My CD order from Claddagh Records has arrived! I came back home today with no less than 10 CDs waiting for me on my desk. After giving some of them a listen, I felt like writing down my observations about them, so here they are:
1)Quinn/Hastings - Stories to Tell
This stands out as the best fiddle/flute duet album I have ever heard. In my opinion this is certainly a league above Kevin Crawford’s “In Good Company”. Quinn and Hastings’ styles compliment each other really well - I’m especially enamoured by Gary Hastings flute style and tone. Sean Quinn adds a melodeon to some of the tracks. Definitely a must-buy for fiddle/flute duet lovers!
2)Oisin Mac Diarmada - Ar an bhfidil
Mac Diarmada has a nice crisp tone very great technique that doesn’t come across as showy. I love the Sligo fiddle phrasing/bowing style and double stopping - this album definitely has it. Incidentally I think Mac Diarmada phrases on the whistle like he does on the fiddle.
3)Desi Wilkinson - Three Piece Flute
Wilkinson sounds to me like a cross between the sounds of Conal O’Grada and Frankie Gavin. (on flute) His tone resembles O’Grada’s while his style gravitates closer (IMO) to Gavin’s.
4)Pat O’ Connor - The Green Mountain
Earthy fiddle playing recorded with good quality sound. I’m totally impressed with Quentin Cooper’s guitar accompaniment, for the same reasons why I adore Dennis Cahill - they have different styles but they both achieve the same goal. I can imagine listening to this a lot because it’s very palatable and easy-listening without being shallow. However I think there is an abundance of of reels and the CD only has 1 jig(!).
5)Willie Clancy - The Pipering of Willie Clancy Vol. 1
I had nothing less than an epiphany listening to Willie Clancy play “Down the Back Lane”.
Something I’ve been trying to figure out for a while suddenly clicked and it made me want to record on my whistle (which I did. I played Walls of Liscarroll which I’ll be putting up on Clips and Snips for the Trad Gurus’ of this board’s appraisal)
Ok thats it for now. I’m far too saturated to listen to the rest the other 5 CDs right now. So far I’ve been very very happy with my choices.
[ This Message was edited by: Eldarion on 2003-01-31 09:10 ]
On 2003-01-30 08:36, Eldarion wrote:
I had nothing less than an epiphany listening to Willie Clancy play “Down the Back Lane”.
Something I’ve been trying to figure out for a while suddenly clicked…
Okay, Eld, I want to know! What is it?? What have you been trying to figure out? You’ve posted about it here, now you’re obliged to explain.
Nate I think I’ve spoken to you about the jig phrasing thing I was working on. This is it!
For those who haven’t a clue what we’re talking about, its explained in one of Peter Laban’s transcriptions. (see the extract from Pat Mitchell’s article)
6)Tommy McCarthy - Sporting Nell
A concertina, whistle and U-pipe CD with lots of lifty, pretty ornamented playing. Hearing the way the one note is connected to the next is really interesting. All tracks are unaccompanied.
7)Joe Ryan - An Buachaill Dreoite
Most tracks accompanied by a pretty soft guitar player. Lifty playing and I would listen out for the phrasing. Nothing flashy or highly ornamental about the style, good earthy music.
8.)Paul McGrattan - Keel West
I don’t know why but I’m hearing some similiarities between his playing and Matt Molloy’s. Has McGrattan crossed over to the Molloy school? Its noticible the way McGrattan uses a subtle rubato in his phrasing when he plays fast. He does this air accompanied by nothing but the “live” howling wind and rain from his house and its quite dramatic. Another set of tunes he does with the “live” chirping of birds and the sound of a running stream behind his house. On the whole a nice album but it wasn’t as raw sounding as I expected it to be. I think I might like it better after a few more spins.
9)Ronan Browne & Peter O’Loughlin - Touch Me if you dare
A good mix of pipe/flute/fiddle duets. I’ve been neglecting this CD a bit so I need to take a few more listens. Its a CD with more than an hour’s worth of music, so I’m pretty sure I’m getting my money’s worth for this!
10)Hammy Hamilton - The Moneymusk
Bouncy playing, nothing flashy, nothing speedy. A couple of tracks are flute and concertina. I think Paul McGrattan and Hammy Hamilton really duet extremely well - together they make a collectively bouncey combination.
Ok those are the rest of my other 5 CDs. Its only been 2 days since I received them so the reviews are quite brief - just as well.
[ This Message was edited by: Eldarion on 2003-01-31 09:12 ]
Oisin MacDiarmada has a few other albums, all of which are worth getting – an earlier solo effort with banjo and harp that is quite gorgeous, and a more high-energy CD with his band Teada, which includes some excellent flute playing by John Blake. He also appears in one very nice live track on Cumar, on the Clo-Iar Chonnachta label.
I like his playing best on this new CD; the first album was more lyrical but felt overly stylized to me after a while. He definitely has a unique approach to the music, and sems to be able to play brilliantly in whatever key he feels the tune sounds best in.
His whistle playing was a revelation, too. Very much in the Micho Russel style, pure and simple but full of subtlety. He’s also not a bad singer.
[ This Message was edited by: bradhurley on 2003-01-31 12:29 ]
I’ve got his album with banjo and harp… great stuff, but not quite as nice as the new one in my opinion. I have yet to here his album with Teada.
Chris
Your man was playing on tv last night with Marcas O M. on the flute, very nice.
I am not completely comfortable with the Sligo reference though, while there is a heavy Paddy Killoran and James Morrison sound there at times I hear equal portions of Padraig O Keeffe, Patrick Kelly, John Kelly [the influence of Caoiminh O Raghallaigh I would guess], there’s a multitude of influences and the overall music strikes me as an eclectic mix only partly Sligo in style.
Shy of group playing, I haven’t heard the recordings except for the latest one though.
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2003-02-01 04:58 ]
On 2003-02-01 04:51, Peter Laban wrote:
I am not completely comfortable with the Sligo reference though
Yeah, a lot of people are puzzled about that. Especially on his first album, his style seemed more aligned with current fashion among certain young Clare fiddlers, such as Yvonne Casey. Gorgeous and brilliant music, but definitely not like anything I’ve heard coming out of Sligo. His new CD and the recording with Teada have more Sligo influence and I hear that he’s gotten deep into the 1920s Sligo fiddlers, so his style may be evolving more in that direction.
[ This Message was edited by: bradhurley on 2003-02-01 09:16 ]
Hi Xavier,I own several of these albums too-I love the Joe Ryan -his playing just 'sings’so clearly, nothing flash about it,just great music.I’m very keen on ‘Touch me if you dare’ too,it’s a worthy successor to their early album ‘the south west wind’.Hammy’s ‘Moneymusk’,again ‘straight ahead’ stuff(I think you can detect my taste in music by now!)- a good advert for Hammy’s flutes!.I am currently waiting for Tommy McCarthy’s ‘Sporting Nell’ after hearing a transcription of Tommy’s playing.
On 2003-02-01 08:33, bradhurley wrote:
, his style seemed more aligned with current fashion among certain young Clare fiddlers, such as Yvonne Casey.
I am not so sure about that either, Yvonne is very much of the Frank Custy school to my ear, playing very similar to Tola and Mary Custy. Sharon Shannon’s fiddle playing is in that corner too, basically the Doolin/Ennis session music leans fairly heavily on that approach.
I was listening to Oisin Mac’s CD yesterday and there’s a very definite Clare/Kerry sound to it. I am sure as I said above this comes from Caoiminh O Raghallaigh. In fact I was at the party for Caoiminh’s 23 birthday a few months ago and there was a rake of these young brilliant players, including Oisin Mac, Breda Keville, Michelle and Louise Mulcahy [plus the dad, Mick], Edel Fox as well as ‘older’ players like Claire Keville, Brid Donohue, PJ Crotty, Josephine Marsh, Mick Kinsella. We had mighty tunes and it was still going when I left at four in the morning. Seriously though, I would seek influences more in that corner than in the Custy/Yvonne Casey end of the spectrum, even if there’s nice music there too.
Oisin Mac originally came from Crusheen, but I don’t know when he went north. Any info on that Peter? I’m sure he learnt his basic style while he was still in Co Clare. It makes for an intersting style though.
