John & Jacinta McEvoy: The Boyne Mist

GUEST MUSICIANS:
John McEvoy: Fiddle
Jacinta McEvoy: Concertina
Paddy McEvoy: Piano
Ruari McGorman:Greek Bouzouki
Conor McEvoy: Fiddle (Track 14)
Fiadhna McEvoy: Concertina (Track 14)

Tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, 9,The Squirrel's. Nest- 10, The Hill of Slane & A Year & A Day,
Track 14 The Cave of the Cats, Track 13 The Journey Home, Track 15, composed by John McEvoy

This debut album 'The Boyne Mist' from John and Jacinta McEvoy, features a mix of traditional and original Irish tunes on fiddle and concertina, inspired by the history and landscape of County Meath.
Paddy McEvoy (piano) and Ruairi McGorman (Greek bouzouki), add subtle, tasteful accompaniment to the tight musical connection between fiddle and concertina. Honest music, skillfully played, and rooted in the tradition.

“… a lovely compilation from John and Jacinta” Antóin MacGhabhan

“Lovely music performed by people who know how to play it” Micheál Ó Raghaillaigh

“… a thoughtful collection of traditional and newly composed tunes for fiddle and concertina”  Meath Chronicle   

Audio

Track 1: The Coalminer/The Jolly Seven

Track 2: Promenade/Michael Gorman's

Track 3: Peter the Piper/The Five Crosses

Track 4: The Meelick Team/The Squirrel's Nest

Track Listing

1. The Coalminer / The Jolly Seven / The Heather Breeze 03:07
2. April Showers / The Dreamer 03:26
3. Promenade / Michael Gorman's 02:06
4. The Trip to Tara / The Bull Feast 03:25
5. John J.Kimmel's / Bill Black's Hornpipe 03:46
6. The Secret Well / Whispering Water 03:53
7. Balrath Woods / Nóra na bportach / The Highwayman 03:45
8. The Boyne Mist / Kilcarn Bridge 02:49
9. Croíbhriste 04:45
10. The Meelick Team / The Squirrel's Nest 02:39
11. Ownie Davy's / The Hill of Slane / A year and a day 03:59
12. O'Flynn's Fancy / Paddy Cronin's 02:33
13. The Cave of the Cats / The Road to Monalea 04:10
14. Peter the Piper / The Five Crosses 03:02
15. The Journey Home / Paddy Healy's / The Controversial Reel 03:31

Also available from Copperplate:

Gatehouse: Tús Núa
Gatehouse: Heather Down the Moor
John McEvoy & Friends
John McEvoy & John Wynne: The Pride of the West
John McEvoy & John Wynne: The Dancer at the Fair

Press Reviews
The Journal of Music:

John and Jacinta McEvoy have recently released The Boyne Mist, a fiddle-concertina duet album featuring a range of new compositions.

One of the unintended consequences of the mapping of traditional music earlier in the revival by Seán Ó Riada and others was an over-emphasis on the music of the west of Ireland. It has taken time for musicians, writers, and researchers to redress this, a process which continues even now in the ‘post-revival’ tradition. The Boyne Mist, a new CD by fiddler John McEvoy and his wife, concertina player Jacinta McEvoy, forms part of the recognition and assertion of a traditional musical identity for Meath; a lynchpin of this was the recent book Traditional Music and Song in Co. Meath, compiled by celebrated fiddler Antóin Mac Gabhann and Pearse Ferguson. And although John has explored his Roscommon heritage before (he was born in Birmingham to Roscommon parents), and Jacinta is from Dublin, Mac Gabhann’s introductory preface to the sleeve notes claims them both as Meath musicians. Both are experienced musicians with a deep involvement in the tradition, and both have played and recorded together with the band Gatehouse. John has made a number of solo albums and several duet albums (one with his sister Catherine McEvoy, and two with Roscommon flute player John Wynne); Jacinta has played with several groups including Macalla, and has developed several music and dance educational resources for primary schools. Subtle backing comes from their son Paddy McEvoy on piano, with contributions from Ruairí McGorman on bouzouki.

As well as the album contributing to the definition of a regional identity, it also consolidates John McEvoy’s standing as a composer of note in the tradition, one who has gradually built up a body of substantive tunes over time. Many of these eighteen or so compositions are recorded for the first time here; a few have been recorded previously by him and by other musicians (including ‘The Squirrel’s Nest’, ‘The Boyne Mist’ and ‘The Cave of the Cats’). The album thus intertwines aspects of the regional and the individual, in that many of the new tunes are inspired by, or refer to, Meath’s cultural history and landscape.

New and familiar tunes
Not all of the material is new, and indeed the recording begins with a jaunty set of more familiar tunes. ‘The Coalminer’ is one of those evergreen reels that instantly raises the spirits, with an infectious melodic lift in the music; it’s followed by the less common ‘The Jolly Seven’, and an unusual setting of ‘The Heather Breeze’. This is followed by the first set of new tunes, a set of jigs played on B-flat concertina and fiddle; the more mellow timbre of these instruments befits the easy-going swing of the music. The first jig, ‘April Showers’, is very catchy and approachable in its simplicity, and was appositely inspired by the poetry of Francis Ledwidge, who often frequented céilí houses and was fond of the fiddling of a Meath musician, Mattie McGoona, as evoked in his poem ‘To one who comes now and then’:

And when the shadows muster, and each tree
A moment flutters, full of shooting wings,
You take the fiddle and mysteriously
Wake wonders on the strings

The good humour of this first tune is contrasted by the darker tones and more involved phrases of ‘The Dreamer’, which is named for the Meath Fenian John Boyle O’Reilly. The first of McEvoy’s reel sets on track 4 has a similar easy-paced lilt, and both tunes have that rare quality of being both familiar in their musical language but also totally original. Both draw on the mythology of Tara, although the first (‘The Trip to Tara’) is almost East Clare-like in its minor tonality and shape. The two tunes are cleverly put together, with the second moving into the major, its brightness emphasised by the use of the higher octave on the concertina. By contrast ‘The Secret Well’ and ‘Whispering Water’ on track 6 are a very different pair of reels, more expansive in their range, and reminded me of the more involved melodic twists and turns of a Reavy tune. The title tune, ‘The Boyne Mist’, is more direct, and again is a tune which immediately struck me on hearing it last year as an immensely playable tune (borne out by its being recorded several times already), as well as interesting in how the beginning of the second part changes on its repeat. I was also really taken by the reel ‘A Year and a Day’, which has a lovely structure and phrasing, especially in how the second part delays getting back to the tonic key until the third phrase.

Throughout the album, the fiddle and concertina are always in tight unison, emphasising the lift and swing of the music, in a very natural and unforced style. It’s obviously music that has been crafted and seasoned through years of duet playing, and perhaps it is this familiarity of approach that makes the new tunes on this album so effective. So while the roots of their music lie elsewhere, this is very definitely an album which is grounded in their lives in Meath, and makes a fine contribution to the music of this often overlooked area. Adrian Scahill.