Iarla O’Lionáird tour to mark the release his new solo album Foxlight

• Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick on Thursday 15th September
• The Sugar Club, Dublin on Friday 16th September
• Triskel Christchurch, Cork on Saturday 17th September

From Note.ie:

“Iarla O’Lionáird tours to mark the release his new solo album Foxlight on Realworld Records on September 26th. O’Lionáird grew up and learned his craft in the musical heartland of Cúil Aodha in the West Cork Gaeltacht. From his iconic early recording of the vision song “Aisling Gheal” whilst still a boy, through many recordings O’Lionaird established himself both as a masterful exponent of Sean Nós Song and as a pioneer in its renewal and development.

HIs latest, Foxlight, shimmers with versatility. While it is rooted in certain traditions, it is also unclassifiable and refuses to be located in one genre or another. It’s also one of Ó Lionáird’s most organic, naturalistic records to date. Instrumentation and layers are embedded in each song, but ultimately it’s about Ó Lionáird’s exquisite, sonically unique voice. Foxlight is produced by Leo Abrahams a features Leafcutter John, Geese, Adjagas, Neill McColl and more as guests. All eleven songs are imbued with a sense of time and place, of connections and myths. From ancient rhythms to modern electronics, Ó Lionáird’s exceptional voice is the fulcrum around which everything pivots.

These shows also feature O’Lionaird’s new band featuring amongst others Stephen Shannon of Strands, Donnacha Hoey of Spook of the Thirteenth Lock and Max Greenwood.

Always an artist on his own journey O’Lionáird signed to the prestigious Realworld label in the mid 1990′s he would go on to make many ground breaking recordings with the multi million selling Afro Celt Sound System receiving two Grammy nominations. Solo albums “Seven Steps to Mercy” (1997, produced by Michael Brook) and “Invisible Fields” (2005) brought widespread acclaim confirming O’Lionáird as one of contemporary music’s most ambitious singers and recording artists. His latest

O’Lionáird has always been a collaborator and an artist seeking new fields of engagement. From his collaborations with Peter Gabriel on Ovo, this has taken an increasingly classical form. His song-cycle with Gavin Bryars, Anail De (The Breath of God) reflects a deep artistic collaboration and friendship with the composer. Similarly he has worked extensively with acclaimed Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy and his group The Crash Ensemble. He also featured as a soloist on the Nonesuch debut label release of Dennehy’s “Grá agus Bás” with Dawn Upshaw and Crash Ensemble released in May.

Foxlight is released on Real World Records on September 26th.”

Hear what’s in store for us from The Gloaming

The Gloaming (Thomas Bartlett, Dennis Cahill, Martin Hayes, Iarla Ó Lionaird and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh) have shared a sense of what they were up to at that recording session in Grouse Lodge in March (via Journal of Music):

Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Mick O’Brien have a new CD coming out shortly

This duo’s chemisty (here pictured at Cobalt Cafe in February this year) is about to be released again in a follow up to the masterful Kitty Lie Over CD of 2003 (a ‘must have’). Caoimhín says: “just listening through the final final final masters of the new album with Mick O’Brien. Really happy with it. Hoping to have it out for Miltown.” i.e. the Willie Clancy festival in July.

[From a LiveTrad.com recording >]

UPDATE:

It’s called ‘Deadly Buzz | Aoibhinn Cronan’ (boom boom!) and Caoimhín has designed the cover himself:

What Irish music will Queen Elizabeth & President Obama be listening to?

Artists including Brendan Begley, Caoimhin O Raghallaigh and Emer Mayock if this reaches its ultimate listeners:

“IASCA and FMC in partnership with Culture Ireland are giving the gift of music from Ireland to dignitaries and the international press corps travelling with HRH The Queen and President Obama during their individual visits to Ireland this month.

The double CD entitled, Music From Ireland 2011 will be presented to over 1000 visitors and key national and international media who will be in Ireland for the visit of the UK and US heads of state. The main aim of the project is to promote Irish artists both at home (pr & streaming) and abroad (CD) and hope the artists involved benefit by being heard by the recipients, which include international press.

The artist selection process involved representative organisations Music Network, The Contemporary Music Centre, Improvised Music Company and First Music Contact, as well as Culture Ireland and The Arts Council, nominating artists they feel currently represent a snapshot of each genre.

The music is divided in to four chapters, each chapter representing two genres (and it can be listened to on the IASCA website here >>>):

Indie & Rock  - Lisa Hannigan, Ham Sandwich, We Cut Corners

Folk & Traditional  -  Mick Flannery, Ryan Sheridan, Fidil,

Classical & Contemporary  -  Irish Chamber Orchestra, Crash Ensemble

Jazz & World -  Metier, Justin Carroll, Niwel Tsumbu

Donnacha Dennehy’s Grá agus Bás is as sublime as landscape

Apart from all its other more obvious merits (Dawn Upshaw, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Donnacha Dennehy, Crash Ensemble, Yeats poetry …!) Grá agus Bás has a thrilling ‘search for balance’ thing going on in it. The title of course, reflects it; and the cover, too, for instance, with its depiction of a fight for space between the landscape and something more abstract and man-made (gorse fires come to mind under present circumstances); but most dramatically for me in the voice-ensemble dynamic in Iarla O’Lionaird’s eponymous piece, where the instrumental music (more abstract?) is rightly given plenty of space to ‘feature’ before Iarla’s voice (more landscape?) asserts itself and starts to win over one’s ‘only-human-afterall’ ear. (Hey, come on, I’m trying here … you know what Elvis Costello said about this pursuit.) (It’s reminding me a little of episodic novels where you really don’t want one narritive strand to end and it takes you a little while to get into the other part but when you do you actually don’t want IT to end, and so on to the end!)

Anyway, I know it won’t be everyone’s thing, asking so much of us, as it does, but I think this is going to be a hugely significant item in Irish cultural history, and I’m just glad it’s got such an air of geology about it (- excuse the puns).

Ciorras’ debut album now out

The Donal Lunny-TG4 organised group, Ciorras have just released their debut album, ‘Silver Lining’. Tis is available to buy from their website here >>>. “Intriguingly complex arrangements delivered with a confidence and panache that compels you to listen,” is how Irish Music magazine described their stuff.

Tarab launching debut CD tonight

Improvised Music Company Presents

TARAB

Debut CD Launch

“Some of the most enchanting music I’ve  heard this year.”-  The Irish Times

Francesco Turrisi – accordion, harmonium, percussion.
Nick Roth – saxophones, flutes, Emer Mayock – flutes, whistles, pipes, fiddle
Robbie Harris – bodhran, percussion,Kate Ellis – cello

Tarab is a light, nimble craft that sails the waters between Ireland and the Mediterranean, and its helmsman is Italy’s  Francesco Turrissi, who has made a real   impression since moving to Ireland, bringing a fresh perspective informed by his background in baroque harpsichord, jazz piano and the Moorish dance forms of Southern Italy. In Tarab he performs on accordion and various Arabic and Sicilian frame drums, and convincingly bridges modal music from right across Europe in a band that   also includes saxophonist Nick Roth and cellist Kate Ellis. Their jazz and classical backgrounds find a counterbalance in traditional flautist Emer Mayock who, along with percussionist Robbie Harris, brings an innate understanding of melody and form in Irish music.

Turrisi orchestrates with subtlety, deftly balancing these powerful elements to harmonious effect, pulling Irish music into invigorating new conversations. Iranian tombak master Pedram Khavar- Zamini, Palestinian oud player Haytham Safia, Bulgarian kaval virtuoso Theodossii Spassov and the masterful Greek singer Savina Yannatou are among the artists with whom they’ve recently collaborated, and later this they’ll be performing with the acclaimed Irish theatre company Rough Magic.

Wednesday 27th April / Whelan’s Dublin / 8pm  / €12/10

Improvised Music Company Presents TARAB Debut CD Launch

Thursday 28th April / Hilgrove Hotel, DIngle / 9:30pm / €15/12

Feile Na Bealtaine, Hilgrove Hotel, Dingle

Sunday 1st May / Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray / 8pm / €25

Bray Jazz Festival, Bray Mermaid Arts Centre

First solo recording by MacDara Ó Raghallaigh

Tis here to listen to >>>

“MacDara Ó Raghallaigh’s fiddle playing is often described as ‘brilliant’, ‘amazing’, ‘top-class’. These accolades indeed fit well as MacDara has earned a reputation as one of Ireland’s outstanding fiddle players. His playing style is highly individual, personal and deeply rooted in the pure tradition. What strikes you is the personality and flair in the music and the driving rhythm and pulse that is delivered by a powerful fluid bowhand.

MacDara interprets and fashions each tune to his own liking, building in variation and ornamentation with a great sense of feeling to draw the most out of the tune. The result is an ear-catching performance full of energy, inventiveness and expression, delivered at a solid steady pace with great underlying rhythm and lift.

MacDara is the youngest of the musical Ó Raghallaigh family from Rathmolyon, Co.Meath and he was reared on music. Their home on the family farm was one filled with traditional music and song, and Irish was the everyday spoken tongue. His father Pádraig from Cill Chiaráin, Connamara, plays accordeon while his mother Máire, a fine singer, had been a member of Seán Óg Ó Tuama’s ‘Cantairí na Life’. As a child MacDara listened to the music of his older siblings before he got the chance to start on the fiddle himself – his late brother Félim on fiddle and flute, Nóra and Áine on fiddles, and Micheál on concertina. From an early age he took to the fiddle like a fish to water and developed his music skills playing at junior céilís, sessions and house dances in Co Meath.

MacDara achieved many All Ireland honours in solo, duet, trio, and céilí band competitions through all the age groups at the Fleadhanna Cheoil, including the All Ireland Senior Fiddle at Clonmel in 1992. He is also a winner of Oireachtas and Fiddler of Dooney fiddle competitions. He was a member of the Naomh Pádraig Céilí Band from its formation in the junior age groups right through to their becoming three in a row All Ireland Senior Céilí Band Champions in 2004/05/06. Nowadays he plays in local Meath sessions and shares his talent teaching young fiddlers around the Trim area.

This first anticipated and overdue recording of MacDara comes from two nights of playing before a live audience on 14th and 15th of January, 2011 in Newtown, Co Kildare, not far from his Meath home. It is just a sample of the enormous repertoire of tunes he possesses, and it will bring his music to a wider audience. The unaccompanied sound of the fiddle makes for clear listening and it will be of particular interest not just to followers of the music but to students of the fiddle everywhere. I was going to list my favourite tracks but decided I’d leave it to you – there’s a richness and inspiration in all of them!

Bain sult as.”

Antóin MacGabhan

Gerry Harrington – solo recording on the way

Last night’s fun was local and yet global. Local music-lover Pat Conlon organised a re-run of a 2009 concert featuring Peter Browne (uilleann pipes), Gerry Harrington (fiddle) and Phil Callery (voice & fiddle), and whether it was more my state of mind or their playing I am not sure, but I can tell you they ‘made it new’ entirely … as the best artists do. It was ‘electric’ and not for a minute deja vu. The solo airs (especially Gerry’s), the fiddle duets, the songs, and the ensemble tunes were all world class. And there they were in our local Blessington theatre (playing for an unfortunately small, but very appreciattive crowd).

I had a quick word with Gerry Harrington afterwards to say thank you and praise the music, and as well as briefly discussing the way he ‘sees music’ as well as hears it, he also mentioned that a solo recording is on the way – something that he’s been wanting to do for many years and has finally been able to complete. With the wonderful Kerry dance traditions blended with everything he has picked up in Sligo from the likes of Peter Horan, on top of his very individual style fingering, this should be something very special.

Alyth McCormack & Triona Marshall new recording

Their years spent touring with The Chieftains and performing at festivals has culminated in Alyth McCormack & Triona Marshall bringing together the voice of the former with the harp playing of the latter in a recording. The CD is called Red & Gold and features the following tracks:

1. Crazyman Michael
2. Chicago Rain
3. Breisleach (Delirium)
4. The Sea is so Huge
5. An T-Iarla Diurach (The Earl of Jura)
6. One in a Million
7. The Mason’s Apron
8. Mar a tha (The Way It Is)
9. Uamh an Oirr (The Cave of Gold)
10. As Long As You Remember Me
11. The Saw Set (Mouth Music)

The CD is available to purchase on their website here (which is also new and suggests that this may not be a one-off) >>>

 

They are only just finished or finishing a US tour with the Chieftains, so there are no dates for the duo announced as yet.

Nonesuch releasing Donnacha Dennehy’s Grá agus Bás featuring Iarla O’Lionaird …

Nonesuch will release its first recording of music by the Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, Grá agus Bás, on May 3, 2011. The album includes the title piece, which translates as Love and Death, as well as the composer’s song cycle That the Night Come. The Dublin–based Crash Ensemble—which Dennehy co-founded—performs both works, conducted by Alan Pierson. Irish singer Iarla O’Lionáird is the soloist for Grá agus Bás, while American soprano, and longtime Nonesuch artist, Dawn Upshaw is featured on That the Night Come. The album is currently available to pre-order here at nonesuch.com.

Written especially for Iarla O’Lionáird and the Crash Ensemble, Grá agus Bás is inspired by a number of Sean Nós songs. (Sean Nós is a type of unaccompanied Irish vocal music; translated as the “old style” or “old tradition,” it is transmitted from generation to generation orally.) The work explores the themes of love and death in a non-narrative context. That the Night Come, written for Dawn Upshaw and the Crash Ensemble, comprises six settings of poems by W.B. Yeats. Dennehy says: “Yeats’ repeating obsessions with unattainable love, his longing for the fullness of experience, his anger at fleeting happiness, and the certainty of time’s ravage and death are obsessions that I share.”

Bodhrán Insight, Guido Plüschke and Rolf Wagels

Bodhrán Insight (which can be bought here >>>) – the title in itself is explicit as Guido Plüschke (Celtic Cowboys) and Rolf Wagels (of Cara) wish to share with their listeners an insight into the art of bodhrán playing. The bodhrán, fascinating to the music world because of it’s versatility of sound, is an Irish frame drum which is played with a single stick. Although this seemingly archaic instrument looks easy to play, the technique is in fact quite complex, and requires a high degree of musicality to master.

The aim of this collaboration by these two exceptional musicians is to demonstrate the extensive possibilities of the instrument. “Bodhrán Insight” comprises of 18 tracks on which the Irish rhythm produced on the bodhrán is the main feature. The CD has a running time of 78 minutes and is mostly a compilation of tracks from various recordings which featured Guido or Rolf. However, it does also include previously unreleased tracks which feature the bodhrán as a solo instrument. Despite the large following and lovers of this drum, there has been to date very few productions dedicated solely to the bodhrán. In addition to the accompaniment of songs, the focal point of the bodhrán is to support what’s known in the industry as “sets” of tunes. The comprehensive booklet includes explanations as to what they are playing, or the idea behind what they are playing for each of these sets, sharing with the listener an insight into their methods and techniques.

For anybody wanting to experience versatility in bodhrán playing this CD is a must. It is not only fascinating to listen to these two musicians, but also impressive to hear their high standard of playing. As Johnny Mc Donagh from the group De Danann put it: “I am impressed and delighted with how the standard of bodhrán playing has developed and improved in Germany. This is in no small way due to the excellent teaching of Guido and Rolf. Fair play to ye, Lads!” or in the words of Beoga’s Eamon Murray: “Together and in their own wonderful ways they have taken bodhrán playing to a dizzying new height around the globe. A fine pair of German Paddys! Now, sit back, put your feet up and let the lads do what they do best – show the drum who’s boss!”

Raw Bar Collective

Raw Bar Collective is Conal Ó Gráda (flute), Dave Sheridan (fiddle), and Benny McCarthy (accordian). Their CD, Millhouse Measures, was “recorded as an intimate concert (check out YouTube for some video footage of the night) in a small rural pub, The Millhouse, Co. Waterford in front of friends and locals. Both the music and the listeners reaction to it were recorded and, as you will hear, listening to good traditional music is not a passive occupation. Each of the instruments was mic-ed up as well as mic’s to capture the mood in the room. The acoustics in The Millhouse are excellent and the final sound on the CD is completely natural with no EQ’s or Reverbs used in the mix. We are delighted with this as we feel it compliments our decision to record live. Most of the tunes here are not very common. All of them are tunes we love to play. Two beautiful sean-nós songs in Irish round out the recording.”

 

03/25/2011    Winnie Fennell Festival
Cappaquin, Co.Waterford    From: 8:00pm

03/26/2011    Carlow Veune TBC
Carlow

Susan McKeown’s Singing in the Dark

Just heard Ellen Cranitch mention this & play a song from it, and like the sound of it:

For her twelfth album, Grammy award-winning vocalist Susan McKeown has produced an ambitious and thought-provoking work on the subject of madness. Featuring poets writing through the lens of depression, mania, and addiction, with new music from McKeown, Frank London, and Lisa Gutkin, Singing in the Dark explores creativity, suffering, and pursuit of happiness. The poets include John Dowland, James Clarence Mangan, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, Violetta Parra, Gwyneth Lewis, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and Jeff Buckley.

The opening line of Theodore Roethke’s In A Dark Time beautifully contains the message of the album: In a dark time, the eye begins to see / I meet my shadow in the deepening shade / I hear my echo in the echoing wood. Life’s challenges are opportunities to learn and grow, and that’s evident in the creative works throughout the recording.

In Anne Sexton’s classic work Her Kind, Susan sings of the different moods that have “possessed” her and identifies with each in a powerful, evocative song “I have been her kind. 

The lyrics from Irish poet James Clarence Mangan, who died from alcoholism, is sung as an American folk song, and tells how The Nameless One “saw things that made him, with groans and tears, long / for even death.” Yet its chorus is full of hope: “Roll forth my song, like the rushing river/ That sweeps along to the mighty sea / God will inspire me while I deliver / My soul of thee.”

Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis speaks of The Angel of Depression that “always wears / the face of my loved ones as it tears / the breath from my solar plexus grinds / my face in the ever resilient dirt.” But in the end comes the realization “Oh yes I’m broken but my limp is the best part of me. And the way I hurt.”

And from a thousand years ago comes the voice of the Irish Mad Sweeney who, wandering homeless and friendless, finds solace in nature concluding (in a line translated by Seamus Heaney), “I need woods for consolation.”

An artist who has always defied easy categorization, McKeown’s catalog of recordings spans the realms of rock, folk, and world music. For Singing in the Dark she wanted to present and array of moods throughout the album, and so worked with different groups of musicians for the recording sessions. The result is an exciting blend of arresting arrangements throughout, which Mckeown’s warm, elasticized vocals shine. The musicians include: Eric Della Penna (Natalie Merchant), Doug Wieselman (Antony & The Johnsons, Martha Wainwright), Shahzad Ismaily (Tom Waits, Bonny “Prince” Billy), and Sonelius Smith (Rahsaan Roland Kirk). Read more on Susan’s website >>>

Launch is taking place in Whelan’s this Sunday, 27th Feb at 7.30 pm with special guests Will Hall and Robert Whitaker

Caladh Nua’s 2nd album launch

Caladh Nua are playing a few gigs to launch their new CD, Next Stop.

Feb 11 2011, 8.30pm at The Seamus Ennis Centre, The Naul, Co. Dublin

Feb 19 2011, 8pm at Dungarvan Town Hall, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford

Feb 25 2011, 8pm at The George Bernard Shaw Theatre, Carlow

The Long Hard Road CD: Tom McElvogue

Grace Notes’ CD of the month for February is The Long Hard Road from Tom McElvogue. You can win one of five copies on the Grace Notes website here >>>

TIR by Cerys Matthews

Having heard Cerys live earlier in the year “Beg, borrow or blag” was Steph’s advice over on I am Steph (http://www.iamsteph.com/reviews/2010/beg-borrow-or-blag-tir-by-cerys-matthews); or you could buy it, I guess (from here >>>).

The blurb: “With TIR, Cerys breathes new life into old standards and old gems. The whole package is a treasure trove of life in music and pictures. Taking a mixture of songs, some Victorian, some hymns, some obscure, some traditional and some huge great hulking classics of iconic stature like Bread of Heaven, Sosban Fach, Myfanwy and even the National anthem. Presented here as if freshly written, with voice and little else apart from a tender appreciation and a thirst for their historical significance, including a duet with Bryn Terfel on Migldi Magldi.

Packaged in a beautifully created limited edition book pack, featuring a 32 page booklet including pictures from Wales in the 1880s to 1940s showing people at work and play. Shopkeepers, farmers, horse-breakers, quarry men, mariners, tailors, organ players and songs from the same era. All lovingly collected by Cerys since childhood in a true labour of love. Also includes notes by Cerys Matthews, and Roy Saer of the Welsh folk society.”

I like the sound of it.

Christy Leahy & Caoimhín Vallely CD

The new album from Christy Leahy and Caoimhín Vallely, featuring music from Sliabh Luachra alongside pieces from further afield played on accordion and piano, is now avaiable on Claddagh Records.

Christy Leahy grew up in Carraig na bhFear Co.Cork in a musical household. He was taught by Bobby Gardiner and Noreen Kelleher before crafting his own distinctive style of accordion playing through years of playing for dances and in sessions. He also performs with the group North Cregg with whom he has recorded four albums and toured internationally.

Caoimhín Vallely hails from Armagh city and now resides in Cork. As a piano and fiddle player he has recorded and toured with Buille, Karan Casey, North Cregg and many others. His critically acclaimed solo album, “Strayaway”, showcases his unique approach to piano playing marking him a truly individual voice in Irish music today.

Track Listing:
1. Buain na Rainich & The Kerry Bar (Polkas)
2. Spellan The Fiddler & Back In The Garden (Hornpipe & Reel)
3. Johnny O’Leary’s Jig
4. The Crow In The Sun (Air)
5. Paddy Cronin’s & Going For Water (Slides)
6. James Morisson’s & The Bluebell Polka
7. Jenny On The Railroad (Reel)
8. Thadelo’s Barndances
9. A Hymn To St. Finbarr (Song)
10. Kerry Cow & Rakes of Mallow & Britches Full Of Stitches (Polkas)
11. Trip To The Cottage & The Cook In The Kitchen (Jigs)
12. The Boys of Ballycastle & Dunphy’s & Miss Galvin’s (Hornpipes)
13. La Bourrasque (Waltz)

Some (poor quality) footage of the launch at the Cornerstone in Cork earlier in the month:

Tony McMahon on the speeding up of tunes

Agree? Disagree? Air your view >>>

Bob Brozman, John McSherry and Dónal O’Connor’s CD, Six Days In Down

On Six Days In Down, two cutting-edge talents on the Irish music scene, the masterful uilleann piper John McSherry and fiddle virtuoso Dónal O’Connor, join forces with the globe-trotting slide-guitarist Bob Brozman to explore fresh perspectives on the living tradition. Featuring the haunting vocals of Stephanie Makem, the trio deliver an album of startling beauty with splashes of gentle humour.

BUY IT HERE >>>

[Siobhan Long in Times >>>] Six Days In Down is a sparkling collection of tunes, mostly drawn from a traditional Irish base (with two songs from Stephanie Makem), but infused with a rhythmic sensibility and a tonal depth that’s refreshingly unexpected. “I did not set out to be a great Irish musician on this project,” he explains.“It’s half a lifetime of work. Indian music’s a full lifetime. I think Irish music is at least half a lifetime! But we went about the making of art over six days, at 12 to 18 hours each day. It’s a wonderful way to make friends – with music. It’s like having a conversation with 100 times the density and speed.” (Times) >>>

Brian Carson, www.movingonmusic.co.uk: “I first came across the music of Bob Brozman about ten years ago and subsequently heard a live broadcast and interview on Andy Kershaw’s radio programme. I found Bob’s music, style and intelligence very engaging and, although steeped in various traditions, the music was forward-looking.

Eventually I got the opportunity to work with Bob and under the auspices of Moving On Music. He has since visited Northern Ireland three times and toured as a solo artist. It was during a very successful 2005 tour that he mentioned in passing that it might be an interesting collaboration and challenge for him to work with Irish traditional musicians; this stuck in my mind.

I first briefly met the then-teenage Dónal O’Connor at an Irish festival in Valence in the south of France in 1998 and shortly afterwards bumped into him in a shop in Belfast, having no idea that he was studying in the city. It then became apparent to me that he was a new, young and important talent in the traditional music scene. In 2007, Moving On Music set up a tour for the band At First Light, of which he was a member along with (among others) the uilleann piper John McSherry.

In 2006, Moving On Music had the opportunity to apply to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Fund for the support of various new initiatives and was in discussion internally as to what we would like to do if new funds became available. The subject of commissioning new work came up and suddenly it brought to mind what Bob Brozman had mentioned the previous year, so we duly set about thinking about who he might collaborate with. The choice seemed obvious – we were already working with the very people who were great, open-minded Irish musicians – so in late 2006 we asked Bob to give up a day off from a long UK tour to fly to Belfast to discuss the possibilities with Dónal and John. The discussions went well, and we all decided to go forward.

We were awarded a lottery grant in June 2007 and the composition/recording project took place in Downpatrick in early February 2008, when (two-trolley) Bob landed at George Best International Airport in Belfast.

I’d like to thank the musicians for the opportunity to help to make this all happen and for their patience, faith and – above all – their creative music-making.

Of course, along the way it was always a consideration that nothing might come of this collaboration, that traditions and sensibilities might be compromised and diluted, I don’t think so. What I do know is: what have we here is fresh, beautiful and passionate music; I hope you think so too. “

Tour dates remaining:

22 October 2010 North Down Museum – Bangor Time: 8pm Tickets: £10/£8 (conc) from 028 3752 1821 and www.northdown.gov.uk/arts Promoted by North Down Borough Council

23 October 2010 The Lodge – Castlewellan Time: 8pm Tickets: £10/£8 (conc) from 028 4461 0747 More information available from www.downartscentre.com Promoted by Down District Council

24 October 2010 Mermaid Arts Centre – Bray, Co. Wicklow Time: 8pm Tickets: €16/€14 (conc) from (+353) 01 272 4030 and www.mermaidartscentre.ie Promoted by Mermaid Arts Centre

26 October 2010 Café Oto – Dalston, London Time: 8pm Tickets: £10 in advance from www.cafeoto.co.uk and £12 on the door Promoted in association with Far Side Music and supported by the Creative Industries Innovation Fund

27 October 2010 Strule Arts Centre – Omagh Time: 8pm Tickets: £10 from 028 8224 7831 and www.struleartscentre.co.uk Promoted by Omagh District Council

Track List:

1. Hardiman The Fiddler
(Hardiman The Fiddler/Michelle O’Sullivan’s) – Slip Jig/Jig
(trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: fiddle, uilleann pipes, low whistle, two tricone guitars, bass on tricone, cajón

‘Hardiman The Fiddler’ is a popular slip jig, which is thought to have been named in honour of James Hardiman, first librarian of Queen’s College in Galway and author of Irish Minstrelsy, Or Bardic Remains, published in 1831. The second tune was learned from a private recording of County Kerry concertina player Michelle O’Sullivan.

2. Brelydian
(Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: fiddle, low whistle, tricone guitar, bass on baritone tricone, Kona Hawaiian guitar, cajón

We set about composing a tune in the Lydian mode and considered a slow polka rhythm to be fitting, as it is not much used in Irish traditional music.

3. A Mháire Bruineall
(trad, arr Brozman / Makem / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: vocal, fiddle, low F whistle, two baritone tricone guitars, cajón

A County Donegal song, originally composed by Tadhg O Tiománaidhe in the mid-1700s, in an effort to woo back his true love. This version, however, was taken from the singing of Aine Uí Laoi, born in the Gaoth Dobhair Gaeltacht (native Irish-language-speaking area), in northwest Donegal. We are delighted to introduce the wonderfully haunting vocals of our good friend Stephanie Makem, on this track.

4. Portaferry Swing
(Ragged Annie/The Boys Of Portaferry/Cameronian Reel)
(trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: fiddle, uilleann pipes, tricone guitar

‘Ragged Annie’ or ‘Ragtime Annie’ is a popular American fiddle tune, which John learned from the playing of Francis and Jack McIlduff of Belfast. The earliest appearance of ‘Ragtime Annie’ that can be documented, in print or otherwise, is the 78rpm recording by Texan fiddler Eck Robertson, in 1923.

‘Buachaillí Port An Pheire’ (‘The Boys Of Portaferry’) is closely related to ‘The Pullet’ and ‘The Sporting Boys’. Portaferry lies at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, at the entrance to Strangford Lough, and is 20 kilometres from Downpatrick, where this recording took place.

‘The Cameronian Reel’ was learned from the County Donegal fiddle player John Doherty and can be found as tune number 1512 in O’Neill’s Music Of Ireland, The 1850.

5. Róise Na bhFonn – Tuneful Rose
(Dónal O’Connor)

Instruments: fiddle, Kona Hawaiian guitar

This slow air was composed by Dónal in appreciation of, and in homage to, his grandmother Rose O’Connor, who was his first fiddle teacher and had an immense influence on his music.

6. Pota Mór Fataí
(trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: two Chaturanguiguitars, low whistle, high D whistle, fiddle, cajón

This is the air to a song we heard from the singing of Sean-nós singer Róisín Elsafty, from Connemara.

7. The Slide From Grace
(Dusty Miller’s/Dan O’Keefe’s/The Slide From Grace)
Dusty Miller’s (trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor).
Dan O’Keefe’s (trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor).
The Slide From Grace (John McSherry)

Instruments: fiddle, low whistle, tricone guitar, bass on baritone tricone, charango, cajón

‘The Dusty Miller’ is a triple hornpipe, which appears in the William Vickers manuscript of 1770–72.

‘Dan O’Keefe’s’ or ‘Danny Ab’s’ was learned from the fiddle playing of Padraig O’Keefe, Dennis Murphy and Julia Clifford, and appears as tune number 86 in Breandán Breathnach’s Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.

‘The Slide From Grace’ is a slip slide and was composed by John while thinking of the numerous people who ‘had it all’ and let it slip away.

8. Bean An Fhir Ruaidh
(trad, arr Brozman / Makem / O’Connor)

Instruments: vocals, two Kona Hawaiian guitars

‘Bean An Fhir Ruaidh’ (‘The Red Haired Man’s Wife’) is a story of a man’s unrequited love for a married woman. Many versions of this song exist throughout Ireland but, in the most well-known version, the lyrics are attributed to the writings of Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna, the Ulster poet, and Riocaird Bairéad, a writer from Bangor Erris, County Mayo. The nineteenth-century Tyrone novelist William Carleton noted that his mother was once asked to sing the English version of the song. She said, ‘I’ll sing it for you, but the English words and the air are like a quarrelling man and his wife – the Irish melts into the tune but the English doesn’t.’

9. Beer Belly Dancing
(Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: baritone tricone, low whistle, fiddle, cajón, charango

The idea of this collective composition was to have a tune with rhythmically Irish melodic phrases, but using a middle-eastern type of mode for note choices, the result is a funky musical mix of beer and belly dancing.

10. The Beauty Spot
(The Beauty Spot/Brendan McMahon’s/Miss Johnston’s Youghal Quay)
(trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: fiddle, uilleann pipes, bass on baritone tricone, two tricone guitars, cajón

‘The Beauty Spot’ appears as tune number 185 in volume 1 of The Roche Collection Of Traditional Irish Music and was learned from the playing of Dublin piper Mick O’Brien.

‘Brendan McMahon’s’ was recorded by Dónal’s father Gerry O’Connor on the album Skylark and was learned from the County Clare accordion player Andrew MacNamara. We believe it to be a version of ‘The Steam Packet’ reel.

‘Miss Johnston’s’ is a traditional reel of Scottish origin. ‘Youghal Quay’ was composed by the accordion player and prolific composer Paddy O’Brien, from Newtown in County Tipperary. While researching the tune titles for this album, we discovered that the tune we have learned is an assimilation of the two. This can happen quite easily in the oral tradition. Now we’ve told you, we’re off to relearn the two tunes correctly!

11. Cailleach A Shúsa – The Hag In The Blanket
(trad, arr Brozman / McSherry / O’Connor)

Instruments: two Chaturangui guitars, bass on baritone tricone, fiddle, uilleann pipes, low whistle, bodhrán

‘Cailleach A Shúsa’ (‘The Hag in the Blanket’) was learned from the playing of Todd Denman and Dale Russ, and appears as tune number 889 in O’Neill’s Music Of Ireland, The 1850. In Irish mythology, the Cailleach is a powerful hag often identified to a deity ruling the winter months between Samhain and Beltane. In days of old, when an unusually heavy storm threatened, people would tell each other, ‘The Cailleach is going to tramp her blankets tonight.’