Shop
Showing 161–176 of 213 results
-
Peter Horan & Gerry Harrington – Fortune Favours the Merry
Press Reviews
#13 / Best Irish Traditional Albums of 2005
The Irish Echo / CEOL Column By Earle Hitchner
Irish Music Magazine 8.05
Fortune Favours the Merry, and if you buy nothing else this year you wont be disappointed, perhaps as they say in crossword clues you’ll be blessed and delighted by your windfall! Sean Laffey
The Irish Post
“This is an album of joyous, uncontrived music on flute, and fiddle from two musicians with both talent and experience”. Joe Mullarkey
The art of duet playing has long been an integral part of the traditional music ethos. One has only to look back to the recordings of the great masters of traditional music in the early years of the last century; along with their solo recordings, they also recorded duets with fellow musicians. This tradition is continued with this release.
Peter and Gerry create a tight blend of wind and string in which neither dominates. The music is played in a clean, spirited fashion without sacrificing any of their individual capacity to grace the music. You will enjoy listening to their music as much as they enjoy playing it. Paddy Ryan
Both are well-known musicians and being from different musical backgrounds, parts of Ireland and even generations, is not a problem as far as their blend of flute and fiddle music is concerned. There is freshness and life in the wide variety of tunes they have chosen – some are classics of our tradition – and while others are not so well-known, you’ll wonder why when you hear them played on this disc.
There are reels, jigs, hornpipes and other dance tunes, as well as a slow air. There are solos and duets, music with and without accompaniment and, where there is accompaniment, the piano of Ollie Ross (a very well-known name in traditional music through his father, the legendary accordion player, George Ross) does this most ably in a way which complements and adds to the overall pleasure of hearing this music. Peter Browne, RTE Producer and uilleann piper. February 2005
The Irish Echo / CEOL Column By Earle Hitchner
Best Irish Traditional Albums of 2005
Shortly after coming to the Irish Echo in 1991, I decided to compile an annual top 20 list of Irish traditional recordings that would stubbornly resist the trend to place albums in several, often arbitrary categories. I felt then, as I do now, that such category-crammed lists were thinly veiled attempts to pacify as many musicians, publicists, and record labels as possible by spreading acclaim like cheap margarine.
Critics, if they really are critics, should have the courage of their convictions and rank the recordings, no matter how difficult the process and unwieldy the challenge. To me, it’s a matter of put up or shut up, and each year I choose to put up for “Ceol” readers.
Every one of these standout albums from 2005, unflinchingly ranked 1 to 10, belongs in your listening library.
(13) “Fortune Favours the Merry,” by Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington (CICD 158):
Sliding into the fiddle chair beside Killavil, Sligo, flutist Peter Horan, whose nearly 30-year partnership with fellow Sligoman Fred Finn (1919-1986) on fiddle is the stuff of legend, could have unnerved another fiddler, but Kenmare, Kerry-born Gerry Harrington complemented Horan beautifully. The pace was exemplary, and the investment of feeling in every note conveyed a sincerity that was nearly palpable.
[Published on January 25, 2006, in the IRISH ECHO newspaper, New York City. Copyright (c) Earle Hitchner. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of author.]
The Irish Post 17th Dec.05
Traditionalists play a merry tune going back to their roots
FORTUNE Favours The Merry is the new album from Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. Peter and Gerry create a tight blend of wind and string in which neither instrument dominates. The music is played in a clean, spirited fashion without sacrificing any of their individual capacity to grace the music.
This is an album of joyous, uncontrived music on flute, and fiddle from two musicians with both talent and experience.
Peter Horan is from Killavil in Co. Sligo and is a veteran of Irish traditional music. Growing up in fiddle country meant that his flute style was largely free of the influence of other players and he is now the last exponent of a unique style of playing which is not unlike the local fiddle style.
Gerry Harrington is from Kenmare in Co. Kerry and is now living in Lismore in Co. Waterford. His fiddle style is predominantly that of Sliabh Luchra. Gerry is a highly-respected musician who has made several other recordings.
Ollie Ross brings a lovely touch to the album with lively, intuitive accompaniment on piano.
Although Gerry and Peter are from different generations and from musical backgrounds they blend beautifully. Like many older musicians Peter values expression within music far more than technicality.
The music on this album is full of feeling and comes from the very roots of the tradition. Tunes on the album include Tell Her I Am, Lord Gordon, Lad O’Beirne’s Hornpipe, The Skylark and the slow air She Sailed From Dublin. Joe Mullarkey
East Bay Express Best of 2005
Though they represent not only very different regional styles but different generations, flutist Horan and fiddler Harrington combine beautifully on this beguiling record. Nobody is trying to prove anything here, but like all great traditionalists, these guys know how to let a tune tell its own magical tale. They also know how to select a fine program. It really doesn’t get much better than this. Duck Baker
The Irish Echo 27.7.05 CEOL Column.
Give Kenmare, Kerry-born fiddler Gerry Harrington credit. It is not easy sliding into the fiddle chair beside 79-year-old Killavil, Sligo, flutist Peter Horan, whose nearly 30-year partnership with fellow Sligoman Fred Finn (1919-1986) on fiddle is the stuff of legend. Horan and Finn were a hand-in-glove duo, beautifully in sync with each other, so comfortable and capable that the music they made seemed effortless and was seamless.
Two years after Finn’s death in Jan. 1986, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann released the “Music of Sligo” LP. It comprised five tracks from a Dec. 1985 recording session by Horan and Finn in Dublin, four tracks from their 1976 session in Dublin, two tracks from a 1959 Radio Éireann recording of them made by Ciarán Mac Mathúna, and five tracks selected from their playing during the 1970s in South Sligo. Albums cobbled together in this fashion are often uneven, and the sonic quality of the LP was that. But the playing was extraordinary and has stood the test of time.
Gerry Harrington is from a younger generation and different regional style, Sliabh Luachra, so the match between him and Horan in their “Fortune Favours the Merry” CD on Cló Iar-Chonnachta may appear strange and improbable. But this album of more than an hour of music recorded at Doddy’s Pub in Ballymote, Sligo, largely works because these two instrumentalists start from a bond of respect and care for the tradition they serve. If speed in Irish traditional music is about ego and effect, then the more fluid, unhurried tempo heard on this CD is about melody and how to deepen its appeal without artifice.
Is Peter Horan on “Fortune Favours the Merry” the Peter Horan of “Music of Sligo”? No. But that doesn’t mean he still can’t put across a tune with all the soul and spirit for which he’s known.
The grace and lift Horan brings to his flute playing in “The Pigeon on the Gate/Trim the Velvet” reels dovetail expertly with Harrington’s steady, dance-inspired fiddling, backed by Ollie Ross on keyboards. The pace is exemplary, and the investment of feeling in every note played conveys a sincerity that’s nearly palpable.
In one sense, it’s hard to make “The Skylark/Roaring Mary” reels, “Tell Her I Am/Brennan’s Favourite” jigs, “The Foxhunter/Captain Rock” reels, “Lord Gordon” reel, and “Dowd’s No. 9/The Hunter’s House” reels sound new, given the countless times they’ve been recorded over the decades.
Horan and Harrington reinvigorate them not with machine-gun velocity, exotic ornamentation, or winking novelty in arrangement, but with sheer, expressive joy in playing them. This isn’t old wine in old or new bottles, but old wine allowed to breathe and spread its bouquet naturally. Not to strain the metaphor, but this is a sipping rather than a guzzling contest overseen by two sommeliers of impeccable taste.
Hornpipes such as “John J. Kimmel’s/O’Callaghan’s” from Harrington and “McDermott’s/The Flowers of Antrim” from Horan and Harrington, backed by
Ross, luxuriate in melodic texture, while “The Corkin Cross/The Lakes of Sligo/Memories of Ballymote” show Horan’s ability to match his Sliabh
Luachra partner in some polkas.
My sole, small complaint about the album is in the relationship between melody and rhythm instruments on occasion. In “Lad O’Beirne’s/Sault’s
Hornpipe,” for example, fairly inflexible dynamics and almost paint-by-numbers vamping on keyboards by Ross, an otherwise able player, distract from Horan’s lovely flute solo.
Accompanists must adjust to melody players, not vice versa, especially when the melody player is a flutist of Horan’s reputation. This has nothing to do with that silly saw, “A good backer is the one you don’t notice.” Listeners should notice–and appreciate–rhythmic accompaniment that sets into relief or elicits standout melody playing.
If fast and flashy Irish traditional music is what you’re seeking, then skip this CD. But if you’re looking for unslick, turf-scented instrumental music rooted in and drawing on the longstanding strength of the Irish tradition, “Fortune Favours the Merry” is for you.
Kudos to Cló Iar-Chonnachta (CIC), an independent recording label in Inverin, Connemara, Galway, for its commitment over the past 20 years to
preserve and present Irish traditional music as well as Irish-language and Gaeltacht culture of quality. Earle Hitchner
The Irish Echo
For anyone who loves Irish traditional music in its pure drop state, unvarnished and unflashily virtuosic, there are two new, can’t-miss albums from Galway’s Cló Iar-Chonnachta label: “Fortune Favours the Merry” by Sligo flutist Peter Horan and Kerry fiddler Gerry Harrington, with piano accompaniment from Ollie Ross (his father was Wexford’s 1956 All-Ireland senior button accordion champion George Ross), and “Within a Mile of Kilty” by John Gordon, Brian Rooney, Séamus Quinn, and Ben, Charlie, and Maurice Lennon, with backing from Altan’s Ciarán Curran on cittern, Beginish’s Noel O’Grady on bouzouki, Frank Kilkelly on guitar, and Gabriel McArdle on concertina.
Harrington has absurdly large musical shoes to fill, as the flute-fiddle duo of Horan and fellow Sligoman Fred Finn (1919-1986) is the stuff of legend. But the Sliabh Luachra fiddler acquits himself well beside Horan, who will only increase his reputation as one of Ireland’s finest flutists ever with this new CD. If you enjoyed Mike Rafferty’s exceptional “Speed 78” solo debut last year, you will also revel in this Horan-Harrington collaboration, recorded in Doddy’s Pub, Ballymote, Sligo. Earle Hitchner
Irish Music Magazine 8.05
Gerry Harrington told me that there were only two days of rehearsals allotted for this exceptional album. “Peter Horan reckoned that if I was good enough then I’d be able to get it all down in those two days, if not then I’d never be good enough to play with him” he told me. Well the judgement is that there really was some thermal chemistry going on when these two met and the combination of flute and fiddle resulted in an alloy of truly astounding properties.
The album opens with The Gold Ring/The Rambling Pitchfork with Ollie Ross adding the undertow of piano accompaniment. The tracks just gets better as the musicians settle into their playing, giving the album a really live sound.
Recorded by Bruno Staehlin in his Open Ear Studios in Galway, he has a great set of lugs and has recorded this album so that you can hear every nuance from the fiddle and flute. And you really have to hear this album, it’s simply not enough to passively listen to it; Peter Horan’s flute playing is so full of variety, little yelps and barks, unexpected trills and flourishes, and yet all the time Harrington matches these pyrotechnics with tight ensemble playing never once thrown off by the vibrancy of Horan’s work.
There are chances for solo performances too, with Harrington first out to bat with John J. Kimmel’s Hornpipe/ O’Callaghan’s both from the Sliabh Luachra tradition (attributed on the album liner notes to Julia Clifford and Dennis Murphy). Horan’s masterpiece is the slow air She Sailed from Dublin, he has an original method of playing slow airs, about as far from Keltic Muzak and all those wispy low whistle albums as you can imagine, slow the air may be, but is full of music. And a word about those liner notes, short perhaps but full of information on where their source recordings can be found.
One remarkable feature of the album is how well Horan and Harrington have gelled together, as they come from truly distinct Irish music traditions, did they really get on musically I asked Gerry Harrington, well he told me Peter is already keen to make another album. And if you need proof of the potential inspect track fifteen, Dowd’s No. 9 and The Hunter’s House, the latter taken at a handy pace, it’s composer Ed Reavy would surely be delighted by it’s treatment here.
For the time being you’ll have to do with Fortune Favours the Merry, and if you buy nothing else this year you wont be disappointed, perhaps as they say in crossword clues you’ll be blessed and delighted by your windfall! Sean Laffey
The Irish World 15.07.05
Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington are two musicians from very different traditional Irish musical backgrounds. With a large generation gap between them and different styles of playing, hailing from almost opposite ends of Ireland, Peter from Sligo and Gerry from Kerry, maybe you’d dismiss the thought of these two men putting together fiddle and flute to bring us a collection of ‘oh-I-recognise-that-one’ Irish tunes.
Well you’d be mistaken. Peter grew up in Killavil Co. Sligo, known as ‘fiddle country’, and he developed a style of playing which was very much his own. He has carried with him this unique style and is a veteran of traditional Irish music today, earning much respect over the years.
Gerry Harrington, despite being of a younger age is also a respected musician whose fiddle style is that of Sliabh Luachra, an area spanning the Cork, Kerry and Limerick borders, famous for its contribution to Gaelic cultural heritage.
Gerry’s collaboration with Peter Horan in ‘Fortune Favours The Merry’ is the latest in a series of duets with other respected musicians, namely Charlie Piggott and Nancy Conescu.
For those of you who have remained in touch with the traditional Irish music scene I’m sure you’ll be delighted to hear such tunes as ‘The Skylark’, ‘She Sailed from Dublin’ and ‘Lad O’Brien’s Hornpipe’. For those who have perhaps lost touch a little there are, and I’ll say it again, ‘oh-I-recognise-that-one’ tunes which ring a bell and bring back memories of times spent in Ireland or with the relatives.
The fruit of this collaboration, with the lively accompaniment of Ollie Ross on the piano, brings you back to your roots. The fiddle and flute skilfully compli-ment each other and in the words of Peter Horan in reference to their music “You have to feel it”. PATRICK COYLE
£14.99 -
Peter Horan & Gerry Harrington – The Merry Love to Play
Peter Horan is a legendary flute player from Killavil, Co. Sligo and this is the second album that he has recorded with Gerry Harrington, a talented fiddler from Kenmare, Co. Kerry.
Their first album, Fortune Favours the Merry, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim and The Merry Love to Play will do much to confirm their excellence as a duet. The new album is completely unaccompanied, a very rare occurrence in commercial music, allowing the listener to focus entirely on the two melody instruments and also maximizing the opportunity to hear Peter Horan’s unique flute playing. The musicians’ distinct styles complement each other superbly, with Gerry’s delicate and airy playing providing the perfect counterbalance to Peter’s rhythm-driven style. For Peter Horan to undertake an unaccompanied album at the age of 81 was no mean feat; however both musicians felt strongly that an unaccompanied recording was the best choice for the new album. They wanted to go back to the roots of the music, to a simpler sound that would showcase the instruments and best reflect the way that music has traditionally been played. The Merry Love to Play does just that, and provides listeners with a rare example of traditional Irish music in its purest state.
Gerry Harrington has provided meticulous notes in the booklet on the sources for the tunes. The Merry Love to Play will be launched on Monday 16 July in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo as part of a tribute concert to Peter Horan during the South Sligo Summer School.
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.
Also available from Copperplate Distribution
CICD158: Peter Horan & Gerry Harrington: Fortune Favours The Merry
CICD142: Gerry Harrington & Charlie Piggott: The New Road
Press Reviews
Irish Music Magazine
One of the great things about our music is that it’s meant for sharing among friends. No finer example could be found than this collection. It’s a follow-up to the first CD, Fortune favours the merry. It is also a powerful argument for having at least some tunes played unaccompanied, especially when the players have such good rhythm and understanding. And the solos are very fine. Listen to Peter Horan at the age of 81, giving a masterly account of the “High Level” hornpipe, not an easy tune at any age. And he also has a lovely waltz, the “Killavil Waltz”, that came from his own mother.
There’s sometimes a complaint that traditional players don’t achieve great tone. Gerry’s playing on the slow air “Her Mantle So Green” will easily give the lie to that. Full praise to CIC for the detailed bi-lingual notes, including background on each tune. Listen to the instinctively good playing on an old war-horse like “The old grey goose”. Gerry shows his Kerry roots with a couple of fine polkas, including the showpiece “Primrose”, once made famous by Jimmy Shand.
Above all, this is happy and contented music, no shapes to throw, nothing to prove, except that when you love the music as much as this, the sharing is wonderful. John Brophy
www.liveireland.com
For the pure trad lover comes a “must have”. “The Merry Love To Play”. Out of the West comes 81 year old Peter Horan on wooden flute (of course!) and Gerry Harrington on fiddle. This is a follow up to their highly regarded and loved, “Fortune Favours The Merry” of a few years ago. This is unaccompanied. A daunting challenge today, both in artistic and commercial areas. This takes musicians of quality and real substance. This is not easy to pull off. These two do it gloriously. Again, this is for the real, true, down to the bone trad fanatic. Others of a more commercial bent may want to stay away. But, if the real deal is your deal, this is for you. This is brilliant. Horan’s solo version of “The Coolin” is worth the price of admission, alone! Rating: Highly Recommended For The True Trad Purist! Bill Margeson
£14.99 -
Peter McAlinden – Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part
In last year’s festival Peter gave an exciting performance on tin whistle as a guest of Karen Tweed and he returns this year to launch his debut album on tin whistle, accompanied by Pete Quinn on piano. He is dedicating this recording to the memory of his parents Jim and Kitty McAlinden and Kathleen Murray.
Peter McAlinden won the Senior All-Ireland title on the tin whistle in Buncrana, County Donegal, in 1979. Thirty-one years on, having just passed the milestone of fifty, he has made this recording using a favourite old “generation” whistle in the key of D.
Deeply touched last year by the loss of two enormously influential figures in his life – his mother Kitty McAlinden and his musical mentor and friend Kathleen Murray – he has found himself on a journey back to his musical soul and roots, the result of which is this solo recording.
Peter McAlinden is one of a rare breed of people whose way of being reminds me every day why I play music. Peter is, amongst my generation, a well loved and highly respected musician – his technique, phrasing and choice of tunes is second to none… but it’s how he thinks about music, people and life that transcends everything and, in turn, makes his music so great. His tin whistle playing and superb humour were, and still remain, one of my greatest and earliest influences. I was overjoyed when Peter told me of his plans to make this album and touched by his wish to dedicate it to the people that meant so much to him. Lovers of traditional Irish music can now enjoy this long awaited debut recording that showcases Peter’s virtuosity on the tin whistle. Karen Tweed August 2010
‘Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part’
To say that this debut album from Peter McAlinden is long awaited could be considered understatement of the year. Since winning the senior All-Ireland tin whistle competition in 1979, Peter has been a highly regarded figure on the London Irish music scene both as a whistle and piano player. Dedication to his teaching career robbed him from us for too many years, but I’m delighted to say that he has recently returned to the scene with a bang. Many musicians and listeners are discovering him for the first time, and it’s hugely enjoyable to watch their positive reactions to his music. His enthusiasm for the music, as well as his ‘joie de vivre’, is completely infectious – he’s a great man to have around.
This album captures all that is great about Peter’s tin whistle playing – beautifully executed rolls, cuts and trebles with amazing fingerwork throughout (and a few sneaky staccato trebles thrown in), breath control which defies the laws of physiology, and gorgeous variations without ever losing sense of the tune.
It is apparent that a lot of thought has gone into this album. The tune playing is immaculate and the chordal accompaniment is perfectly tailored to each piece. The dance tune tracks are full of uplifting and crisp changes from the two Petes, and yet the album also manages to capture the spontaneity of two great musicians just bouncing off each other’s playing, making for some very exciting music.
Tunes featured on the album include Peter’s own fresh interpretations of the classics (see track ? in particular to make you fall in love with the Salamanca all over again) and some obscure gems. Peter is unashamedly fond of Reels, but the album has a healthy dose of other types of tunes and the final track (Star of the County Down) is testament to his mastery and absolute feel for a traditional tune no matter what the time signature.
For any young (or old) players looking for inspiration in their whistle playing – look no further. In fact, for any traditional Irish music enthusiast this album is a must for the collection. Karen Ryan, Return to Camden Festival Director.
New Friday night session starts at Keenan’s on Fri 4 February with Paddy Egan (concertina), Peter McAlinden (keyboard/whistle/flute) and friends
Keenan’s Bar, 87, Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, London NW10 1LR tel 0208 883 7174
Press Reviews
Musical Traditions web site
London born Peter McAlinden is one of five children of Irish immigrants. His early interest in Irish traditional music was encouraged by a neighbour Kathleen Murray who taught Peter his first tunes and introduced him to many of the musicians associated with the heyday of Irish music in London, such as Danny Meehan, Bobby Casey, John and Julia Clifford and Raymond Roland. Peter drifted away from the music in the early 1990s and has only recently returned to playing. On this CD he plays a selection of old and new tunes on the tin whistle accompanied by Pete Quinn on piano.
From the opening bars of the Concert reel it’s obvious that Peter McAlinden is a confident and tasteful whistle player. The pace is steady, the rolls are crisp and there are nice subtle melodic variations. Peter also shows he has studied the classic recordings and adds his acknowledgement of the legacy of the greats in his tasty interpretation of The Boys of the Lough and The Woman of the House, both following Coleman’s variations while putting his own slant on the tunes. He does the same later with The Salamanca, although the treatment of Dr Gilbert in the same set somehow fails to raise the excitement of the Coleman original. Maybe too many rolls smooth out the spikiness of the reel or it just doesn’t translate well from fiddle to whistle.
There are three slow airs on the record. The stand out track is a lovely version of Anach Cuan learned from Seamus Tansey. There’s a lot of reverb of this track but it doesn’t distract too much. Peter follows the air with a Sligo jig, The Killavil but then makes an awkward change into a reel. This reviewer isn’t keen on mixing time signatures, a lesson learnt long ago from Julia Clifford, and while it’s a nice effect to follow an air with a dance tune, adding a reel seems a bit contrived. The last track, played in tribute to Peter’s mother gives the Star of the County Down a similar treatment as hornpipe, jig, and reel follow the original air. Peter’s playing of the Coolin, while faithful to the ancient setting just sounds a bit too syrupy for today’s audience.
Generally, Peter plays an interesting mix of jigs and reels through the record with one set of hornpipes and one of slip jigs. The Sligo roots of his teacher come through in the selections but there’s enough borrowings from Clare and Galway to show a wide repertoire and eclectic taste. The jig called Tom McElvogue’s and credited as Tom’s composition is very popular with the younger set of musicians as it offers scope for a lot of syncopation. Peter’s version is clearly the regular setting and dates back to his days with St Colmcille’s Ceili Band. The young bucks should take note!
The whistle does not always sound in tune with itself and it’s the same Generation whistle played throughout. An hour of whistle playing could get a bit tedious but here Pete Quinn’s piano accompaniment successfully creates varied moods and feelings on each track, with the odd tune played one time through before he comes in.
The accompanying booklet has a bit a family history and background and short notes about each selection of tunes. It’s not unusual for musicians to be stuck for a name for many of the tunes they play but it’s a pity Peter didn’t have anybody to check tune titles with, as many of the selections are named after Peter’s source but some have more familiar names. Josie McDermott’s is usually known as Devanny’s Goat and Conway’s is Old Joe’s jig. This record would be a great source for somebody learning Irish music to get some good solid settings and having the right names is helpful.
Overall this is a well produced record that deserves a wide audience. Currently available through Copperplate, it’s a worthy tribute to Peter’s parents and his mentor. Ken Ricketts and Marya Parker
R2 Rock’n’Reel
It’s a simple question: do you like Irish whistle playing? If the answer’s no, just move on nothing to see here. If, on the other hand, you’re a devotee of that high, soaring beauty, here’s an album that will very delicately blow your socks off.
With sympathetic, rhythmic piano by Pete Quinn (London Lasses) the only accompaniment, there is a decidedly ‘old-fashioned’ feel to the performance, which makes this selection as charming as it is dazzling, as McAlinden shows just what the humble tin whistle is capable of.
Breath control and fingering are masterful throughout, whether on the dizzying ‘Limestone Rock’/’JosieMcDermott’s’or the eloquently plaintive ‘An Coolin’. But the real mastery here is that it’s all unobtrusive, with nothing about McAlinden’s playing that’s just showy for its own sake.
No, this is an album that’s all about the tunes; and what tunes they are, polished up like a newly painted wagon heading off down the lane on a bright summer morning. Happy to meet, indeed, but I think I’ll pass on the parting and just jump on for the ride. Oz Hardwick ****
www.liveIreland.com
Happy To Meet and Sad To Part is the new album from master whistle player, Peter McAlinden from Ireland. The tin whistle can either be a lovely thing altogether, or a curse from God. Depends, like everything, on the player. When Copperplate and Alan O’Leary tell us someone is great our ears perk up. Again, he is right. This guy is a lovely, lovely whistle player with great taste and phrasing. A big selection of some of the great trad tunes here. You might just sort past another whistle album in your Irish music hunt. That would be a mistake with this album. Wow, can this guy play! Peter McAlinden is going to get a LOT of fans with this one. Count us as one of them! Mary Bergin, watch out!! Bill Margeson
Taplas, The Welsh Folk Mag. Feb/March 11
London Irishman Peter McAlinden was an All Ireland champion on whistle in 1979 and is a stalwart of the city’s session scene. Rather sentimentally presented in the liner notes as a tribute to his late parents and a musical mentor, the album is a kind retrospective tour through an extensive traditional repertory, endearingly all played on a favourite old Generation D whistle (in the process illustrating both the strengths and weaknesses of that instrument – sweet, mellow sound, clarity of response to fingering, but occasionally distractingly dodgy intonation!).
Pete Quinn’s keyboard accompaniment is unobtrusively supportive but, with such restricted forces, the album is a trifle monochrome for uninterrupted listening, despite Peter’s musical and technical dexterity. It would be a fine resource for tune learners and would-be whistlers, with many well known tunes executed in a clear and exemplary fashion. Jem Hammond
Irish Music Magazine
This CD has subconsciously become my travel companion. It is instinctively reached for when a musical interlude is needed. It’s easy listening at its very best and all instigated through the scratchy meanderings of a well-worn Generation whistle. Peter McAlinden is a former All-Ireland Champion of the whistle (1979) and, like so many, chose a teaching path rather than pursuing a career in music. Thankfully, over thirty years later, after a stint with Karen Tweed at the Return to Camden festival and the poignant passing of his mother and mentor, a decision to share his undoubted talent was made and the result is Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part.
I’m straight away drawn to a haunting lament on track four entitled Anach Cuan which echoes evocatively then settles smoothly into the Killavil jig. The supplementary key stirrings of the piano are ably administered by Pete Quinn of London Lassies fame and as he jauntily steers the chords into The Morning Dew, McAlinden picks up pace and implements the notes with stylish ease. Touch me if you Dare ambles into Peter’s self penned tune Ambie’s Favourite named for Galway fiddle player Ambie Whyms and these invigorate and charm. The grand finale of Star of the County Down flows through an amalgam of timing as it’s played as an air into a march, a jig, a reel then back to an air and fading until only a whisper of audible contentment is left.
There are eighteen tracks to peruse which are packed with tune renditions that define familiarity. This CD will be a welcome addition to any collection as, it’s evident from listening, that there’s a character in that whistle and the man who plays it. Eileen McCabe
www.netrhythms.com
Before comparatively recently, Peter’s name may not have sparked recognition in anyone, even those involved in the wider Irish music scene, except perhaps for those with long memories. His early introduction to the London Irish music scene (in the milieu of which he grew up) culminated in 1979 by his winning (while still in his late teens) the Senior All-Ireland title on the tin-whistle, then proceeded to devote his life to teaching, becoming “lost to academia” for the best part of the ensuing 30 years.
However, last year the death of two enormously influential figures in his life – his mother Kitty and his musical mentor and neighbour Kathleen Murray – coincided with an invitation from Karen Tweed to perform at the Camden Town Irish music festival, and Peter’s dormant musical muse was rekindled; spurred on by the success of that concert and pleading from fellow-musicians, Peter has now recorded this CD with the help of that London-based doyen of the capital’s Irish music scene Pete Quinn. This redoubtable gentleman, best known hereabouts for his work with the London Lasses, brings the benefit of his keyboard expertise to accompanying Peter’s tin-whistle on a generous collection of 18 sparkling tracks that breathe abundant life into assorted tune-sets that pair reels, jigs or hornpipes with each other, interspersed with the occasional air or set-dance.
As Peter says in his booklet notes, these traditional tunes have, it appears, been around for ever, but they sure retain their charm in his confident yet affectionate and committed renditions that retain that essential twinkle in the eye. His playing is admirably fluent and never seems breathless, thoroughly musical at whatever pace he adopts – which to his eternal credit is not at any time showily over-fast! Measured in the most delightful and lively way, while taking inspiration from many of the classic interpreters of the tradition (I rather liked his way with the Michael Coleman tunes on track 3 for instance). Peter’s playing is always tasteful, and often quite masterly. And Pete’s keyboard work is complementary in its subtlety, in its own right conveying both sympathy with the inflections and phrasings of the tin-whistle and its player, and a feeling for the contours of the music itself that allows for sensitive nuances alongside of the main instrumental focus or principal melodic input.
I’d be the first to admit that the restricted palette of the two musicians might seem a touch unvaried – this would be unavoidable whatever the calibre of the musicians involved – but the balance is always ideally judged, the recording given an intimate presence (the whistle doesn’t pierce your orifices!), and then playing contains sufficient intrinsic contrast to satisfy within the sequence of tunes presented. For the slow airs, Mr Quinn departs from the “pure” piano and instead provides understated keyboard chordings and embellishments: no more is needed. I do feel the keyboard tone encourages a touch of over-sweetness in intonation on Peter’s part at times, though. There’s a touch of low-key doubletracking of keyboard parts here and there, but nothing at all obtrusive.
Economy is a watchword in the performances generally, for no individual track lasts longer than three-and-a-quarter minutes, and the vast majority clock in at well under three minutes – with one exception, a 4:56 rendition of The Star Of The County Down which Peter presents in the form of a fantasia that metamorphoses from slow air through jig and hornpipe to fleet-footed reel and then back to lament in its thematic treatments; this latter track forms a poignant tribute to Peter’s parents, and a fitting close to the album.
I’m not always convinced by the juxtapositions of different rhythms within a given set – some instances where reel follows jig (such as The Morning Dew on track 4) seem a touch forced – but on the whole the groupings are sensibly coordinated by the two musicians. But there’ll be no argument that the music on this disc is still beautifully played and impeccably registered, and the two musicians are evidently completely in tune with one another and their craft; thus it proves impossible to find fault with that aspect of the disc (I’ll pass that task over to the hard-core specialists in this genre, but I suspect it will be a tough challenge). Peter’s own booklet notes are friendly and companionable, and provide some delightful personal-historical anecdotes amidst the informativeness, although some of his choices of tune namings may puzzle the aficionado. David Kidman January 2011
Earle Hitchner’s Top 30 of 2010 in The Irish Echo 20.1.11
“Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part” by Peter McAlinden (self-issued): All-Ireland senior tin whistle champion of 1979, McAlinden steps out of his long-term role in London academia to fashion this stirring debut.
The LivingTradition
A very handy whistle-player in the Irish style, Peter McAlinden was a stalwart of the London session scene many years ago, and has come back to the music in his forties. He puts his heart and soul into this album, recorded and accompanied by Pete Quinn. I’ve played in a few sessions with Peter, and heard his solos in a couple of concerts: he has a very nice touch, without the pyrotechnics of younger players. His music deserves to be recorded and widely heard, and here he trots out a fine selection of old reels and jigs with the occasional slower number.
There are two remarkable things about this CD. One is that Peter sticks to the old brass Generation whistle throughout – so much so that Pete Quiinn’s grand piano had to be retuned for the recording to the slightly sharp pitch of this humble instrument. Peter copes skilfully with the shortcomings of the Generation, compensating for its inconsistent tuning and getting the best from its limited dynamics, to give a very good account of this whistle’s potential – as a result, his debut album has a very seventies feel, early Chieftains or Mary Bergin perhaps, emphasised by the choice of material.
The material is hardcore traditional Irish. There isn’t a tune here I didn’t recognise instantly, many from classic seventies and eighties recordings, with the exception of Peter’s own reel Ambie’s Favourite. Reels and jigs are in the ascendant: The Concert Reel, Molloy’s Jig, Woman of the House, The Killavil Jig and The Morning Dew all feature on the first four sets of this eighteen-track disc. Many of the pieces here are challenging for any whistle-player – Lucky in Love, Sweet Biddy Daly, Dr Gilbert’s and others, but Peter McAlinden makes them his own without apparent difficulty. I can’t say this CD is technically perfect, but the occasional wobble or overblow is more than made up by the warmth and joy in Peter’s playing, and his breath control in particular is exemplary.
The second remarkable thing about Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part is the minimal accompaniment. Pete Quinn does a great job on piano and keyboards, but his discreet chords and runs are all the backing the whistle gets – or needs, for McAlinden’s music holds the ear throughout. The slower pieces are perhaps the test case: Anach Cuan and the great slow air The Coolin are beautifully played, and the set dance Piper in the Meadow Straying vies with a pair of old hornpipes for the most evocative track here. Peter ends this impressive CD with a virtuoso version of Star of the County Down – played as an air, a march, a jig and a reel. The notes are also excellent, informative with many personal touches. I’d recommend this release to any whistle-player, and I’m hoping to hear a lot more of Peter McAlinden in the near future.
Alex Monaghan
The Irish Post 25.12.10 Joe Giltrap reviews the best of folk and roots CDs
I must confess that I had not come across tin whistle virtuoso Peter McAlinden before I heard this CD – his first release but hopefully not his last. I have long been in awe of people who can produce such fantastic music on this humble instrument because I have tried and failed miserably. Anybody who has ambitions to play the tin whistle should get inspiration from this recording. It is indeed magical.
Peter is a former senior All-Ireland whistle champion (1979) but a teaching career then took priority and his musical talent went on the shelf. However, the loss of two of the most influential people in his life, his mother and his musical mentor Kathleen Murray, was the catalyst for his return to his musical roots and this CD is the result. Peter is joined on the album by his special guest Pete Quinn on piano and keyboards, signed on loan from The London Lasses, who provides a perfect complementary backing.
Picking out favourites from an album like this is always difficult but if forced to do so then the two tracks I would have to select are An Coolin and The Star Of The County Down. The latter is a great arrangement that starts off like a slow air, showing just what a beautiful melody it is in the hands of an expert, before gradually picking up a gentle lilt and then into jig time and reel time ‘ before fading out as a slow air – simply masterful. A great album from a great musician. Joe Giltrap
FolkWords man
Album Reviews
Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part
(December 01, 2010)
Just occasionally you hear an album that grows on you from the first until you find it’s one you fall back on whatever your mood, ‘Happy to Meet’, Sorry to Part’ is one of those albums. This gem from Happy to MeetPeter McAlinden is dedicated as his tribute to his parents, Jim & Kathy McAlinden and Kathleen Murray. It’s a tribute that engages, enthrals and captivates – what more need to say?
As well as the superb talents of Peter on tin whistle, Pete Quinn joins in on piano and keyboard. And if at that point anyone thinks that this is a simple collection of music, think again. In Peter’s hands the tin whistle takes on giant stature and delivers a depth and power beyond all expectation.
There are 18 tracks on the album and each one stands proud and strong as it takes its turn. The understanding and skill on display here is awe-inspiring as the tunes leap and swirl from reel to jig through air to dance. ‘Anach Cuan, Killavil Jig and the Morning Dew’ opens with the haunting air Anach Cuan, followed by the jaunty Killavil jig and then the Morning Dew – these tunes have never blended so well. There are some fine collections of reels on this album but ‘Limestone Rock and Josie McDermotts’ is pure pleasure to hear, as is ‘Touch Me if You Dare and Ambie’s Favourite’ – pairing the first with one of Peter’s own tunes. Alternatively, if jigs are your medicine then ‘Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part and Paddy Taylor’s’ will both raise your spirits and add a tear to your eye, while ‘Jim Donoghue’s and Eddie Moloney’s’ skip and leap its way into your soul.
This album is a masterpiece of tin whistle. It will without doubt become the standard by which any other tin whistle-driven album will be judged. And that’s only right too. It’s also a personal journey that we are privileged to share. It’s released on 13 December — you should buy it … go to www.copperplatemailorder.com
£14.99 -
Providence – A Fig for a Kiss
- The Road to Lisdoonvarna / Carthy’s Reel / The Mermaid of Mullaghmore. (4.16)
- Smuggling the Tin. (3.20)
- The Lurgadaun / Dancing Eyes / Down the Back Lane. (3.44)
- The Curlew Hills / Father Dollard’s. (4.04)
- Will Ye Go to Flanders. (4.02)
- The Arragh Mountains / The Rakes of Westmeath / A Fig for a Kiss. (3.55)
- The Providence / Roscommon Reels/ Fred Finn’s. (4.24)
- Muiris O Coinnleain. (3.10)
- McDonagh’s Air. (4.08)
- The Jolly Young Ploughboy. (3.37)
- In Memory of Coleman / Farewell to London / The Sunny Banks. (3.20)
- Se Fath Mo Bhurtha. (3.42)
- Music in the Glen / Sean sa Cheo. (4.14)
Providence
Providence have just completed a very successful year of gigging which saw them release their second album A Fig for a Kiss, RoRi CD 002, on their own label Rolling River Productions. Their eponymous debut album received great acclaim both in Ireland and abroad. The band’s first tour outside Ireland brought them to the Arctic Circle for St. Patrick’s Day. The band also appeared at some major European festivals during the summer including Dranouter Festival in Belgium and Waidhofen Festival in Austria, the Finnish Irish Folk Festival Tour as well as making numerous appearances around Ireland, Éigse Mrs Crotty, Mary of Dungloe Festival and the world famous Queens Festival in Belfast to mention but a few. Providence were also special guests on the prestigious Iain Anderson Show on BBC Radio Scotland prior to an appearance at the Callander Festival. Since the launch of their second album the band have featured live on the legendary John Creedon Show, RTÉ Radio 1 and on RTÉ TV’s Open House. They also featured on the award-winning series on TG4 Geantraí. Apart from touring Ireland in February the band will also be touring Italy, Germany, UK, Norway and the USA over the coming months.
Providence are:
Joan McDermott from County Wexford is the group’s singer. Joan formerly sang with the famed a cappella group The Fallen Angels which included Frances Black and Máire Bhreathnach among its ranks over the years. Joan toured extensively with the Fallen Angels and appeared at many major festivals including Cambridge Folk Festival, Leysin Rock Festival in Switzerland, and Fairport Convention’s Reunion Festival. She has also performed with Kieran Halpin, Kieran Goss, Steve Cooney, Manus Lunny, Mark Kelly, and Macalla among others.
Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh hails from a musical family in County Meath. He has played concertina and accordion from an early age. Mícheál has taught workshops and has toured all over Europe and the USA. He is also a member of the three-time All-Ireland winning Táin Céilí Band.
John Wynne plays flute and whistle. From Roscommon, he was immersed in the North Connacht flute tradition, playing with such eminent players as Patsy Hanly, Tommy Guihan, and Peter Horan to mention a few. John has won numerous All-Ireland titled for whistle and flute. He plays and teaches at various workshops and festivals around the country.
Clodagh Boylan also comes from a musical family from Glenullin, Co. Derry. She plays with members of her family in the Gleann an Iolair Céilí Band. She has toured England, USA and Australia extensively with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and has also toured Italy with All Set.
Paul Doyle is the band’s bouzouki/guitar player. Formerly he was a member of Arcady which included Frances Black, Sharon Shannon and Cathal Hayden. Paul also played with Martin Hayes, the Máire Bhreathnach Band, and the Seán Keane Band with whom he toured such countries as Poland, Germany, Finland, Sweden. Over the years Paul has also recorded with many of Ireland’s most respected musicians among them Matt Molloy, Paul O’Shaughnessy, Paul McGrattan, Gay McKeon, and Arty McGlynn.
Press Reviews
Pay The Reckoning August 2002
Pay The Reckoning has already waxed lyrical over the solo CD “The Nervous Man”, by Providence’s concertinist and accordionist Micheal O’Raghallaigh. We are no less impressed by this, the second CD by one of Ireland’s most exciting traditional groups, which in addition to O’Raghallaigh comprises Clodagh Boylan (fiddle), John Wynne (flute, low whistles), Joan McDermott (vocals) and Paul Doyle (guitar, bouzouki, backing vocals, bodhran).
The instrumentation invites comparisons to Altan, and indeed if Providence have musical peers, then the Donegal-based outfit are a convenient reference point. (Or at least the early incarnation of the band, when Frankie Kennedy was still with us and the band were wedded to exploring the rich musical traditions of North-West Ulster.) However, although they may be as exciting, as vibrant and as accessible (without ever diluting the music) as the early Altan, Providence plough their own furrow, and a deep and productive furrow at that.
The album’s opening is perfectly judged to raise the hairs on the back of the tradophile’s neck. The opening reel in the set of three (The Road To Lisdoonvarna/Carty’s Reel/The Maid Of Mullaghmore) kicks off with Boylan underpinning O’Raghallaigh’s edgy concertina with an eerie, bittersweet drone. The tension between the two instruments builds to a climax at the end of the first go-round and then, as we knew – or hoped – resolves at the repeat as Boylan picks up the melody with O’Raghallaigh. Wynne takes up the rein for the second tune and then all democracy breaks loose as the band give the final reel (long associated with John Doherty) a lash.
The precise yet characterful playing and intelligent, uncluttered arrangements witnessed in this first set set a standard for the album which Providence never after fail to meet. On reel sets such as “The Providence Reel/Roscommon Reel/Fred Finn’s”, “In Memory of Coleman/Farewell To London/The Sunny Banks” and “Music In The Glen/Sean Sa Cheo”, the same spine-tingling mixture of control and abandon is in evidence. McDermott’s voice is a revelation. Clear as a bell, unforced and untainted by any form of “artfulness”, she is utterly compelling in her renditions of “Muiris O Coinnleain” and “Se Fath Mo Bhuartha”. However her best work is reserved for the English language songs “Smuggling The Tin” and “The Jolly Young Ploughboy”. The former is a great comic song from the Second World War when there was a trade in smuggled tin between Northern Ireland and the Free State and concerns the misadventures of a group of hapless reprobates whose efforts at lawlessness come to nothing. The second, originally from England, McDermott picked up from the singing of the saintly Frank Harte and delivers with great commitment. (Incidentally, are we alone in detecting in the song’s air the embryo of the tune of that American folk classic “Jesse James”?)
Two tune sets in particular are worthy of special mention. The jig set “The Lurgadaun/Dancing Eyes/Down The Back Lane” is instantly gripping and as fine an example of ensemble musicianship as you’re likely to hear. And as for the hornpipe set “The Curlew Hills/Father Dollard’s”, we’re at a loss to describe the inventiveness and sophistication of the band’s mastery of the crooked rhythm. The second tune in this set in particular must surely rank as one of the most definitive of Irish hornpipes.
“A Fig For A Kiss” is the sort of CD which, given a wide audience, will establish Providence at the very forefront of the trad mob! So, do your bit for a great band; via http://go.to/copperplate and order a copy for yourself (and your friends – converted and non-believers alike!). For more information about the band itself, visit http://www.providence-trad.com
The Living Tradition. 01/02
I first came across Providence after hearing John Wynne’s solo flute album. Wanting to hear more, I bought the groups first album and liked it. This is their second, which is usually the trickiest for anybody. Not to worry, this is up to the standard of the previous outing. The only line up change is Clodagh Boylan on fiddle instead of Meabh O’Hare The instrumental balance is slightly different with a wee bit more prominence to Micheal O’Raghallaigh’s concertina this time out, but that’s no harm. They’re not out to make a particular sound, but to show different blends of instruments
Seven dance tracks, one slow air and five songs with nothing you wouldn’t be happy to listen to for a long time. The Road to Lisdoonvarna is mostly played as a jig, odd times as a reel, but Providence play a fling version that works well. The other tunes are a mix of old friends and less widely known tunes.
They’ve even adapted a tune learded from the McDonagh brothers of Ballinafad as a waltz and made a slow air of it. It probably was originally an air, as many of the older players used to play airs in 3:4 time, so they’ve restored it to its rightful place.
I get the feeling that Joan McDermott is more at home with the two songs in Irish than the three in English. Maybe they’re more suited to her singing style, but they do flow more easily. None of the songs are hackneyed though and include some gems. She’s done her homework in the National Archives, and found a fine song in ‘Muiris O’ Coinnleain’, from the Waterford tradition.
Providence have overcome the dreaded ‘second CD’ hazard; we’ll see more of them in future. Mick Furey.
Taplas Dec/Jan 02 (The Welsh Folk Magazine)
As I had predicted, Dublin based Providence’s second album marks a significant advance on their debut. When I reviewed that, I claimed their fiddler was Claire Boylan, Oops! On that CD it was Meabh O’Hare, whom Boylan replaces this time round. Otherwise, the line up is unchanged, with Roscommon flute player John Wynne and concertina player Micheal O’Raghallaigh very much to the fore. I still have reservations about singer Joan McDermott and really dislike the sleeve design. But, don’t let that put you off. This is fine traditional Irish music played with great swing and vitality. Nick Passmore.
Teletext
Some strong Irish albums emerge on the horizon, notably Providence’s A Fig For A Kiss. Top notch instrumentals plus a classy singer in Joan McDermott supplying a light and shade that bears comparison with the immortal Bothy Band. Colin Irwin
Hot Press
The Irish music scene is blessed with an embarrassment of riches where traditional bands are concerned, with outfits such as Sliabh Nulor, Dervish and many more appealing to a variety of constituancies. To that list must now be added the name of Providence. A Fig For A Kiss is their second album, and quite an advance on their debut. A sound, which will be refined even further, is beginning to evolve – a lively interplay between fiddle, flute and double leads, heard to fine effect on tunes sets like, The Road to Lisdoonvarna and The Arragh Mountains, jig set.
There is great internal space created within these tunes, with lead instruments dipping, weaving and walloping where appropraite, and backed up by Paul Doyle’s ever solid guitar work never threatening to overwhelm either the music or the listener.
In every crown there is a jewel and for this listener it’s the voice of Joan McDermott, bell like in its clarity, skittish as a young pup on Smuggling The Tin and solemn as is appropriate on Se Fath mo Bhurtha. With this album, Providence have done themselves a wealth of good, and I’d venture to say that it is one of the finest records of the year so far. Oliver P. Sweeney 10 out of 12
The Examiner
Dark fiddle provides the opening drone for the jaunty concertina driven fling, The Road to Lisdoonvarna. The tune develops nicely, maintaining its shape with the addition of flute and a drop of an octave on the fiddle. This is Providence, more mature and more assured than before.
A Fig for a Kiss is a mix of tunes and songs, a well designed vehicle for the individual and collective talents of Clodagh Boylan, fiddle; Micheal O’Raghallaigh, concertina/ accordion; John Wynne, flute/whistles; Joan McDermott, vocals and Paul Doyle, guitar/ bouzouki/ bodhran. There is a natural interplay on Junior Crehan’s sprightly Lurgadaun Jig, with an increasingly dense sound leading into Dancing Eyes. Precise fiddle opens The Curlew Hills, a second cousin of The Glenbeigh Hornpipe. The bands signature tune, The Providence Reel, is given a special surge of power, as is its follow up, Roscommon Reel. Fred Finn’s has a hint of raggedness that gives the music its fourth dimension. Doyle’s guitar comes to the fore on an air learned from the McDonagh Brothers of Sligo. He may rarely emerge from the background, yet his playing is the glue that holds the Providence sound together. The songs have a good balance. Smuggling The Tin, refers to cross – border trade during the Second World War. Will Ye Go To Flanders is an 18th century Scotish anti war song. The album closes with a live set, Music In The Glen/ Sean sa Cheo, recorded at Dougie McLean’s bar in Taybank, Scotland. Pat Ahern
£14.99 -
Rattle the Boards – The Parish Platform
BIOG:
Playing together since 1992,Rattle the Boards have been praised as one of the best traditional acts in Irelands music scene. Pat,John and Benny were all members of the Knocknagow Ceili Band who were based in Clonmel,Co.Tipperary and spend many years playing for dancers throughout Ireland.Benny is also leader of the International supergroup”Danu”and has toured all over the world. In 1999 Rattle the boards released their debut album to much acclaim. With many performances in Ireland and Europe over the past years Rattle the boards have grown into an act very much sought after.In 2002 Rattle the Boards provided the musical inspiration for a major Irish theatre show called Teac A Bloc by famous visual artist Des Dillon.Rattle the boards arranged and performed with Teac A Bloc to sold-out venues throughout Ireland and also performed two sketches from the show on Irelands premier tv show”The Late Late Show”This is only one of many TV appearances by Rattle The Boards todate.In March 2008 Rattle the boards released their long awaited second album “The Parish Platform”nearly a decade after the debut release.Their scense of fun and lift in the music of Rattle the boards makes them unique among their contempories.As their name suggests this is a group that will have its audience on their feet and rattling the floorboards.
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. Contact Copperplate for all your PR needs.
The lads are generally available for interviews; please contact us to arrange a mutually convenient time. Please copy us on any reviews/features/airplay. Feedback always welcome.
Press Reviews
www.liveireland.com
THE LIVIES 2009
Newcomers of the Year: Rattle the Boards: Rattle the Boards
Benny McCarthy on accordion, Pat Egan on fiddle and banjo, John T. Egan on vocals, John Nugent on guitar and vocals and Donnchadh Gough on bodrhan have stormed onto the scene this year with one of the biggest selling and most loved debut albums in memory. The key? It is fun. It is a BALL!! Terrific tunes and songs, all imbued with a real sense of the joy that Irish music is. Mason’s Apron is our favorite tune, and Patrick Was a Gentleman our fav song. These guys get it. No self-involved navel-gazing here about ‘the meaning of the tradition’, and all that crap. No pretentious egos. Just a sense of the fun of it all. We love these guys and cannot wait to see them in person! Bill Margeson
Folk World Editors Best Loved Albums of the Year
Irish traditional music at its best — lively and real, spontaneous and passionate. Central to the band’s sound is the wonderful accordion playing of Danu’s Benny McCarthy, and he is joined by Pat Ryn (fiddle, guitar, mandolin), John Nugent (guitar) and the singing of John T Egan. A great mix of traditional tunes — from jigs and reels via polkas and airs to hornpipes and quicksteps — plus a number of trad songs. A few friends have joined the lads for a few numbers — and there is a bit of an unusual but very welcome interlude of a trumpet in one of the numbers, giving the number some jazzy flair.
All of this played with so much passion that the listener’s feet won’t stand still. This lot managed to distil the spirit of traditional music onto a CD, giving the listener the feeling that the foursome would just sit around the corner in his/her kitchen. And don’t be surprised that you find yourself rattling the boards of your wooden floor dancing away. An album that lifts your soul and just makes happy. Great stuff! Michael Moll
Rock’n’Reel
The brain child of Danu frontman, Benny McCarthy, Rattle the Boards second album continues their intention to revive the joie de vivre inherent in Irish music performed for pleasure and dancing before The Clancy’s and the ballad boom exposed the music and song of Ireland to a wider world.
It succeeds in its core ideal, in the verve, authority and drive of the performers attacking of the polkas, jigs and reels with flair and invention.
Of course, time hasn’t stood still and along the way, the players, John Nugent, John T Ryan, Pat Ryan, McCarthy and assorted guests contribute something of their own musical personalities. Consequently, there’s nothing precious here, with the rugged St Patrick Was A Gentleman making way for the innovative Whistling Rufus quickstep, where Decky O’Dwyer’s trumpet adds an air of Mariachi to the performance, and classic reels such as The Mason’s Apron are given a new alacrity and tempo courtesy of some dazzling melodeon from McCarthy.
Unpretentious and packing so much into its 12 tracks, Rattle The Boards enable much of the Irish tradition to breath anew. Danny Moore
The Living Tradition Aug/Sept 08
As if playing in Danu isn’t enough to fill in his days (and nights!), Benny McCarthy has got together with a bunch of his local musician friends, plus a few other guests, to produce an album of music for a good old hooley. This is not a recording for purists or musicologists to analyse and contemplate; rather it’s one for everyone just forgetting about the rest of life’s boring stuff, getting carried away with the atmosphere and having a dance, or, if that’s too much like hard work, just listen and enjoy, since this is a delight throughout.
The band line-up is Benny McCarthy on button box and melodeon; Pat Ryan, fiddle, mandolin and banjo; John Nugent, guitar; and John T Egan, vocals. Guests are Donnchadh Gough, bodhran; Des Dillon, harmonica; Jon Kenny, vocals; Decky O’Dwyer, trumpet (yes, trumpet!); Albie Grace, bass Paul Ryan, button box; and Bruno Stachelin, percussion. There is a strong Tipperary connection, with many having played in the Knocknagow Ceili Band. This is not a ceili band album, however, ditching the strict-tempo approach in favour of a free-flowing, good-time sound.
The majority of the tunes and songs are very well known and very popular indeed, and it sometimes takes a fresh, lively attack on them like this to help us all realise why they became popular in the first place. From the vocal hilarities of St Patrick was a Gentleman, via the inspired trumpet breaks on Whistling Rufus through to any other track you mention, this CD just oozes with the sounds of talented guys having a good time and infecting everyone who hears them with their sense of enjoyment.
As a nice touch, the CD is designed to look like an old-fashioned vinyl record (remember them?). Listen to this, but make sure you’ve left some space for dancing – that’s what you’ll feel like doing! Gordon Potter
TAPLAS, the Welsh folk magazine
The Parish Platform, on the other hand, is about as different as you can get while remaining within the style and repertoire of the traditional Irish genre.
Even- track is completely unlike the last. It is bright, sparkly and energetic. Each musician’s individual characteristics shine through.
The band includes Danu’s Benny McCarthy on accordion, John Nugent on guitar, John T. Egan on vocals and Pat Ryan on fiddle, mandolin and banjo.
There is also a long list of guest musicians including a cracking bodhran player and even some brass!
With all these different instrumentalists chopping and changing, soloing and blending and all playing with exuberance, dexterity and vigour, it doesn’t get stale for a second. The couple of songs are extremely engaging and entertaining and you even get to find out what happened to all the snakes in Ireland! This is a great one for the collection! Imogen O’Rourke
The Irish Democrat
EIGHT YEARS on from the release of their self-titled debut album, Rattle The Boards have come up with another toe-tapping collection of traditional Irish dance tunes and songs.
Based around a nucleus of founder members Benny McCarthy (button accordionist), John Nugent (guitar/vocals), Pat Ryan (fiddle/banjo) and former guest singer John T. Egan (vocals), Rattle The Boards have produced an album that is unashamedly nostalgic in feel. This time around featured guests include Jon Kenny (vocals), Decky O’Dwyer (trumpet), Donnchadh Gough (bodhran), Des Dillon (harmonica), Paul Ryan (accordion) and Bruno Staelhelin (percussion).
What could so easily have ended up as mere pastiche is anything but. This is entirely down to the excellent quality and vitality of the playing – though you’d hardly expect anything less from an ensemble that features two members of Irish traditional ‘supergroup’ Danu (McCarthy and Gough) and a bevy of renowned and respected musicians with more ceilis under their belt than you could shake a stick at.
While their unrepentantly backward-looking tribute pays homage to the musical culture of a bygone era it does so in style. Although their approach won’t please everyone, you’ll need a narrow mind and a cold heart not to find your spirit lifted and your feet tapping, providing a reminder of a time when virtually the sole purpose of music was to get folk on their feet.
In fact, if these tunes and songs don’t get you in the mood the volume’s probably not up loud enough – either that or you’re under the boards rather than in any position to rattle them. David Granville
“Tunes familiar to every parish but with a bit of fire under them” THE IRISH TIMES
Shake, ‘Rattle,’ and Roll On Music Meant for the Dancer in You
[Published on June 4, 2008, in the IRISH ECHO newspaper, New York City. Copyright (c) Earle Hitchner. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of author.]
The self-titled debut recording in 1999 by Rattle the Boards raised a smile for me when I read the group’s track note for “The Controversial Reel.” Listed as “trad.,” it was described as “a lovely reel which is around a long time.” Thirty-one years ago, the reel appeared on “Kiss Me Kate,” an album by fiddler Liz Carroll and button accordionist Tommy Maguire. So the track note is accurate–except for “trad.” It isn’t. The reel was composed by Brooklyn-born, Baltimore resident button accordionist Billy McComiskey. But the compliment to McComiskey comes from the assumption that a tune that good must be “trad.”
“Trad.” instrumental music is mainly dance music, and the latter dominates “The Parish Platform,” the new recording by Rattle the Boards. My hope is that the group, like “The Controversial Reel,” will be around a long time, for their music is an unvarnished joy meant to get your feet moving and, yes, rattling the boards.
The founding members of Rattle the Boards are Danu button accordionist Benny McCarthy from Waterford, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin player Pat Ryan from Tipperary, and guitarist John Nugent, Ryan’s brother-in-law, from Tipperary. All three formerly played with the Knocknagow Ceili Band, based in Clonmel, and have gotten together to play music almost weekly since 1992.
The guest singer on the first Rattle the Boards album was Tipperary’s Martha Beardmore, and the full-fledged member now singing with the group is Tipperary’s John T. Egan. He possesses a gruff voice well suited to the two songs on the new CD, “St. Patrick Was a Gentleman” (Jon Kenny shares lead vocal) and “The Nightingale.”
The rest of the dozen tracks on “The Parish Platform” are tunes, and the album’s most dazzling performance comes from button accordionist Benny McCarthy on “The Mason’s Apron.” It’s a warhorse traditional reel that was boosted in popularity by fiddler Sean Maguire with the Four Star Quartet and then boosted again through the solo turn by flutist Matt Molloy in the Chieftains’ concerts. The embellishments by McCarthy in this reel refreshen it. Accompanied by Nugent on guitar and McCarthy’s Danu colleague Donnchadh Gough on bodhran, the button accordionist plays with triplet-flecked swing and inventive panache while never losing his grip on the tune’s melodic spine. This tour de force matches McCarthy’s best work with Danu.
“McKillop’s/Love at the Endings/High Reel” is a medley initially showcasing Pat Ryan’s skill on the fiddle. With Nugent and Gough backing him, Ryan plays the first reel with limber energy and pulse, all ratcheted up when McCarthy enters on the second reel and Ryan himself switches to banjo on the third reel. Even nailing your shoes to the floor won’t prevent you from tapping them to this percolating beat.
In the “Galway/Peacock’s Feather” hornpipes, McCarthy’s accordion playing, which sports some well-placed, Derrane-like triplets, and Ryan’s banjo playing, which ably complements the box and also allows it to veer off on nimble flights of fancy, form a crisp, cohesive whole, backed unobtrusively by Nugent on guitar.
“The Irish Washerwoman” is a jig still shunned by many Irish traditional musicians, who feel it has been done to death in the past and also conjures up a cultural image of demeaning stereotype. But no matter how long this jig may be mothballed, it is instantly recognizable when dusted off and performed. The reason is its enduring melodic and rhythmic appeal. Both are obvious in the vibrant new airing the jig receives from McCarthy on accordion, Ryan on banjo, Nugent on guitar, and Gough on bodhran in a medley that includes “Maid in the Meadow” and “Humours of Drinagh.”
Among the other medleys packing a punch on the new album are “Farrell O’Gara/Gan Ainm/The Flying Irishman” reels, “Cuz Teahan’s/Gan Ainm/Johnny O’Leary’s” polkas, and “Jimmy’s Jig/Gan Ainm.”
Where ceili band and showband merge (collide, if you’re a purist) is “Whistling Rufus,” a hoot of a quickstep tune played a little too loosely. It additionally melds Irish trad with New Orleans jazz strains, especially through guest Decky O’Dwyer’s trumpet playing.
A critic in Ireland wrote that “The Parish Platform” may veer near “caricature.” I suppose the plain woolen caps, work shoes, and other attire worn by the quartet in sepia-toned album photos–one shows them dancing and playing music on a small wooden platform laid on a dirt country lane with an old car parked close by–may give off that impression to some. But it’s a mistake to suggest that “The Parish Platform” inadvertently swerves toward “caricature” or, worse, constitutes a deliberate goof or spoof smirking at a musical style and attitude rooted in the rural Ireland of the not-so-distant past. This album is not a lampoon but a lively, winsome tribute, full of fun and motivated by respect, recalling a time when spurring people to dance was all that mattered. What’s not to like about that? Earle Hitchner
www.liveIreland.com
Next up is a new fav, The Parish Platform by Rattle the Boards. Four musicians, with guest stars. John Nugent, Benny McCarthy, John Egan and Pat Ryan offer an album of great fun and a sense of the real trad. This is not the honed studio perfection of so many albums today. This is a big, blousy thing with a great sense of the music, the rhythms and the meaning. It is the most fun we have had listening to anything in quite a while. We frequently smiled, and even got up to shake a foot occasionally ourselves! The role of ceili and set dancing is well recorded in Irish music, and vastly overrated. And, if this album in description pays a little too much of a tip of the hat to the dancing tradition, it delivers the essential goods—the music itself. You will love this album. It will be a contender for Vocal/Instrumental Album of the Year. It is their second album and is offered through Doon Productions. Go to www.rattletheboards.com. Find this album and buy it. Then turn it up. Smile. Rating: Four Harps. Bill Margeson
Irish Music Magazine
Rattle the Boards tread a fine line between ceoltoir and caricature. I’d say they carry it off, their music is meant to be fun and it is. From the opening notes of ‘Cuz Teehan’s Polka’ we’re clearly well down the country, the whole album is a triumph of exuberance.
All the old favourites are trotted out: ‘The Mason’s Apron, The Irish Washerwoman, The Galway Hornpipe’ and The High Reel’. Box and banjo front men, Benny McCarthy and Pat Ryan are well known from Danu and the Knockgow band. They’re joined by John Nugent on guitar, and John T Egan for the occasional song, on this follow-up to their 1999 debut CD.
Amidst plenty of good stuff, the majority is pure traditional: ‘Johnny Leary’s, Off to California, McKillop’s Reel, Humours of Drinagh’, and a couple of ‘Can Ainmneacha’. The showband standard, ‘Whistling Rufus’ adds a note of jazz and pays homage to Clonmel’s other musical heritage (Mick Delahunty’s big band). The big band on this track is a one man horn section from Decky O’Dwyer and some deft finger work on the box from McCarthy.
Benny excels on his ‘Mason’s Apron’ solo, with enough variations to please any Dubliners die-hards, while ‘Autumn Sky’ and The Nightingale’ are firmly back in showband territory. There are just two songs on The Parish Platform’; the other is a rough-and-ready romp through the comic ballad ‘St Patrick Was a Gentleman’, a duet with comedian John Kenny. A set of reels headed up by ‘Farrell O’Gara’ provides the big finish, played straight and not too fast, a satisfying conclusion to a most entertaining CD. There’s an engagingly antiqued website at www.rattletheboards.com. Alex Monaghan
£14.99 -
Rita Gallagher – The May Morning Dew & Easter Snow
Rarely, in any decade, has such a splendid collection of traditional songs been assembled in one audio publication. The quality of the singing in song after song is outstanding. Rita has a remarkably beautiful voice, which, allied to her integrity of taste, and the consummate ease with which she tackles the most challenging of songs, ensures that each song is a gem of special delight. Just look at the list of top quality and challenging songs which she sings with such superb artistry on this CD – songs such as The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow, Lovely Willie, The Wounded Hussar, The Banks of the Clyde, The Bonnie Bunch of Roses O, Rambling Boys of Pleasure, Lough Erne Shore, Bunch of Rushes Green, etc, etc – indeed I could list the entire contents as examples of excellent traditional singing. And I must not overlook
The Mermaid, Paddy Tunney’s translation of the Gaelic Song, An Mhaighdean Mhara, previously recorded (to my knowledge] only by Paddy’s daughter Brigid on her CD “Hand in Hand”. Though brief, it is a lovely item. A touch of humour is added with the inclusion of the light hearted Rambling Irishman, and the flippantly jocular Oh The Marriage
Familiar favourites such as Craigie Hill, The Shores of Lough Brann, The Flower of Magherally O, The May Morning Dew and Out of the Window (It will not be long love) are to be heard here, refurbished and renewed to gladden our hearts as when first heard many years ago.
Many of the songs sung here are from the Tunney repertoire – by which I mean they are songs which were regularly sung by the late Paddy Tunney, and by his mother Brigid – may God rest them both — and still sung by Paddys sons and daughters. (They are also sung by countless singers of all ages, for the Tunney disciples are legion). Rita Gallagher studied and assimilated these songs from her early twenties. Paddy Tunney’s songs and singing style were a major source of inspiration.
In singing them now, she remains true to the spirit and integrity of that style; still, this does not prevent her from using her own exceptional musical talents to give her personal interpretation of these songs; a fine example of tradition handed down and renewed.
I would consider her singing of the several Tunney songs on this CD as a major tribute to an inspirational troubadour. This publication is also remarkable because we hear Rita’s solo, unaccompanied voice, in all twenty recordings, apart from bodhran accompaniment on one light hearted song. With so many songs being included, most singers would have been tempted to include some kind of backing on a few tracks at least, or a few songs might have been recorded at a live session where murmured words of encouragement and the generally supportive atmosphere would give the performer confidence.
Only a singer of exceptional ability would have the courage to take on the challenge of maintaining momentum, tuning, and concentration through the four, five or six demanding verses of so many songs.
Rita Gallagher has done it in great style, and these recordings will stand as a testament to her ability”. Seamus MacMathuna
Press Reviews
www.liveIreland.com
Is Rita Gallagher the best Irish singer in the world? We know a LOT of musicians and fans who answer yes to that question for this fabulous alto from Donegal. A hidden treasure, she and her new album, Easter Snow, were brought to our attention by one of the world’s best, Copperplate Distribution in London. Google Copperplate Distribution. You just landed in heaven without having to die first. This album is a masterpiece from a master singer. Do you want to hear the REAL Ireland? You’re in luck. Rita Gallagher will sing it to you. A sean nos classic from a gift of a voice. This is no nasal soprano child singing some nonsense passing as Irish. This is a real Irish woman singing wonderful music in a voice from God. Impeccable. Bill Margeson
The Living Tradition
It’s a brave singer who tackles The Blackbird’, the air is the same as the famous set dance with all that that entails. The range is great and there’s no margin for error; you either hit it right at the start or you’re
in trouble. Start too low, and you finish up grunting the low notes; start too high and you sound like a castrato (if you’re male). I only ever sang it in public once and all the way through it I was in fear of making a mess of it and a fool of myself. It never got a public airing since. Rita Gallagher hits it right on the button, that sweet note that lets you know you have the song right. It’s a good long song, with many chances
of error, but she carries it off magnificently.
Gallagher’s first recording, Easter Snow, in 1997, should have been followed by many more; the quality of her singing is outstanding. The May Morning Dew rectifies the omission. Twenty songs on a CD is exceptional; when you get another fourteen on another disc, you’re getting something extra special. This second disc is a re-mastering of Easter Snow. As she says on the insert, “these 34 tracks are the total
my recorded singing”. These are some of the biggest of the ‘big’ songs from the tradition; if you have these as a repertoire, you’re in good company. When you record them without accompaniment, in spite of
the temptation to use it on a few tracks at least, you have to be good.
Originally from Ballymacahill, Co. Donegal, Gallagher now lives in Crossroads, near Ballybofey. Though not traditional, her parents were both singers; her mother sang in local
concerts in her youth. “I always sang and played music, but only came to traditional singing in my twenties when I attended a Donegal County Fleadh in 1978.” She won her first All Ireland Fleadh for traditional singing in English in 1979, then again in 1981 and 1982 – missing out on a hat-trick by coming second in 1980. “Pauline Sweeney and Bridin Doherty were my initial sources of songs, when we were members of Donegal Seisiun Group together. I began listening to and recording other singers from then on. Between 1978 and now, I’ve collected a number of songs from many sources. I find that the older I get, the more interested I become in the songs, and how complex and diverse the songs and singers are. I realise how little I really know about the wealth of talent out there.”
With Gallagher’s background, it’s not surprising that there is a weighting towards Ulster songs. She had many of the songs from the late Paddy Tunney and later from members of his family. Many of the song airs are different; others have different lyrics, which is always refreshing. But all are great songs from a long tradition. There are songs of love and of loss, of fickle-hearted sweethearts and brash suitors. There are bitter songs of cold-hearted landlords, like John Adair, who was ‘one of our own’ rather than the usual incomer, and transportation, like Edward on Lough Erne Shore. The latter isn’t to be confused with Lough
Erne Shore, which is a courting song with a successful outcome. It’s not all doom and gloom though; Oh The Marriage is a warning against that institution; The Rambling Irishman (not the De Danann version) has a light-hearted bodhran accompaniment. And that’s the only accompaniment you get on any of the songs.
The May Morning Dew, the title song, is rightly regarded as a masterpiece of the regrets at the passing of time. Who could fail to be moved by the lines about the birthplace being “but a stone on a stone”? Gallagher’s version is slightly different from mine but I got mine from three different family sources so long ago that I can’t recall which is which. This is the beauty of traditional singing; to make a song your own yet keep within the spirit of the original. Out of the Window is often said to be a variant of She Moved Through the Fair, the reverse is probably true. So far as I know, Padraic Colum never laid claim to being composer of the air; although those lyrics are his for sure. Similarly, Rambling Boys of Pleasure is older than WB Yeats’ Down by the Sally Gardens. That’s not to imply any base motive; there was a theme, so he borrowed it. Gallagher has a different air for it that’s a pleasant change from the more usual one.
Few female singers’ voices really mature until they reach their thirties. Though I wouldn’t dare ask their ages, I’ve noticed this in quite a few singers I’ve heard. I kept switching between the two discs and
there’s a marked change in Gallagher’s voice. As good and strong as it was in 1997, it’s become even richer and mellower on the later recording. There’s no question of which is best, just a difference.
Thirty-four fine songs from a fine singer; what more could anyone want?
In his introduction my old friend Seamus MacMathuna, who knows more about songs and singers than anyone else I know of, predicts: “…it will be a valued source and inspiration for singers of all ages…” Seamus doesn’t give praise lightly so that’s a real and deserved tribute. I’ll give him the last word for I value his judgement on all things musical: “Only a singer of exceptionable ability would have the courage to take on the challenge of maintaining momentum, tuning and concentration through the four, five or six demanding verses of so many songs. Rita Gallagher has done it in great style, and these recordings will stand as a testament to her ability.” Mick Furey
£16.99 -
Seamus Quinn & Gary Hastings – Slan le Lough Eirne
- The Kiss Behind the Door / Bonnie Ann / The Granny in the Wood.
- The Humours of Ballyconnell / Swinging on the Gate.
- The Mayo Snaps / The Boys of the Town.
- Paddy Kiloran’s Highland / Hannah Mhici Mhicheail’s.
- Farewell Dear Erne, I Now Must Leave You.
- The New Copperplate / Patsy Hanley’s.
- The Bugle Hornpipe / Number 5.
- Edward the Seventh / The Lark on the Strand.
- The Shaskeen.
- The Banks of the Clyde.
- Na Ceannabhain Bhana / Dever the Dancer.
- P. Flanagan’s / The Gossoon That Beat His Father.
- The Maids of Castlebar / The Morning Star.
- Last Nights Fun / The Sligo Maid.
- The Heel & Toe / Devlin’s.
The three first met in Coleraine University. Gary is now Church of Ireland rector in Westport, Seamus is a Catholic priest in Monaghan, and Ciaran is from the parish of Altan. Seamus plays fiddle, Gary plays flute and Ciaran plays bouzouki. This is superb music, much of it based on the tradition of County Fermanagh where Seamus grew up. These men had the same mentors as Cathal McConnell, the musicians of South Fermanagh and North Leitrim. Seamus also has a special allegiance to the music of Coleman, and the couple of slow airs included are based on the songs and style of Fermanagh. It’s as good as you are going to hear. Claddagh Records
£14.99 -
Sean Casey – The Porthole of the Kelp
1. The Musical Priest / Jenny’s Chickens
2. The Humours of Lissadel / The Queen of May
3. Tommy Coen’s / The Reel of Mullinavat
4. The Templehouse / Toss The Feathers
5. The Pipe on the Hob / Brendan Tonra’s Jig
6. Farewell to Miltown / The Star of Munster
7. Pol Ha’penny
8. Colonel Fraser
9. The Bank of Ireland / The Woman of the House
The Drunken Gauger
Banish Misfortune / The Cliffs of Moher
Lucy Campbell
Paddy Ryan’s Dream / Over the Moor to Maggie
Rakish Paddy / The Green Fields of Rossbeigh
The Tempest / The West Wind
The Porthole of the Kelp / The Hare’s Paw
Press Reviews
Irish Music Magazine 1/2003
Bow Hand is the baby of Dermot Kearney, banjo-player and erstwhile sparring partner of the fiddler Jimmy Power when the latter led the sessions on The Victoria in London’s Holloway Road in the 1980s. The label’s first release was ‘Navvy on the Shore’ by the larger than life and twice as frisky, Donegal fidddler, Danny Meehan, and now comes an equally valuable recording from another key figure on the London Irish music scene.
Sean Casey is, of course, the son of the late Bobby Casey, from the Crosses of Annagh in Co Clare, whom many reckon to be one of the greatest fiddlers of the latter half of the last century and, sadly also one of the most under-recorded. Brought up in London’s Camden Town in a house where Willie Clancy was the lodger, oddly enough Sean was never taught by his father, but acquired early tuition from the concertina player and piper, Tommy McCarthy, also learning fiddle technique from Tony Linnane, and Brendan Mulkere. Yet it was on the mandolin that Sean first made his name, later also acquiring skills on the mandola and banjo, on the last of which he would often be requested to play a solo at The Victoria. Ill-health forced Jimmy Power to retire from the pub’s sessions and Dermot Kearney latched upon Sean as his replacement, much to the latter’s surprise, on the fiddle and he’s never looked back since.
Porthole of the Kelp is his debut solo album, and was recorded in the Cricklewood living room of Paddy Gallagher, who accompanies on guitar and bouzouki, with Pete Quinn dropping in for the odd tune on the keyboard. Those who’ve heard Sean play at a session will instantly recognise the wit, sensitivity and effortless vigour which characterizes his playing, ever willing to let the melody do the work, but keen to explore its possibilities. There were, of course, essential facets of his father’s music and there are many echoes of the great man here, not least in two swooping jigs, The Pipe on the Hob and Brendan Tonra’s.
Admittedly, the sound quality (direct to DAT) is not the best, though the accompaniment is always spot on whether it’s Paddy’s stylish tracking of Casey’s every move, or the resonant chordal landscape painted by Pete’s keyboard. As on the reel, ‘Colonel Fraser’, the letter seems to inspire Sean to broaden his canvas even further, offering a rich concoction of technical agility married to essential soulfulness.
Sean never plays a tune the same way twice, so this is very much a one-off recording, but, hopefully not the last that those outside London will hear of him. Geoff Wallis
Musical Traditions Web Site
One of the younger musicians referred to by Reg in his aforementioned liner notes is the fiddler Seán Casey who was born some thirty-five or so years ago in North London. His father was, of course, Bobby Casey whose own father was Scully Casey which is some lineage to live up to. The Porthole is simply one hell of a fiddle player doing precisely what comes naturally! (It is suggested, however, that those of a nervous disposition do not look too closely at the CD itself which, thanks to the position of its central hole, appears to show Seán shot through the head.) Geoff Wallis
£14.99 -
Sean O’Driscoll – So There You Go
Biography.
Seán O’Driscoll hails from Blarney, County Cork and comes from a very musical family. His father was a respected accordion player, who along with his three brothers made up the well-known O’Driscoll Ceili band, who played widely throughout County Cork in the days before amplification.
Seán is one of the most versatile musicians playing Irish music today. Although he first gained recognition for his virtuoso banjo playing, he is equally adept on guitar, accordion, bouzouki and mandolin. His natural musical ability extends to composition with many excellent tunes and songs to his credit. Playing strictly by ear, his memory holds a massive repertoire.
Seán’s compositions have been recorded by Laurence Nugent and Kevin Burke among others.
He has played widely in the United States, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. For many years he toured America with noted accordion player and tune collector, Paddy O’Brien, and is a member of the well known band, The Irish Rovers.
The impressive list of other musicians he has played and recorded with include: Larry Egan, Vince Milne, James Keane, Martin Hayes, Larry Nugent, James Kelly, Liz Carroll, Jerry O’Sullivan, Jimmy Crowley, Dave Hennessy, Mick Daly, Peter Ostroushko, and Seán Maguire.
When Seán returned permanently to Cork in 1997, he discovered that all the popular Sunday afternoon sessions that he remembered had disappeared. With his wife, Mary, who plays fiddle, he started a 12.30 session in the Ovens Bar, Cork City. Many local and well-known musicians have helped anchor the tunes over the years, including the sadly missed, Seamus Creagh on fiddle. Some years ago the session migrated to Charlie’s Bar on Union Quay, and now almost sixteen years since that first Ovens session it has become an institution. Starting at 3pm, the session features guest musicians from anywhere and everywhere and continues until 6pm, although sometimes much later if the right combination of musicians, singers and listeners appear. There is never a dull Sunday in Charlie’s!
Also featuring Sean and available from Copperplate: CICD 155 Sean O’Driscoll & Larry Egan: The Kitchen Recordings
The Kitchen Recordings are just that, a refreshing and lively collection of tunes recorded in Seán’s kitchen with the terrific young Wicklow accordion player, Larry Egan.
It began as an experiment, Larry using BC fingering on Seán’s grey C#D Paolo Soprani accordion and Seán using a capo on the banjo. The resulting sound was so bright and fun that they didn’t stop playing until it turned into an album.
On this Cló Iar-Chonnachta CD there’s no cutting and no fixing, giving it the energy and life of a live recording; a feel good album and one that even non trad fans go back to time and time again
Press Reviews
The Living Tradition June/July issue
Sean O’Driscoll is a fine tenor banjo and bouzouki player from Blarney in County Cork. So There You Go is his second solo album, on which he is supported by Larry Egan on accordion; Patrick Egan on concertina; Dave Hennessy on melodeon and Donncha Moynihan and Johnny Neville on guitar.
This excellent album opens with a lively set of polkas played in American ‘honky-tonk’ style. In sharp contrast, on the slow air The Dear Irish Boy, the bouzouki and banjo arrangement is D unusual and hauntingly beautiful.
In addition to traditional jigs, reels and hornpipes, So There You Go features several of Sean’s own compositions. The Comical Bargain/Bare Faced Lies pair of reels and The Twin Cities jig are fine tunes worthy of being played in any good session. The CD concludes with Sean’s lovely Lendrum’s Waltz, on which he plays button accordion, harking back to his ceili band days.
Some years back, I had the great fortune to play in a session with Sean in Friel’s bar, Miltown Malbay. What struck me then was Sean’s uniquely subtle banjo style
£14.99 -
Shaskeen – Walking up Town
This is the latest and 15th album from Shaskeen
This CD is concert based with many arrangments of tunes & songs. With 16 tracks on the album this provides a huge variation of tunes & songs.
We hope you enjoy the music and that you can experience some of the fun and mischief that prevailed while we were creating it.
We leave you with an expression of affirmation by our good friend and mentor PJ Curtis; the Grand Master of production; who has made a wonderful contribution to this recording.
“The band has earned a well deserved international reputation for performing traditional music and song with style, passion and authority. There are few bands playing traditional music today that can claim such a history or heritage. Like a good wine, there is a maturity laced with a palpable sense of celebration, a musical richness played by a band at the zenith of their career. Enjoy!!”
PJ Curtis.
Press Reviews
Irish Music Magazine
Formed in London in 1970, at a time when Irish Traditional Music was at its peak, Tom Cussen responded to a request from the owner of the Oxford Tavern in Kentish Town to put a band together to play on Friday nights. Now hundreds of Friday nights later they are still a force in live music.
It’s not easy to sum up the thirty-nine years of music making and entertainment that Shaskeen have been at the forefront of Irish Traditional Music. Listening to their new CD, ‘Walking Up Town’, it is clear they are going to be leading the way for quite a while yet.
Having been caught up, like many musical groups, in the whirlwind of the set-dancing era, Shaskeen’s last four albums were of music for the sets. Now they are making a change to concert style performances.
At the core of the band are Tom Cussen on banjo, Eamonn Cotter on flute, Patsy McDonagh on accordion, Johnny Donnellan on bodhrán, Pat Costello on banjo, mandolin and guitar, Pat Broderick on pipes and whistle, Tony Howley on flute and saxophone and Geraldine Cotter on piano. Geraldine accompanied Shaskeen on all their recordings for the sets and is now a regular in the band. Pat Costello has a long involvement with Shaskeen having produced many of their recordings before becoming a regular band member.
This CD is produced by P.J. Curtis and engineered by by Martin O’Malley/Paul Mulligan in the west of Ireland (Kinvara and Miltown Malbay). The band welcome guests Seán Tyrrell and Seán Conway on board for some songs but, at the heart album, number fifteen marks a return to their original musical formula. It’s an album ‘for listening to’ and features a generous collection of jigs, reels, waltzes, polkas, barndances, and songs. The title tune ‘Walking up Town’ is an American ‘breakdown’, a fun rag-style tune. It’s probably the best summing up the band could ask for. Ita Kelly
The Irish World
Shaskeen celebrate forty years with original member, Tom Cussen
Tom Cussen one of the original members that formed Shaskeen in 1970, taking their name from the great Michael Coleman reel. They’re still going strong — and the road to that meeting of musical minds was varied and stood them in good stead for the years of musical partnership ahead. Who would have thought that, four decades later, they would still be at the forefront of traditional Irish music, as vibrant as it ever was.
Tony Howley, of Monlea, Aclare, Co. Sligo, picked up the sax at aged 12, inspired by local talents Mike Marron, Martin Higgins and Mick Delahunty. He played with J P Boland band and then the Tommy Rowley band, coming to London in ’57, where he became a well-known figure on the Irish music scene playing with acclaimed musicians such as Martin Burns (fiddle) Raymond Roland (accordion) and others.
Tony made the move to Manchester in 1965, when he had the opportunity to play with the late Desi Donnelly on the Irish trad scene there. He went on to form his own band and is still a familiar face on the music scene in and around the North West.
Bandmate Tom Cussen, from Broadford, Co. Limerick was always interested in Irish traditional and ceili music. His interest intensified frequenting Ceili Dances and listening to bands like the Tulla & Kilfenora.
Tom headed across the water to London in 1968. and during this time truly immersed himself in the music, buying his first banjo. He said, ‘I learned most of my music in London among great players like Johnny Clifford, Sean McDonagh, Jimmy Power, Bobby Clancy, Maureen Minogue – to name but a few.’
He played a host of sessions and gigs with ever-evolving line-ups while in London, and at one point played with The Sugawn Folk Group, before starting the Shaskeen group in 1970 playing every Friday night in the Oxford Tavern, Kentish Town, North London. He returned to Galway in 1971 and now resides in Clarinbridge where he continues to play and make his famous ‘Clareen Banjos’.Tom still leads Shaskeen as they enter their 40th year on the road, while the line up has changed over the years the enthusiasm & fire in the music still lives on.
Tony Howley now plays on regularly with Shaskeen, and performed in the bands latest CD called ‘Walking up Town’ with other members Patsy McDonagh, accordion,Eamonn Cotter, Concert flute, Pat Broderick, Uilleann pipes, Geraldine Cotter, Piano, Johnny Donnellan, Bodhran & Patt Costello, Vocals, guitar & banjo.
The latest and 15th album from this brilliant band reflects the long and exciting journey they have made since forming all those years ago. A concert-based collection (moving on from a series of set-dancing albums) with a wonderful variety of arrangements of songs, hornpipes, jigs and reels within its 16 tracks, plenty of music to get your dancing shoes on to.
The title track is a joyous, American rag-style tune, and it’s what this band is all about. Much of the album is instrumental, with classic old drinking songs such as ‘All For Me Grog’ and ‘The Jail of Cluain Meala’, but what each has in common is a real sense of fun; it makes you want to seek out a good session.
Indeed, it might even remind a few old hands who saw the group in action in the 70s, when they played Tuam’s Shamrock Bar every Monday for years. An album which conveys some of the ‘fun and mischief’ the pair confessed to having while making it, Waking Up The Town is a great showcase of trad played with panache and great authority.
These guys seem to only get better with age — and their love for their roots and the music of their homeland shines ever brighter. Shelley Marsden
“Tuam Herald” newspaper
IN the mind’s eye many may remember the memorable music sessions with Traditional group Shaskeen in Tuam’s Shamrock Bar (now Geoghegan’s Bar) in the early 1970s.
Those delightful, though perhaps now dusty memories, may be rekindled by listening to the new album Walking Up Town which is the 15th by the group since Shaskeen were formed in London almost 39 years ago. “We played every Monday night in the Shamrock Bar for over two and a half years from 1973. “I came back from London in late 1971 and we restarted the band in Galway in ’72.
Some time later we started to move out of the city area and Tuam’s Shamrock Bar was to become a regular great gig for us,” says founding member Tom Cussen. While Tom says that Shaskeen have made a number of excursions into other musical enclaves over the years they have never strayed too far from their Traditional roots and most of the tracks on this new album reflect those roots very well. Tom adopted the name Shaskeen for the group when the original members first got together in London in 1970.
“As far as I can remember it was in early May of that year which means the band will be 39 years old next May. “I got the name from The Shaskeen Reel as played by Michael Coleman, the band has been going more or less continuously since then,” says Tom. “But of course there have been many changes of personnel over the years and sadly many fine musicians and singers who were involved in the group over the years are no longer with us,” he added.
Tom, who recently retired from his day job with the Biochemistry Department of NUIG has been the fulcrum around which the band has revolved, and evolved, over the years. He is also a talented craftsman who is well known all over the world as the maker of the Clareen Banjos at his workshop in Clarenbridge.
The Shaskeen line-up of today features eight musicians and the group has branched out more into concerts and cabaret rather than concentrating so much on set & ceilí dances as during some of the past decades.
“With eight musicians in the band we are more in it for the love of the music and entertaining people at concerts etc, and with a few notable exceptions we are now inching towards the geriatric twilight,” says Tom with a smile.
On the album he acknowledges the contribution of special guests including Galway city singer Sean Tyrrell who came up with the song Angel’s Whisper for the new album. This is a poem from the 19th century Irish poet Samual Lover which Sean has set to music.
Another outstanding track on the album is the Folk song The Roseville Fair which came from the pen of Bill Staines who was a veteran of the mid 1960s brief international Folk boom.
On this album the song is given an arrangement which has shades of Bluegrass music about it, especially during the intro. Pat Costello is in fine vocal form on this track.
Sean Conway a former member of Shaskeen is the guest vocalist on a nice revival of the old rousing ballad All For Me Grog Pat Costello is back on vocals for the final track which is a popular old ballad especially
in Tipperary titled The Jail at Cluain Meala.
Apart from the few vocals it is mostly music on this new album by Shaskeen
and the group are in fine fettle as they play their way through a series of jigs, reels, waltzes and barndances.
This is a fine production recordes at Paul Mulligan’s Audio Monkey Studio in Kinvara.
The album was mixed by PJ Curtis in Martin O’Malley’s Malbay Studio, Miltown Malbay. PJ has made a great contribution to the way the music and songs flow so smoothly on this album.
For many Walking Up Town will be a trip down memory lane, for some in North Galway perhaps it will be a nostalgic look back towards the sessions in Tuam’s Shamrock Bar in the early 1970s.
Tom Cussen says the musicians hope those listening to the CD will experience some of the fun and mischief that prevailed while Shaskeen were recording this set of songs and tunes.
But Tom added that the group are also issuing a hilarious health warning with the CD.
“If at any time it becomes distressful please stop the CD player and seek professional help or else ring Joe Duffy,” he concluded. – Tom Gilmore.
Shaskeen — Walking Up Town
In the wake of heavily punk influenced Irish folk music, ala The Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly or The Pogues, it is a rare treat to listen to some of the real deal. Where the aforementioned bands have their place, and an amazing sound, nothing quite drives home the brilliance of the roots of that music like hearing the real thing done by people that love it and have done it for a long time.
Together in some incarnation since 1970 Shaskeen has a sound that can only really be defined as practiced and well seasoned. On ‘Walking Up Town,’ their 15th album you can hear the level of experience and heart that is put into their music. With a mixture of Jigs, Reels, and Songs you have no shortage of music to dance to on this album.
A full two thirds of this album is just instrumentals, with a few nods to some of the classic Irish Drinking songs like, ‘All For Me Grog,’ and ‘The Jail of Cluain Meala,’ but no part of it is a let down. And seeking out the rest of their albums will become a must. There is just something about their sound that is undeniably fun spirited, and the kind of sound that you want coming out of the corner in your local pub.
If you are a fan of the kind of traditional Irish Folk Music that has been a driving force in a lot of popular bands these days, then you can do no wrong with ‘Walking Up Town.’ And if you want to expand your musical horizons and listen to something that is pretty much guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step then Shaskeen is the choice for you. Gabriel Llanas
£14.99
