Brendan Boyle and Kevin Crawford with whom he formed the group LONG ACRE. They recorded one album in 1986.
Since the mid eighties Mick has toured extensively, particularly in Scandinavia where he toured with many musicians including Mary Bergin and De Danann. During the early nineties Mick guested on a number of occasions with De Danann both in Europe and in the US, and in 1993 he was part of that memorable ‘Pure Irish Drops’ tour with the legendary Micho Russell and Tony MacMahon.
In 1992, while touring Denmark with Mary Bergin, Mick met Danish bodhrán player Svend Kjeldsen who arranged a tour of Denmark for the following year with Mick, accordion player Brendan Boyle, singer/guitarist Seámus Cahill from Cork, and Svend himself. This was the start of ErrisLannan, Mick’s own band project and in 1998 they released their first album ‘All About TIME’ on the German Raumer Records label.
In 1999 Mick recorded ‘SELKIE’ which also features his father Mick senior on fiddle and bouzouki player Niall Ó Callanáin.
The entire album was recorded ‘live’ in Studio Schauf in Berlin, and the result is a wonderfully warm and expressive debut album from an outstanding young musician.
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Mick O’Brien – May Morning Dew
- Statia Donnelly’s/ I Will if I Can/ Patsy Geary’s
- Higgin’s Hornpipe/ The Cuckoo’s Nest
- Kerry Reel/ Kerry Fling/ Joe Bane’s
- Bumper Squire Jones/ An Sean Duine/ O’Sullivan’s March
- Caslean an Oir/ Her Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back
- May Morning Dew/ Sporting Nell
- Micko Russell’s/ Moneymusk
- An Rogaire Dubh/ Connaughtman’s Rambles/ Cailleach an Airgrid
- The Strawberry Blossom/ The Honeymoon
- Johnny Cope
- Farewell to Miltown/ West Clare Railway/ Sporting Molly
- Humours of Lisheen/ Tom Billy’s Fancy/ Humours of Kilkenny
- An Buachaill Dreoite
- The Camaronion/ Greenfields of Rossbeigh/ Connaught Heifers
Press Reviews
Irish Music Magazine
Concert and flat pipes, whistles and Flutes not only demonstrate Mick O’Brien’s great instrumental versatility, but also make a fine job of the challenge of presenting yet another fine piping album…award this piper his pedestal and to prove that the Uilleann pipes can still do what they were designed for; self accompaniment of a primary melody. Fintan Vallely,
Hot Press
May Morning Dew is a snapshot of the best in trad music with not an inch left over for ego. Get your record shop to stock it and put it on their play station and you’ll be seduced utterly. Siobhan Long, 11 out of a possible 12
Evening Herald
May Morning Dew offers an interesting selection of tunes played in an easy unpretentious style with tasteful accompaniment by fiddler Terry Crehan and producer Garry O’Briain on Mandocello and Keyboards. This recording is one the nicest packages I’ve seen in a long time, beautifully designed with lovely photography and detailed notes. With
Terry Crehan: Fiddle
Mick Giblin: Guitar
Gary O’Briain: Mandocello & Keyboards
Seamus Brett: Piano & Keyboards
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Mick O’Brien & Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh – Kitty Lie Over
Press Reviews
FolkWorld CD Reviews
The herrings are boiled and the praties are roasting, Kitty lie over close to the wall!
The a line borrowed from the Irish jig “The Frost is All Over”. Dubliners north and south, Mick O’Brien (uilleann pipes, whistle) and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle, whistle), meet. And it wasn’t in the midst of the muddy river Liffey, though one may say this record is a landmark like the newly erected Millennium Spire on O’Connell Street.
These days there seems to be a trend to the pure drop. 15 tracks including 11 pipes/fiddle duets, 2 whistle duets, and 2 fiddle/whistle duets. The only accompaniment is the drones and regulators of the uilleann pipes. These are pitched in Bb, and the fiddle is obviously tuned down. Thus the sound is mellow and smooth.
There is a fondness for Sliabh Luachra music, Mick and Caoimhín pay homage to the great names, Denis Murphy, Patrick Kelly. The latter is almost forgotten:
Isn’t it shocking that with all the recordings available nowadays, you can’t get a single track of this most wonderful of fiddle players. If you were to give him a few bits of cast-off tunes, he would sculpt them into something that could fly – like making an aeroplane out of a scrapheap..
Mick and Caoimhín give their best to continue this legacy. As Peter Browne puts it in the liner notes: Everything sounds right! Walkin’ T:-)M
IRISH ECHO Newspaper. New York City
CEOL Column
By Earle Hitchner
Top 10 Traditional Albums of 2003
Number 1. KITTY LIE OVER, by Mick O’Brien and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (ACMCD 102)
The uilleann piping of Dublin’s Mick O’Brien first earned international recognition through his teenage performances on two late-’70s recordings, “The Piper’s Rock” and “The Flags of Dublin.
” In 1996, he issued a superb solo debut, “May Morning Dew,” that finished in the Irish Echo’s list of top 10 albums.
Now comes “Kitty Lie Over,” a duet album with fellow Dublin-born musician Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh that surpasses
O’Brien’s earlier achievements.
In Ó Raghallaigh, O’Brien has found a fiddler whose style is an ideal match to his tonally rich, expressive chanter, regulator,
and drone work. This is much more than two talented instrumentalists getting together in the studio for some tunes.
They’ve carefully worked out the repertoire (much of it drawn from Sliabh Luachra), arrangements, pitch (B or B-flat),
and harmonies that allow them to truly marry their instruments, one complementing and extending and bolstering the other.
Ó Raghallaigh is himself an accomplished uilleann piper and pipemaker (apprenticed to Geoff Wooff in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare), so his pipes-like style and reflexes on fiddle add immeasurably to his duets with O’Brien.
The 11 pipes-and-fiddle tracks are wondrous, with “Woman of the House/Rolling in the Ryegrass” a shining example of this interplay, and there are also some tantalizing whistle and fiddle-and-whistle duets.
Hands down (or should I say up?), this is the most impressive Irish traditional instrumental CD of 2003 and one of the best in many years. [Published on January 21, 2004, in the IRISH ECHO newspaper in New York City. Copyright
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Mick, Louise & Michelle Mulcahy – Reelin’ in Tradition
Following their outstanding 2005 recording Notes from the Heart on the Cló Iar-Chonnachta label, Mick Mulcahy and his daughters Louise (26) and Michelle (24) are back with a new album, Reelin’ in Tradition.
If their first album was a revelation for the rhythmic and beautiful Mulcahy sound – as well as the virtuosity across several instruments of Michelle and Louise – Reelin’ in Tradition presents a new level of musicianship exploring their collective repertoire.
Mick Mulcahy from Brosna, Co. Kerry, recorded two accordion albums on the Gael-Linn label in 1976 and 1990, and, while he always played music at home, he never had to try to get his children to play as they quickly found their own way to it.
Louise and Michelle both started on tin whistle. At age 10 Louise moved on to the flute and as a teenager began playing uilleann pipes. Mick recalls driving Louise to Dublin from their home in Limerick every month for a year for lessons in Na Píobairí Uilleann. Louise recently guest-presented the TG4 traditional-music show Geantraí.
Michelle started playing the accordion aged six and surprised everyone when she asked for a harp at age ten. She subsequently took up the fiddle, piano and concertina. Michelle was TG4 Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2006 and recently featured on Riverdance composer Bill Whelan’s new album, The Connemara Suite, on a piece for harp and orchestra which he wrote for her.
Mick, Louise and Michelle Mulcahy regularly perform in Ireland the USA and have an unmistakeable, infectious sound. As Martin Hayes writes, ‘I first became familiar with the music of Mick Mulcahy from his first solo recording… I remember that both my father and I felt that his music had a great depth of feeling. That same feeling that first made an impression on me has been handed on to his daughters and continues all the way through this recording.’
Also available from Copperplate: CICD 160 Mick, Louis & Michelle Mulcahy: Notes from the Heart
Press Reviews
The Folk Diary 4.10
The previous album of this family of traditional musicians from County Limerick in 2005 did to an extent sound like Mick and his daughters, but it is clear that here the three have equal status. In fact the album is at its most impressive when the three of them are playing at full pelt; Mick on button accordion, Michelle on concertina, fiddle or piano. Louise on flute, uillean pipes or harp. There is that
close understanding that comes from talented blood relations playing together
and jointly their music really soars.
They have a carefully chosen programme drawing on tunes from all over Ireland and they show their ability to demonstrate region variations in style, particularly when it is the lovely Sliabh Luachra polka style.
The tracks led by individuals don’t have quite the same spark as those featuring all three and the least successful are the harp tracks. It is clear that Louise is a very fine harpist, but the recording here is a bit unbalanced and does not do her justice.
As on their previous album there are two accompanists; Tommy Hayes on bodhrán and bones and Cyril O’Donaghue on bouzouki but the recording balance keeps their contributions very much in the background
to favour the superb melody playing. Vic Smith.
2009 TOP 10 TRAD RELEASES in Ceol Column in The Irish Echo newspaper, New York City
“Reelin’ in Tradition” by Mick, Louise, and Michelle Mulcahy (Clo Iar-Chonnachta CICD 180).
It’s not fair. No three family members should have the abundance of musical talent that Mick, Louise, and Michelle Mulcahy of Abbeyfeale, West Limerick, have. On this, their third album together (“The Mulcahy Family” and “Notes From the Heart” came out in 2000 and 2005, respectively), the Brosna, North Kerry-born Mick Mulcahy on C#/D, B/C, D/D#, C/C#, and D button accordions joins daughter Lucille on uilleann pipes and D and E-flat flutes and daughter Michelle on harp, concertina, fiddle, and piano for a largely familiar repertoire that’s freshly and impressively played. Earle Hitchner
www.liveIreland.com
The Livies 1.1.2010
Instrumental Album of the Year
Reelin’ in Tradition by the Mulcahy family is the easy choice. The album is being handled by the unequalled Alan O’Leary out of Copperplate Distribution in London, and he handles only the best. The Mulcahys won this Award with their last album, and we suspect they will again with their next album! Mick, Michelle and Louise are the real, true deal. Michelle is best known for her harp work, Louise for her uillean pipes and father, Mick for his button box. But, Louise and Michelle seem to play every instrument ever made—and they play them perfectly. Indescribable. We’ll settle for the word, ‘fabulous’ and leave it at that. If you love trad, and you do, why would you not have this album? Every note perfect. Instrumental Album of the Year. Bill Margeson
www.liveireland.com
So, with this rambling in mind, I received the new Mulcahy family album from the best promoter and distributor in the business, Alan O’Leary of Copperplate in London. Michelle Mulcahy, sister Louise and father, Mick have done it again. This time, it is called, Reelin’ in Tradition. Mick holds forth on the accordion, Michelle and Louise on every other instrument in the tradition. Does it do to tell you that Michelle was teaching master classes in the Irish harp at the age of 18? That, at 16, Louise was in the very forefront of uillean pipers? See, for you, after all these years, the hope is that you find a critic or writer in whose taste you trust. Our pal, Jimmy Keane—himself the best piano accordion player in Irish music
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Niamh Ni Charra – From Both Sides
Niamh Ní Charra hails from Killarney, County Kerry in the south west of Ireland. Strongly influenced by the wealth of local Sliabh Luachra musicians, she started playing music at the early age of 4, under the tutelage of well known local musician Nicky McAuliffe. Equally talented on fiddle and concertina, she has won numerous awards, including Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, Oireachtas, and Slógadh Náisiúnta and has represented Ireland at folk festivals in Britain and France. Somewhat of a child prodigy, she had support gigs for The Chieftains, and Noel Hill under her belt before she reached her teens.
Despite this rich background, she put aside her music to persue a career in Electronic Engineering. After graduating with honours, Niamh was employed by an Irish software company who regularly sent her on business trips to Boston. Here she was exposed to a continuous flow of Irish musicians (Arcady, Sharon Shannon, Nomos) as well as locally based musicians (Paddy Keenan , Seamus Connolly, Tommy McCarthy).
The draw of the music proved too strong, and Niamh decided to resign from work to persue a career in music. She moved to Cork to take a year-long course in ‘Music, Management, and Sound’ at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa, where she graduated with distinctions in every subject – the only student ever to have achieved this feat. The college subsequently awarded her “Musician of the Year”. She swiftly followed this with recordings for Irish radio and television, and performances with Riverdance ‘s european troupe in Europe, Asia and on board the QE2, before joining the U.S. troupe in 1998. Niamh performed with Riverdance from that date until December 2005, touring with them in North America. From Mexico to Vancouver, and Los Angeles to Broadway, New York, Niamh has delighted audiences with her fiery fiddling, fancy footwork and dazzling smiles. More recently she shared her talents in Riverdance’s Irish and Far East productions performing in her native capital as well as the more exotic locations of Tokyo and Taipei among others.
Niamh has returned to Dublin, Ireland where she is working as a freelance musician, regularly gigging accross the city. She also teaches both fiddle and concertina at Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann’s national headquaters, An Cultúrlann in Monkstown, and will shortly be releasing her debut album “Ón Dá Thaobh / From Both Sides”.
It may appear to be a long journey from sessions in Buckley’s bar with the old Kerry greats to world wide spotlight in Riverdance.Niamh Ni Charra makes it seem like a short step across the road.
Real music knows no boundaries, after all, and Niamh demonstrates as uncommonly broad range of musical expression. She is equally at homein the sparse but beautiful An Raibh Tu ag an gCarraig and in full-throttle ensemble pieces such as The Broken Pledge. This breath of musical vision is also evident in her choice ot repertoire. Regondi’s Allegretto No 4 – an extraordinary piece of concertina whimsy – rubs shoulder with Micho Russell’s Jig. The Hungarian tune Dunantuli Friss Csardasok finds a ready partner in The Gravel Walks.)
While most musicians struggle to master one instrument, Niamh possesses as effortless fluency on fiddle and concertina, allowing her to communicate both sides of her musical personality. Scattered throughout this collection are several tunes from her fertile musical imagination. This can be a hazardous strategy inviting comparison with well-established favourites. Niamh carries it off with style; each tune sits comfortably with its neighbours while retaining its individuality.
On Da Thaobh / From Both Sides is a contemporary album with its feet firmly planted in the tradition. The old Kerry masters would be well pleased.
Pat Herring Ahern Jan 2007
Copperplate is very proud to have this title on our roster and to help it achieve its full potential will be supporting this release with a full-scale promotional mail out to media and retail.
Press Reviews
The Irish World
“From Both Sides is a wonderful musical experiment, and the results are more explosive than you could imagine. Just watch this blonde bombshell go…”
Folk Radio UK ” This is master-class musicianship, and legend in the making”…Alex Gallagher
‘There is spectacular work from Niamh Ní Charra, a gorgeous blonde who does things on the fiddle and the concertina, that must be seen and heard to be believed.’ Slidell Sentry, New Orleans 05/2005
‘Charming fiddler Niamh Ní Charra, who seemed to dance a jig while playing one, easily could have been a one-woman show.’
South Bend Tribune, South Bend 05/2005
‘Of special note (was the ) beguiling fiddler / concertinist Niamh Ní Charra, who roamed and skipped the stage as she played.’
Times – Picayune, New Orleans 05/2005
‘Niamh Ní Charra, the sassy electric fiddle and concertina player, was a crowd pleaser.’ Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston 06/2005
‘Kudos were in order for Niamh Ní Charra for her fancy fiddle work.’ Arkansas Times, Little Rock 01/2005
‘Fiddler Niamh Ní Charra, a striking blonde plays while skipping backward.’ Star-Telegram, Grand Prairie 06/2005
‘Blond fiddler phenom!’ Charleston Gazette, Charleston 06/2005
“The company’s indefatigable violinist, Niamh Ni Charra provides some fancy fiddling for the solo passages of this number, (America Wake) as well as for many other exciting moments in the show.” United Press International New York 03/05
‘jaunty fiddle playing’ New York Times 03/05
“The jovial violinist snapped a few of her bow’s strands as she rocked her space-age Stradivarius.” Erie Times 03/05
The Folk Diary
The former child prodigy from Killarney has grown into an outstanding performer on fiddle and concertina, and she is now currently becoming a world-touring superstar. After eight years globe-trotting with the “Riverdance” company, she is currently touring widely with Carlos Nunez.
There is an amazing facility with the wide range of Irish musical styles and rhythms that she tackles on this, her overdue debut album, but you don’t have to listen too hard to hear that she was introduced at a very early age to her wonderful local polka and slide music of Sliabh Luachra.
The album is full of exciting moments but it reaches its zenith in the last track where she plays music from her own county in the company of fellow-Kerryman Brendan Begley. Vic Smith.
TAPLAS The Welsh Folk Magazine 22.11.07 Adolygiadau
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