I recently purchased a book of tunes that I like so much, I needed to share my opinion with the group. The book is called “A Dossan Of Heather” compiled by Stephen Jones and Jean Duval. It is a collection of the tunes of Packie Manus Byrne, from Donegal.
A CD of selected tunes is also included. The tunes are played by Stephen Jones and Jean Duval on whistle, flute and fiddle. One tune is even lilted by Stephen Jones.
The tunes are all very catchy and very playable. I am not an advanced player, and I feel I could tackle most of the tunes in the book. The airs that are included are sublime.
What differentiates this book from other tune books is the inclusion of stories and anecdotes for EACH tune. There are many photographs and drawings as well. The introduction is excellent. Hopefully this book sets the standard, and it is a high one, for future tune publications to follow. It is my favourite tune book.
Shouldn’t C & F’s own StevieJ come forward and receive the congratulations from the board members for his book and for adding to the worlds whistle music! Correct me if he and Stephen Jones are not one in the same! Congratulations Stevie!
My friend bought the book at Thom’s when we were there…I’ve been kicking myself ever since…and if I’d realized that’s “our” Stevie…a double kick. We played
“Forgetting the Lesson” at a gig last Sat night…first time I’ve ever gotten paid.
Thom if you’re not too busy moving (haha)…add that book to my list! Gm
…and the other nice thing about the tunes in the book is that they are all “kind of free to use” as long as you like to credit Packie and no royalties or anything to think of when playing them…
I’ll try my best to make this post not sound too commercial…
I agree that A Dossan of Heather is an excellent collection. You’ll also find “My Friend Flanagan” to be very entertaining and well written - I’d like to thank Stephen Jones again for allowing us to include it at no extra charge.
Stephen also has another book available about Packie Manus Byrne called “Recollections of a Donegal Man”. We have this book in stock now, I just haven’t been able to get around to getting it listed at the website yet. I’m going to try to get some time to add quite a few new items to the website - including this book - this weekend or early next week.
GM -
The move is going about as expected - no matter how much you plan and plan, it never works quite like you think it will, but we’re still trying to finish the move to the new location by the end of this weekend. We received the shipment that you had inquired about, I’ll be contacting you by email as soon as I have pricing figured out (within the next few days).
I’m very glad you like the book Jamie, and thanks for the pat on the back Tom & Thom. Lots of other people were involved in the project and deserve to share any congrats, especially Jean Duval, who did the really hard work, transcribing all the tunes from dozens of tapes. I’d also like to salute Mel Bay for taking a punt on a book that is unlikely to be a huge seller.
Yes, Jonesy and I are the same person. We both suffer from multiple-personality disorder, and he’s a bit peeved that there are so many well-known Stephen/Steven/Steve Joneses around. I’m thinking of starting a website for people “blessed” with this name. I was once in a band in which two of the five members were called Steve Jones! (And no it wasn’t the Sex Pistols.)
Yes Stevie, congratulations! this is truly a great book with endless annecdotes about the music, the tunes and the musicians.
I also got mine from the whistleshop and probably would have bought “Recollections” if I had seen it.
I was a bit disappointed however that not all the tunes from the book were on the attached CD… (but these are the words of a lousy sight reader)
Also, inside there is a picture of you playing with Packie taken in 1987. But you are playing THE FIDDLE!!!
Geez… how many instruments do you play?
Sibyle
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Eagles may fly but otters never get sucked into jet engines.
[ This Message was edited by: Otter on 2001-09-03 16:06 ]