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Ben Lennon & Friends – The Natural Bridge
- Memories of Ballymote /Gurkin Cross
- The Enchanted Lady /The Holy Land
- The Donegal Mazurkas
- The Blackberry Blossom /McFadden’s
- Song: Flora
- Maguire’s Fiddle /O’Donnell’s Hornpipe
- Rattigan’s /The Collier’s
- Mick McNamara’s /Touch Me If You Dare
- Return of Spring /The Mountain Pathway
- Johnny Henry’s /Ryan’s Rant
- Cathleen Hehir’s
- Song: The Banks of the Clyde
- McDermott’s Hornpipe
- The Lonesome Jig /The Tenpenny Bit
- Batt Henry’s Barndance
- The Boys of Ballisodare /The Five Mile Chase
- The Primrose Polka
- Farrell O’Gara /Lucy Campbell
- The Flax in Bloom
Press Reviews
Irish Music Magazine. July 2000
Originally released in 1999 it’s taken a while to pecolate it’s way through our review pages, but like that famous water, it’s the pure drop bottled. The wait only increased the thirst and pleasure from subsequent quenching. For some of us, who have already clocked up four decades, this music will recall the past masters and the sound we grew up with. Remember those old 78’s of Coleman, Morrison and Kiloran? Theirs was a regional style but was that qualitythey had just a little to do with the recording equipment? Not a bit of it, this album proves that gool old-fashioned music is as good as ever. And it can still be made.Proof too that there is a lyrical voice from Leitrim that’s accented and eloquent. Ben Lennon, the elder statesman of Leitrim music, brother of composer Charlie, and father of fiddler, Maurice and fluter, Brian, (all of whom guest on this album), is joined here by Garry O’Briain, John Carty, Ciaran Curran, (Altan) and Seamus Quinn on piano. Gabriel McArdle who plays concertina gives us a song, The Banks of the Clyde, collected from John Redhill, on an island in Loch Eirne. The acompanying 20 page liner notes area a tastefully designed store of information. I’ve now another classic recording to add to Milestone at the Garden, Paddy in the Smoke and The Long Strand, The Natural Bridge links the tunes and styles of two generations ago in a seamless road without a halt in the step, rising above the turbulent waters of fashion with elegant grace. An architectural treasure if ever there was one. You won’t really know the tradition until you number albums like this in your collection. Sean Laffey
Taplas
There’s a wonderful lilt to the tunes, especially the polkas and the barn dances, and a tremendous sense of fun and enjoyment. Not only is this CD a natural bridge between the traditions of north Leitrim and south west Fermanagh, but also between the present and the music of the past, like Paddy Kiloran, Johnny Doherty and Batt Henry.
The Folk Diary #178 Aug/Sept 99
One of Ireland’s best loved, most respected old fiddler’s offers a wonderful selection of his playing, mainly in the Leitrim/Sligo style of his birth. Though the fact that he has lived in Donegal (and played regularly with Johnny Doherty) also shines through. There are only a few solo moments as Ben immerses himself in what sound like a variety of different sessions, featuring his brother Charlie and friends. Mostly recorded in one takes and using an empty pub as a studio, this is fine, varied playing. Ben also shows himself to be a fine singer in a style that seems to derive from the same inspiration as that of Cathal McConnell. Another triumph for the company that are becoming THE company for Irish traditional music and song. Vic Smith.
The Living Tradition #34
Ben and Charlie Lennon together should be enough to make you listen: add Brian and Maurice Lennon, Gary O’Briain, John Carty, Ciaran Curran, Gabriel McArdle and Seamus Quinn, and you really sit up and take notice. This is a typical Clo Iar Chonnachta production; well balanced and with twenty pages of comprehensive notes. There’s one particular Irish label that ought to take heed of CIC’s thoroughness in that regard. “The Natural Bridge” is north Leitrim style at it’s best; flowing and unhurried, giving the music elbow-room, yet with a strong assured rhythm. Maybe maturity in traditional music comes when you don’t play floridly and fast just because you can? As the title implies, there’s feeling for the styles of near neighbours from South Leitrim, Sligo and Fermanagh. The bridge is also with the past, because Ben pays tribute to the older musicians whose records influenced him; Coleman, John and Mickey Doherty, Killoran, James Morrison, etc. There are also tributes to musicians who are still with us, like Michael McNamara of Aughavas, south Leitrim. McNamara’s influence shows through on the reel named for him. Instrumental balance in varied throughout 17 tracks of reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas and a great barndance, as well as two songs from Gabriel McArdle. An inspired idea is Maurice Lennon’s fine Viola. It fits really well; “Rattigan’s and The Collier’s” rarely sounded so good. There are rarely played tunes as well as old favourites; and the best version of “Cathleen Hehir’s” I’ve heard yet. This is great stuff; definitely one for the ready-for-use rack. Mick Furey.
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Brian Conway – Consider the Source
Brian Conway
Born in the Bronx, New York, to Irish parents from Co. Tyrone, Brian Conway was fortunate to have grown up in a home frequented by some of the best Irish traditional musicians of the time, such as Vincent Harrison, Louis Quinn, Tom Connolly, Paddy Reynolds and Andy McGann, a musician who was to have an enduring influence on him. His tutors were also musicians of note, Martin Mulvihill and Martin Wynne. Brian’s first solo album, First through the Gate, was released on the Smithsonian Folkways label in 2002.
Also available from Copperplate
Brian Conway: First Through The Gate
Brian Conway/Joe Burke/Felix Dolan/ A Tribute to Andy McGann
Press Reviews
www.LiveIreland.com
We first heard Conway at a special concert for Andy McGann last year at the Irish-American Heritage Center in Chicago, along with Joe Burke on button box and Felix Dolan on piano. The resultant live album won a number of Awards, and rightly so. This is a lively 14 tunes and a beautiful song, Highland Mary by Niamh Parsons. Guest musicians are sitting in, including Billy McComiskey on button box , Joanie Madden on flutes and whistles, and Felix’s son, Brendan on piano. Terrific. We MIGHT have preferred one of the many pics not to be showing Brian displaying his great teeth through so many smiles, but we quibble. The music is the thing here, and it is lovely. Rating: 3 and
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Ceide – Like A Wild Thing
- Cis Ni Liathain / The Bucks of Oranmore.
- The Dunmore Lasses / Mother’s Reel
- Flowers of the Forest.
- John the Baptist.
- The Woods of Old Limerick / Nora Rooney’s Favourite / Farewell to Tarpey’s
- Le Voyage pour L’Irlande. Air
- Within a Mile of Dublin / Ballinasloe Fair/ Mickey Finn’s.
- Like a Wild Thing.
- Gan Ainm / Cuir Barr Ai r/ My Love is in America.
- Mrs Kenny’s / Adam & Eve / Babes in the Wood.
- If I Had a Boat.
- The Pullet that Wants the Cock / The Night Before Larry was Stretched / Islay Rant.
The musicians are:
- Brian Lennon – Flute/Whistle/Vocals
- Tom Doherty – Button Accordion/Melodeon
- John Mc Hugh – Fiddle
- Kevin Doherty – Double Bass
- Declan Askin – Guitar/Vocals
The group is Céide, (pronounced Kay-ge) named after the 5000 year old Mesolithic hunter/gatherer settlement found in north Mayo called the Céide Fields
‘These five lads from various backgrounds first started to play together at a regular Sunday night session in my pub in Westport. It soon became clear that they were developing a distinctive and original sound, combining the best of traditional music with contemporary songs and arrangements. This recording does great justice to their individual and collective talent. It has a very broad appeal and I highly recommend it.’ Matt Molloy
Press Reviews
Irish Dancing International Review Sept 03 CD of the Month
Living away from the “centre of the universe”, you sometimes yearn for the “real drop” when it comes to traditional Irish music. Well, you gotta listen to this album from Ceide as it’s as close as you can get to “real” music.
It’s a delightful, genuine trad Irish album, the spirit and atmosphere of Mayo exudes from every track, starting with, Cis ni Liathain and The Bucks of Oranmore. On track two, we get Dunmore Lasses, erstwhile glorified by the Chieftains and the man behind the bar himself, Matt Molloy, in their album, “The Long Black Veil”. A lovely treatment to this, speeded up to a spirited reel pace, and again, a tried formula of lovely whistle playing, giving way to accordion, fiddle and guitar, with all five lads cutting in for good measure.
The title track, Like A Wild Thing is a slow, easy song, composed by local, Tony Reidy. It’s sung by Declan Askin and supported by all the musicians on board. It’s very meaningful and well suited to the album’s title. The CD is a fine mix of jigs, reels and polkas and a Finnish Waltz (sounds French). The musicians are exceptional and, all through the album, a polished unhurried quality pevades every note.
Oh, and leave the CD running after the last track and you get a delightful blues harmonica number by Declan with all the boys “cutting in” again, a great finish to a splendid album. Donal Lynch
Pay The Reckoning Web Site Review
Mayo-based 5-piece, Ceide, are one outfit who won’t have any difficulty in staking their claim on airtime on Pay The Reckoning’s CD carousel.
The band came together in sessions at Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport and what sparks must have flown between them when they realised they were on the same musical wavelength! Intelligent with a sense of fun; able to hold their enthusiasm in check during the first repeat of a tune yet ready to drop all inhibitions and barnstorm their way to the finish line.
Ceide combine traditional tunes with contemporary songs. In this regard they are the latest torch-bearers in a musical institution which already has an illustrious history. (Stockton’s Wing and Four Men and a Dog, to name but two groups, have walked a very similar path and to very similar effect.) Ceide’s choice of contemporary material is exemplary. They interpret John Martyn’s “John The Baptist” beautifully, allowing Kevin Doherty an opportunity to strut his funky stuff on double bass while Declan Askin showcases his guitar and vocals. Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had A Boat” also gets a well-deserved, sensitive treatment. However to our ears the stand-out song on the album is local singer/songwriter Tony Reidy’s song “Like A Wild Thing”. The song catches a former farmer, forced into office work as a result of not being able to make a living out of his farm, reflecting bitterly on his current lot. The soul-destroying bereftness which lies at the heart of this song is communicated perfectly in Ceide’s arrangement and the words linger afterwards, nagging away at the listener. “Farewell to the land where I grappled with stone/Farewell to the hills where I was soaked to the bone”.
And what of the tunes? Well … there are some beltin’ sets here. We’ve already mentioned Kevin Doherty’s double bass playing. It’s remarkable how much it contributes to the tune sets. On the first set of reels, for example, Cis Ni Liathain/The Bucks of Oranmore, the bass is in evidence throughout the first reel, lending the tune a degree of “bottom” rarely encountered in traditional Irish music. At the change, Doherty holds back, allowing Brian Lennon on flute and Declan Askin on guitar to carry the first round of The Bucks Of Oranmore. At the repeat, Doherty rejoins, immediately anchoring the sound once again.
These lads know their stuff. Tom Doherty (boxes and snare drum) and John McHugh on fiddle haven’t yet been mentioned by name, but their contribution is equally vital. There are a couple of slowish tracks (the Finnish waltz “The Flowers of the Forest” and the air composed by Pierre Bensusan “Le Voyage Pour L’Irlande”) which spotlight the band’s ability to maintain the rigid discipline necessary to put such tunes across.
Which is not, of course, to deny that discipline is also necessary in successfully playing jigs and reels and so forth. Ceide prove on this album that they are masters at constructing and playing exhilarating tune sets. Here you’ll come across old standards and tunes you might not be familiar with as well as tunes which take you completely by surprise. In the final category is the inclusion of “The Night Before Larry Was Stretched” played as a slip jig in a set in which it is sandwiched between The Pullet That Wants The Cock and The Islay Rant, and benefitting greatly from the eeriness which it borrows from Doherty bowing, rather than plucking, his bass. All the sets are outstanding and are therefore all worthy of a mention. As well as those which already get a namecheck above, then you’ll be excited by “The Dunmore Lasses/Mother’s Reel”, “The Woods Of Old Limerick/Nora Rooney’s Favourite/Farewell To The Tarpeys Of Arderry”, “Within A Mile Of Dublin/Ballinasloe Fair/Mickey Finn’s Favourite”, “Gan Ainm/Cuir Barr Air/My Love Is In America” and “Mrs Kenny’s/Adam And Eve/Babes In The Wood”.
All things considered, a superb debut by a bundle of accomplished musicians, about whom we expect to hear very big things in the near future. It’s no exaggeration to say that in the space of a few days, this has become one of Pay The Reckoning’s favourite recordings … we’ll be singing its praises at every opportunity! Pay The Reckoning
Folk Roundabout Review. 01/02
This is the first release from a new Mayo-based five-piece, and comes highly recommended by Matt Molloy at sessions at whose pub in Westport he first encountered their distinctive collective approach and individual talents. Matt sure has a finely tuned ear, for this album’s appealing blend of traditional tunes and contemporary songs makes for a good listen.
The opening set defines the mood and pace, with spirited front-line accordion (Tom Doherty) offset by gently rhythmic guitar (Declan Askin) and smooth bowed double-bass (Kevin Doherty), before fiddle (John McHugh) and whistle (Brian Lennon) join the front line for the repeat and the rhythms take off, though maintaining a level of restraint that’s attractively managed.
The band’s general method of attack remains thoughtful rather than full-tilt, and their ensemble tightness conceals a considerable degree of internal fire, and there’s some very expert shading in the playing that repays many further listens. With an innate and well-considered sense of poise, Céide have a healthy attitude to repertoire too, unafraid to essay a Finnish waltz (and bring in a handbell-choir to boot!) alongside reels and jigs (those on track 5 feature Charlie Lennon’s wonderfully gentle guest piano playing as a bonus). There’s also a hidden track, where a wailing blues harmonica drives the whole train off on holiday!
The choice of songs (just three out of the twelve tracks) is clearly tailored to suit the winning combination of softness and strength in Declan’s blues-inflected vocal style – Lyle Lovett’s If I Had A Boat, John Martyn’s John The Baptist and the hitherto unfamiliar title track, a fine composition by local Mayo resident Tony Reidy that rather belies the image evoked by that title. I liked this album a lot, and look forward to hearing more of Céide. David Kidman
Folking.com Web Site
If none other than Matt Molloy recommends a band, you can rest assured you should be on pretty safe ground. I’m pleased to report that this CD met all expectations and then some. The line-up of flute, accordion, fiddle, guitar and double bass will undoubtedly bring comparisons to Lunasa etc but I personally think these lads have it if only for the fact they have included some vocals.
Reading from the sleeve notes gives a fair indication of what to look forward to and first impressions are that here the musicians have put a lot of thought into the construction of the set pieces by concentrating not only on the rhythms but the keys they are performed in as well. Years ago De Dannan sussed that if you played tunes in unusual keys such as Eb that the listener’s ear isn’t used to this and therefore makes your performance sound ‘different’ from the crowd. Ceide utilise this to good effect and, take for instance ‘The Bucks Of Oranmore’ in the key of A major this technique gives the tune more character. Off setting the tradition with contemporary songs including John Martyn’s ‘John The Baptist’ definitely sets the band in a field of its own. I look forward to further outings. Pete Fyfe
Ita Kelly, Irish Music Magazine, Vol 7 No 3. Oct 2001
‘The debut release from this Mayo based band is an interesting mix of traditional tunes and contemporary songs. Declan Askin is responsible for those songs and they represent his own influences and personal taste for the work of Lyle Lovett (‘If I had a Boat’) and John Martyn (‘John the Baptist’). The title for the album ‘Like a Wild Thing’ is taken from a song written by Tony Reidy a singer songwriter from the village of Aghagower near Westport. It’s an apt song for this Mayo based group, representative of the Céide area in North West Mayo where infrastructure is nil and the lot of the small farmer is very harsh as depicted in this song. Brian Lennon’s low whistle permeates throughout and Kevin Doherty’s bass is allowed to be heard very naturally. Tom Doherty on melodeon and accordion and John Mc Hugh on fiddle complete the Céide line-up. The perky Mrs. Kenny’s Barndance again has the lovely dropping bass and the Pierre Bensusan tune ‘Le Voyage’ is beautiful, the ‘Flowers of the Forest’ sweet and ‘John the Baptist’ funky and a little Gospel. While this group achieves the full-blooded swing of the tunes sets they also have plenty of insight into music from farther afield than Co. Mayo.
Very thoughtfully arranged and great reading in the sleeve notes.’ Fintan Vallely, Sunday Tribune
‘Slick musicianship and great, solid arrangements.’ Siobhan Long, Irish Times
‘Débutantes Céide are a quintet with not just attitude, but finesse by the bucket load.’ Gráinne Nà GhilÃn, Foinse
‘The song ‘Like a Wild Thing’ written by Tony Reidy from Aghagower, Co. Mayo is extremely powerful.given a heartbreaking rendition by Declan’
Irish Music Review Web Site
Back in the days when he had more money than sense, a certain friend of mine would gouge additional grooves into records to ensure, as a consequence, that those tracks he disliked were skipped by the needle. Of course, when he later had more sense than money, he found himself with a heap of unsellable vinyl and regularly being sneered at by Nottingham’s own especially surly brand of second-hand record shop assistants. In subsequent years I sometimes wondered whether the advent of the compact disc player and its programmable facilities had been invented with him in my mind for, certainly, his fingers would be fiddling with the remote control’s buttons to erase certain tracks from this debut album by Céide to create his own preferred version. In an interview in The Journal of Music in Ireland (Vol. 2, No. 2), the Cork singer Jimmy Crowley railed against the encroachment of ‘mid-Atlanticisms’ into Ireland’s music: You see this a lot in younger people, I’m afraid. If someone from Kerry, say, sings an Irish song in an LA accent, that’s the end of my interest. But if it’s a Kentuckian singing in a Kentucky accent, that’s great, of course. I’d criticise some singer/songwriters for these American accents. There’s no worth in this mid-Atlantic stuff, they haven’t been true to their culture, to the land they’re living in. Often too, the songs aren’t saying anything either.
There are many exceptions (for example, Danú, Altan, Dervish, Providence etc.) where singers have remained true to their roots and, importantly, their voices, but also far too many cases where songs from other genres are interpolated into the band’s repertoire and delivered in the kind of accent that Jimmy despises.
As such, it is questionable whether Mr. Crowley would be especially enamoured with Céide’s album Like a Wild Thing and, especially, the band’s singer, Declan Askin, who has three outings of variable worth on the album. The first is John Martyn’s John the Baptist from the 1970 album Stormbringer recorded with his wife Beverley. In the Martyns’ hands, the song was an epic with the contrast between the pair’s voices and the subtlety of the arrangement highlighting the latent violence of the relationship depicted in the lyrics. While noting that Scullion also recorded the song in 1979, Céide inform us that ‘To improve on such history is very difficult, if not impossible, but we have tried to give the piece a contemporary groove, while highlighting the song’s unusual lyrics’. Actually, they’ve turned it into a jaunty little singalong with Askin’s mid-Atlantic drone and quasi-rock singer intonations to the fore, thereby losing any of the song’s quirky impact.
Next up comes the title track, written by a County Mayo man, Tony Reidy, a song about the economic exigencies of a small farmer forced ‘To make a living I must sit at a chair, Sit at a chair and stare at a screen’. This is far more successful and entirely because Declan forsakes any extraneous accents and sings in his own voice.
Lastly, however, comes a rendition so horrific that the album case should carry a warning sticker, a song interpreted so terribly that it makes Dessie O’Halloran sound like Christy Moore. The song in question is Lyle Lovett’s If I Had a Boat. Céide’s notes state that their ‘arrangement, while deviating quite considerably from the original still shows what a talent Lyle is’. It certainly does, but not in the way the band intended. Askin sings as though he’s auditioning for a biopic of Michael Bolton, albeit while suffering from a hernia and, as a consequence, manages to miss all the ironic humour of Lovett’s lyrics.
The question is ultimately, of course, why a band based in Mayo should want to sing about Roy Rogers, Trigger, the Lone Ranger and Tonto (as Lyle understandably might) rather than about their own childhoods or locality (wherein lies part of the success of Like a Wild Thing). If this was not bad enough, Céide have employed one of modern musical technology’s most irksome innovations, the hidden track. Islay Rant, though included in the track listings, appears several minutes after its predecessor. The novelty of this device has worn thinner than a cigarette paper. There is one further feature of Céide which may irritate some – the presence of a double bass player, one Kevin Doherty. In the Crowley interview quoted earlier, Jimmy also attacked what he sees as the increasing commercialism of Irish music: One result is that it’s getting bland, and Ireland was never bland. Much of it sounds boring to me, too many not-very-good clones of the Bothy Band.
To this I would add a new phenomenon, the sub-Lúnasa clone and one that is likely to reappear thanks to the sales of their last album, The Merry Sisters of Fate, and its subsequent critical acclaim in the USA. Like a Wild Thing’s opening track, yet another version of The Bucks of Oranmore, simply sounds too close to Lúnasa for comfort (albeit there’s accordion instead of pipes, but the bass drone gives the game away and elsewhere Céide employ some of Lúnasa’s trademark rhythmic shifts).
That being said other parts of Like a Wild Thing are at times excellent and others delightful. The best moments feature the flute and low whistles of Brian Lennon, a member of the prominent musical family from Leitrim (he is the son of Ben, the fiddler) and one of the most lyrical players around. Equally, Tom Doherty is no mean accordion and melodeon player and well to the fore on a set of jigs kick-started by The Woods of Old Limerick. Fiddler John McHugh, however, hardly gets a look in until the very last track (not the hidden one!) where his rendition of the slow jig The Pullet that Wants the Cock has all the kind of lugubrious qualities that make you check his photograph for signs of a pension book. Geoff Wallis
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Ceide – Out of their Shell
Out Of Their Shell is the second album by Mayo-based traditional band Céide, but it’s the first to feature their new ace in the hole: singer Marianne Knight, who also plays a bit of bodhrán and adds a jazzy flute to the spirited ‘Bold Donnelly’.
“Her clear, bright voice and crisp ornamentation make her one of the most exciting vocalists to come along in years, and when flute player Brian Lennon sings harmony on the final verse of ‘John O’Dreams’ the effect is electrifying”. Hot Press
Produced by Seamie O’Dowd, former guitar/fiddle ace with Dervish, who is acquiring the most sought after producer hat in Ireland, among his recent productions, which drew tremendous critical acclaim, was Mary McPartlan’s The Holland Handkerchief, which won MOJO magazine’s Folk Album of 2005. Seamie is bevering away at h is own solo debut album. Which is eagerly awaited.
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
These five lads from various backgrounds first started to play together at a regular Sunday night session in my pub in Westport. It soon became clear that they were developing a distinctive and original sound, combining the best of traditional music with contemporary songs and arrangements. This recording does great justice to their individual and collective talent. It has a very broad appeal and I highly recommend it.’ —- Matt Molloy
The Chicago Irish American News, July 06
“This is terrific, traditional music played with gusto and understanding—a rare combination”, Bill Margeson
FolkWorld 33
Well I come from the land of the long grass and gorse, I flew with the eagle and I ran with the horse, and I played with the wild wind and whistled its tune… The Irish band Céide (-> FW#21), featuring flautist Brian Lennon of the musical clan (Charlie, Maurice -> FW#23), evolved from a regular session at Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport in County Mayo. Their second album “Out of their Shell” features new singer Marianne Knight with a marvellous treatment of Bill Caddick’s “John O’Dreams” (with the Tchaikovsky tune), the traditional “Bold Donnelly” and Andy M. Stewart’s “Man in the Moon”. Guitar player Declan Askin wrote the traditional-like “Western Waves” and turns out to be a fine singer as well. Marianne plays no mean flute either — she then took out her whistle and she blew it sharp and shrill — and set out with the boys for a “Tae in the Bog” and swap some other tunes. Tunes such as “Pikeman’s” which dates from the 1798 rebellion when it was used for drilling Pikemen. The checks in the tune are the point where they would thrust into the dummy enemy. “Out of their Shell” has been produced by Dervish’s Seamie O’Dowd (-> FW#26) who brings in guitar, fiddle and dobro to polish it up. No need to actually, everything’s fine. Walkin’ T:-)M
Froots Jan/Feb 07
This County Mayo band named after a local megalithic monument, impressed highly on their debut album LIKE A WILD THING in 2001. While playing the basic Altan and Lunasa game line-up wise, they did endeavour to affix an individual slant through using contemporary song choices and clever subtle tune arrangements.
Out of their Shell, Ceide’s second album, sees some logical and unusual developments in their respective game plan. Firstly, adding female vocalist Marion Knight increases the song quotient, bringing a colourful and distinctive feel. While some might find this move confusing, with Ceide’s guitarist Declan Askin handling vocals adequately on their debut and here restricted to a background role, Ms Knight turns out to be something of a find. She has a nice, raw, unblemished sounding voice that is less sweet or strident for many of her contemporaries. This makes for some fine performances on The Man in The Moon, Western Waves and Bold Donnelly, the latter the only traditional song on show.
Musically, the tide pull of accordion, flute and fiddle handled by Tom Doherty, Brian Lennon and John McHugh, works well together laced with bass, guitar and percussion. The result is bold and precious with a well-placed balance of melody over dynamics.
This is a sure footed line-up bakes its recipes before unveiling them to the outside world.
Ceide are indeed out of their shell and while the sound is different, the basic promise remains intact. www.ceide.net John O’Regan
Taplas The Welsh Folk Mag-Aug/Sept 06 Adolygiadau o Reviews
Meanwhile Mayo-based Ceidc continue to impress with their second CD, which is greatly enhanced by the addition of singer Marianne Knight.
The tight unison playing of fiddler John McHugh, flute player Brian Lennon and accordionist Tom Doherty is nicely underpinned by the guitar of Declan Askin and double bass of Kevin Doherty, who invite favourable comparisons with the mighty powerhouse of Donogh Hennessey and Trevor Hutchinson.
The selection of tunes is interesting and varied too, with the wide range of sources duly acknowledged. Dervish’s Seamie O’Dowd produces and provides as some pleasing second guitar on the song Man in the Moon, which is one of the highlights of this excellent CD. Although the best-known version is probably that of Scottish singer Andy M. Stewart, this version comes from Donegal musicians Ernie O’Rahilly and Liam Deery.
And like Lunasa’s earlier CD, this comes recommended by Matt Molloy himself, at whose bar in Westport the band originally came together. Nick Passmore
The Irish Post 27/5/06
“Out Of Their Shell” is the second album by the Mayo-based traditional band Céide, it’s the first to feature their new singer Marianne Knight, who also plays bodhrán and adds a jazzy flute to the spirited ‘Bold Donnelly’.
“Her clear, bright voice and crisp ornamentation make her one of the most exciting vocalists to come along in years.
Marian is one of that numerous band of musicians known as the FBI (foreign born Irish) she learned her music at that well known musical nursery St. Wilfrids branch of Comhaltas based in the Irish centre, Cheetham hill, Manchester.
The material on the album has come from years of playing together trying new tunes and selections there is very relaxed feel to this album.
“These five lads from various backgrounds first started to play together at a regular Sunday night session in my pub in Westport. It soon became clear that they were developing a distinctive and original sound, combining the best of traditional music with contemporary songs and arrangements. This recording does great justice to their individual and collective talent. It has a very broad appeal and I highly recommend it. “Matt Molloy.
With a recommendation like that the album is a welcome addition to the discerning traditional fans album collection. Joe Mullarkey
Irish Music Review
“In conclusion, Out of Their Shell is the most striking album to be released by an Irish traditional band for some years and absolutely worth investigation”, Geoff Wallis
The Chicago Irish American News, July 06
We really, really like Ceide. Mayo-based, this group has a growing rep with other musicians, and a slowly but steadily growing American audience, as well. Big future, based on the fact that they are wonderful now! A talented sextet they offer some thumpin’ great tunes, lovely airs and some fine singing from recent addition, Marianne Knight. The album is titled, Out of Their Shell. Also got it from the aforementioned Copperplate.
This is terrific, traditional music played with gusto and understanding—a rare combination. It got us dancing around the room, and with this arthritis, that ain’t easy! Go Ceide!! Rating 3
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Colum Sands – Look Where I’ve Ended Up Now
Colum is a meber of The Sands Family, one of Ireland’s favourite musical families. Colum is a master singe songwriter who has plied his trade all over the world for the past 20 years. His songs are much sough after and have been covered by several high profile singers.
An old pair of hobnailed boots in a dark bedroom beside a dormant volcano in New Zealand, a meeting in the Negev desert with a Bedouin activist struggling to hold onto his family’s lands, remembering two painters in his home village of Rostrevor, a late night childhood story from the daughter of a famous coal miner in the North East of England, wrestling with the idea of formal and informal words for “you” in the German language, raising a voice against noise pollution, recalling the smell of freshly baked bread, Colum Sands is a songwriter who works from a broad palette and sings of the colours, the senses, the accents and the language of life.
On his latest collection “Look where I’ve ended up now” Sands finds inspiration across that same vast landscape which has welcomed his songs and stories over the past thirty years – from Ireland to the rest of Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and North America.
In the company of fellow Sands Family members and some of Ireland’s finest musicians, the exotic flavours of Armenian Oud player Vasken Solakian and the outstanding English accordion player Karen Tweed, the County Down songwriter comes up with lines like “Remote controllers all over the house, we have not the remotest control” or “rain coming in through the ceiling and the water bill’s gone through the roof!” to carry the tradition of the troubadour into the 21st century with the blend of humour, critical insight and optimism which has become his hallmark.
Sands himself says, “I love travelling and I always learn and write from the stories that people have to tell, I’m as happy sharing songs with ten people as I am with a thousand. It’s not about numbers, it’s about energy ..songs have been a powerful means of communication for centuries and will always find their own way to fly without the hot air side of the music business.”
With “Look where I’ve ended up now” Colum Sands sends a seventh bagful of songs out into the world to find their own feet, “through hedges and ditches, in search of the reason of rhyme.”
With previous songs translated into German, Dutch, French and Hebrew and cover versions recorded by artistes like Maddy Prior and June Tabor, Andy Irvine, Makem and Clancy, Mick Hanley, Roy Bailey, Enda Kenny and Flossie Malavialle, who knows where they might end up!
We at Copperplate are delighted to be associated with this release and proud to have this title on our roster. We will be doing all we can to help this brilliant release achieve its full
potential and will be supporting it with a full-scale promotional mail out to media and retail.
He is a consumate performer who has built up a large following in the UK, via his regular tours. News of his new tour will delight his many fans in the UK.
Press Reviews
The Living Tradition Aug/Sept 10
Colum Sands is inspired by people. The songs on his seventh solo album show this more clearly than ever, and the result is another engaging celebration of our better selves. Some of the people are from his home base of Rostrevor in County Down, but more are met on his travels. He embraces the life of a folksong troubadour in the title track, and takes us on to people met and stories heard in Israel, New Zealand, Germany, and the north east of England.
Beyond The Frame remembers two brothers from Rostrevor, artists and signwriters: In freedom’s name beneath the sun, some close one eye to aim a gun. / Some open both, see far and wide, all colours living side by side. Rostrevor is just a few miles from Warrenpoint, by the way. Song For Nuri is inspired by a Bedouin activist persecuted by the Israeli authorities. Fred Jordan’s Boots celebrates the life of the Shropshire farm labourer and tradition bearer who I was lucky enough to hear sing at the National Folk Festival: Fred bequeathed his hobnailed boots to his friend Roger Giles, and Colum stayed at Roger’s house while touring in New Zealand. From The Darkness Of the Mine came from talking to Doreen Henderson, the daughter of Jack Elliot, one of the Elliots of Birtley: her peace activism is seen as a continuation of the mineworkers’ solidarity embodied by her father. Lighter songs include Du You Sie, with delightful word play on German forms of address, and Too Loud, with a polite moan about noise pollution. Is it all too nice, too relentlessly uplifting? Maybe the occasional spurt of toxic bile (such as Richard Thompson, for instance, is capable of) wouldn’t go amiss. But Colum’s songwriting flows from his nature, experience and beliefs, and I shouldn’t wish it any other way.
Colum plays guitar, double bass, concertina and mandolin, while accompanists include Brendan Monaghan on whistle, Karen Tweed on accordion and Ursula Byrne on fiddle. Ursula closes two of the songs with tunes: The Connaught Man’s Rambles and, most fittingly, The Reconciliation Reel.
Postscript. Listening to these songs again, a few days later, the lack of bile seems fine. After I wrote the first draft of this review I turned the radio on
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Daithi Sproule – Lost River: Vol 1
About Daithi Sproule
Daithi Sproule of Derry, whose first group was the legendary Skara Brae, has lived for many years in Minnesota. He has performed and recorded with two highly influential traditional music trios: Bowhand (with James Kelly and Paddy O’Brien) and Trian (with Liz Carroll and Billy McComiskey), as well as providing accompaniment for recordings by Tommy Peoples, Seamus and Manus McGuire, Liz Carroll, Paddy O’Brien and others. In 1995 he released his first solo album, A Heart Made of Glass, with songs in English and Irish. In 2008 he released an instrumental guitar album, The Crow In the Sun, featuring thirteen original compositions. He is a 2009 Bush Artist Fellow, awarded by the Minnesota based Archibald Bush Foundation.
For more information about Daithi Sproule please visit www. daithisproule. com
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Dave Sheridan and Company – Sheridan’s Guest House
Dave Sheridan
“Every musician playing on this album. It was an absolute privilege to play with you. I would like to thank all of the local musicians who I learned tunes from over the years. Thanks also to the John Me Kenna Society, Nancy Woods, John Regan, Meaiti Jo Sheamuis, Tom Mulligan, Fiachra 0 Torna, Liam Kelly, Damien Stenson, Sean Me Cague, all the lads in Monaghan, Galway, Leitrim, Sligo and Dublin for their musical friendship over the years, Jimmy Mc Kee, Gaye Mc Donagh, Sister Anne, Donal and Eithne in the Mater Dei Music Department and all the staff in St Michael’s College,
I would like to thank Mam, Paddy, Gerard, Marian and of course Miriam, as well as my extended family for the support they have given me over the years. A special thanks to Brian Mc Donagh who recorded the album. Even though he is one of the most laid back men I ever had the pleasure of meeting, the amount of work he did on this recording was phenomenal.
I would sincerely like to thank two men who, without their influence, I may have never played music. They are Sean Gilrane and My Father Joe. Sean is playing the Flute on track 10 and was a huge encouragement to me down the years. He also composed Enya’s Fancy, the first tune on this track. Dad would always bring me to local sessions, classes and Fleadh Ceoil’s
and wait, sometimes into the early hours until the session was over. I could have played music until my ‘heart was content*……thanks lads”!
Although this fine recording is over 2 years old, we at Copperplate believe it too good to have fallen throught the cracks of the torrent of good recording of traditional music coming out of Ireland in recent years. We will be undertaking a full scale mail out to retail and media, in the hope of helping this brilliant recording to achieve it’s full potential. We are delighted to add this title to our roster.
Press Reviews
The Folk Diary
Dave is a very talented young flute player from County Leitrim and he plays in that breathy straight-ahead fashion that is quite reminiscent of Matt Malloy. In fact a lot of the ensemble playing here – Dave surrounds himself a total of fifteen musicians at various places on the album – sounds like an updated Bothy Band, particularly when the flute is heard in tandem with fiddle or pipes and a bouzouki is providing accompaniment.
He is probably at his best playing reels and though there is that exhilarating flat-out feeling to them, it is clear that he is always playing within himself and allowing a feeling of space in the music. Strangely enough, the most interesting track is probably the one where Dave plays different instruments; he doubles on low whistle and button accordion on Johnny Allen’s and Paddy Gavin’s before bursting into one of Scotland’s most popular session tunes and it is fascinating to hear the slightly different emphasis that the Irish put on The Easy Club Reel.
Vic Smith.
Taplas
ALTHOUGH predominantly an Irish flute album with many opportunities to hear solo flute, Dave Sheridan’s feast of jigs and reels are considerably augmented by a large group of friends. Pipes, low whistle, fiddle, piano accordion, guitars, mandola, bouzouki, keyboards, electric bass, percussion and bodhran help to keep the music varied by playing in different combinations.
It’s driving, lively and upbeat The arrangements keep the music ever changing. It defiantly doesn’t sound ‘all the same1 as some uninitiated sceptics may sometimes accuse Irish music of being. The sound is often very full and padded out, setting it apart from other more typical trad CDs.
The one song is surprising, because it sounds more like a Broadway production than a traditional song. It’s very polished, nonetheless!
There’s a lot going on here, but it’s not overwhelming and in-your-face, but full of treasures to be unearthed as you return to it time and time again. Imogen O’Rourke
The Living Tradition
Co. Leitrim people never seem to shout about their musicians. OK, we know about Joe McKenna, Ben and Charlie Lennon, the MacNamara family, but 1 don’t understand why so much talent isn’t boasted about. Maybe it’s because Leitrim’s overshadowed by its next-door neighbours, Donegal and Sligo?
Dave Sheridan is a young Leitrim flute player, now teaching in Dublin, who deserves to be more widely known and appreciated. He has a fine drive about his playing with discreet ornamentation that still allows the basic tune to shine through. He’s laid down fifteen tracks, most of them around 3′ 30″, of ‘standard’ jigs and reels with a few less well-known tunes. Sixteen musicians, plus a singer, are on just about everything from accordion to uillean pipes. Not all of them play at the same time, so there’s a great variety between tracks. A special round of applause for track 3; Brian Rooney’s outstanding fiddle sets fire to The Maid on the Green and the Humours of Drinagh. He reminds me of the older fiddle style of players like James Morrison. One of Sheridan’s old mentors, Sean Gilrane, plays flute on his own composition, Eania’s Fancy, on track 10 then follows on with Captain Kelly’s and The Salamanca.
There are discreet and sensitive bodhran players, in spite of the base lies you’ve been told. The secret is playing so that musicians are aware of it without noticing it. Neil Lyons plays bodhran on most of the tracks, with Liam Cryan, Junior Davey and Hugh Sullivan picking up the rest. Track 2 (Christy Barry’s, King of the Pipers/Michael Dwyer’s) gives a valid answer to the spoilsports who insist that no more than one bodhran should be played in a session. Lyons and Cryan both play but don’t overpower the set.
Sheridan’s cousin, Conor, sings Sheridan’s own composition Our Beautiful Tradition, a song about older musicians wondering if the younger ones will carry on the well-loved old traditions. I liked the song immediately because it’s the first one I ever heard on this thorny subject. The answer is the latest crop of musicians; the tradition’s safer now than it’s been for decades. As well as the song, Sheridan’s own polka and reel, Enjoy Your Stay/In Sheridan’s Guest House start the final track. The last reel, Safe Home, makes a logical ending to the whole CD. I only wish that all sixteen had gone out in a blaze of glory on this track.
Copperplate Distribution believe this CD is ‘too good to fall through the cracks’, so they’re publicising this two-year old recording. I’m glad they have; it’s a real treat. For all it’s a studio recording, this has an impromptu feel because of the different line-ups on each track; I don’t think any two sets have the same musicians playing together. Copperplate’s blurb says, ‘Imagine a friendly hostelry somewhere in the Irish countryside…’ I don’t want to do that, because this isn’t a bit like a pub session; that would be full of the usual distractions. This feels more like a spontaneous gathering of musicians in someone’s house and you’ve been honoured by being invited. Welcome to Sheridan’s Guest House. Mick Furey
LiveIreland.com
Sheridan’s Guest House by Dave Sheridan from Ireland is a joy of a thing. He has about 16 guest musicians on the album. He is a wonderful flute player out of Leitrim, we believe. A massive talent, and there is such a sense of joy in this album as he generously shares the spotlight with his musical friends. This is just flat-out wonderful. Rating: Four Harps
Bill Margeson
www.netrhythms.com
Here’s another great recording that but for the kind auspices of Copperplate Distribution would have fallen through the cracks and remained largely unheard in the UK. It was made over 2 years ago, but has all the timeless appeal of the best of Irish traditional music.
Co. Leitrim-born Dave is a fine flute player who gathered together an assortment of his musician friends to partake of a session in that metaphorical guest-house-cum-caravan somewhere in the Irish countryside. The 15 tracks, mostly jigs and reels, may be carefully planned as far as arrangements are concerned, but they’re played with all the spirit of the convivial session and the varieties of texture Dave and his accomplices conjure up is quite miraculous. Dervish’s Brian McDonagh, who’s recorded the album, has given the sound a unified bloom that’s full and attractive, yet lets the individual contributions breathe within the total sound-picture. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a flute-centred record quite as much, in fact, for the spirit of the music-making is so infectious; even though the whole affair’s obviously a studio production rather than a live recording, there’s a great feel of different musicians dropping in for each set and being accommodated and allowed free rein.
This accentuates, but in a thoroughly nice way, the degree of contrast between individual tracks, and makes for some imaginative touches — as on the Johnny Allen’s set (track 5), an isolated instance of Dave forsaking the flute for the button accordion and bringing in Seamie O’Dowd on dobro alongside Padraig McGovern’s uilleann pipes and some excellent rhythmic underpinning from Neil Lyons and Keith Kelly. This set forms a real contrast with that preceding, a more strict-tempo approach to a pair of jigs (Maid On The Green and Humours Of Drinagh) where Brian Rooney’s spirited fiddle steps it out with Dave to Kevin Brehoney’s lively piano vamping. That sort of points up the glory of this album — that it’s emphatically not just another series of ‘more jigs and reels’ in ‘OK, so what?’ performances, but a pleasing and often intriguing sequence of inventively varied renditions. And when you glance down the list of musicians (apart from those mentioned, there’s Oliver Loughlin, Damien O’Brien, Michael McCague and Padraig O’Neill to name but four), you just know you’re in for some scintillating musicianship.
After all this positive commentary, however, I feel obliged to voice my one reservation regarding the disc: the inclusion of a song, a composition of Dave’s own (Our Beautiful Tradition), the admirable sentiment of which rather fails to light my candle on account of the smooth yet overwrought manner in which it’s sung by Dave’s cousin Conor. No such problem besets Dave’s self-penned polka and reel on the final track — the only other exception to the exclusively traditional source material used throughout this classy record. David Kidman
The Irish Democrat
GIVEN THE ongoing popularity of all forms of traditional Irish music and a seemingly never-ending stream of high quality recordings from both new and established musicians and groups it’s not surprising that the odd album falls through the cracks of critical recognition.
Sheridan’s Guesthouse would appear to be one such album. Originally released in 2006, this collection of traditional tunes has been put together, arranged and produced by Leitrim flautist and Dublin-based teacher Dave Sheridan.
Assisted by sixteen musician ‘friends’ of the highest calibre, including Dervish’s Seamie O’Dowd (guitars) and Brian McDonagh (mandola), they combine to deliver a delightful and varied set of traditional music with a distinctly upbeat, though not frenzied, feel.
The album ably showcases Sheridan and co,’s musical talents and passion for the tradition. On Johnny Allen’s and Paddy Galvin’s, Sheridan demonstrates that, in addition to being a fine flautist, he’s no slouch on the button accordion, while O’Dowd’s splendid rhythmic guitar playing is a particular joy, providing the drive behind many of the tunes.
The one song on the album, Our Beautiful Tradition, is sung by Dave’s cousin Conor Sheridan. A celebration of traditional Irish music, it is written from the standpoint of an older musician and questions whether it will survive and flourish amongst the younger generations. Given the opening paragraph of this review, I would say that the answer is fairly obvious.
However, while I approved of the song’s sentiments, the arrangement and slightly breathless vocal delivery leaned a bit too far in the direction of MoR for my taste – a bit too Daniel O’Donnell and not enough Christy Moore, if you like.
That minor criticism aside, this is an excellent album, which deserves a wider audience. So, take a break and check in to Sheridan’s Guesthouse. You’ll be sure to have a pleasant stay. David Granville
Hot Press Magazine
In the liner notes for his debut CD young Leitrim flute player Dave Sheridan thanks his Dad profusely for all the hours he spent waiting to drive the fledgling musician home from trad music sessions that continued late into the night. Listening to the aptly named Sheridan’s Guesthouse, you get the feeling that you’ve happened upon such a session-and a damn fine one it is too. An ever changing cast of players join in for a tune or two, anchored by the crack string team of Brian Mc Donagh (mandola) Seamie O Dowd (guitars) and Michael Mc Cague (bouzouki); but always at the centre of things is Sheridan, with his fluid, unflashy style, sound technique and solid ryhthm. A beautiful album throughout! Sarah Mc Quaid
Froots Magazine
It’s easy to have a soft spot for Leitrim, that gentle-paced Irish country whose traditional music seems to match the rises and rolls of the landscape and the tone of the flute players is as clear as the glassy waters of Lough Allen. Dave Sheridan is one such instrumentalist and comes from the tiny village of Killargue, halfway between Manorhamilton and Drumkeeran, but he’s not just a dab hand on the flute, but the button accordion and low whistle too, as Sheridan’s Guesthouse amply illustrates.
For any recording debutant it’s always a boon to be surrounded by inspirational companions, so Dave has corralled the doyen of local accompanists, Sligo’s Séamie O’Dowd, into the studio as well as the ex-Dervish man’s string-plucker in arms, mandola-player Brian McDonagh, and a host of other musicians from his musical stomping ground.
While Dave’s flute takes on lark-like qualities, not least on the effervescent opener Mulhaire’s/Kiss the Maid Séamie proves a bedrock throughout this utterly enjoyable album. However, the sparks truly fly when Dave hooks up with with long-time London-based fiddler Brian Rooney for Maid on the Green/Humours of Drinagh, while the thoroughly foot-stomping set of reels kicked off by Johnny Allen’s sees his accordeon trading notes in remarkable rapidity with the uilleann pipes of Patrick McGovern.
Elsewhere, there’s a flute duet to die for, Enya’s Fancy, featuring Dave’s cousin Seán Gilrane, and two tracks revealing the talents of fiddler Pádraig O’Neill from Dublin (clearly revealing himself as one of Ireland’s greatest wasted talents — as for why, the story’s too long to tell).
So book yourself a room in Sheridan’s Guesthouse, the rooms might need refurbishing, but the house band is a killer. James O Donnell
Gordan Turnbull
Hailing from County Leitrim, this impressive debut album features a large number of guest musicians (hence the title), with the flute playing being the central thread running through it all.
The flute playing is highly accomplished, dynamic and in a modern flowing style rather than the rhythmic style traditionally associated with Leitrim (such as Packie Duignan). The guests are too numerous to mention in detail here, but notably include Brian Rooney (fiddle) on one track, Junior Davey (bodhran) on several others and Brian McDonagh and Seamie O’Dowd from Dervish providing backing on all but two tracks. Some of the arrangements are inventive and forward-looking, but still very much within the tradition.
This is a delightful and exhuberent recording that reminds me of Jimmy Noonan’s The Maple Leaf in the sheer joy of playing that comes over to the listener.
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