Excuse the double posting but for those of you who don’t read the ITM Forum, just heard the news on the radio that the Chieftains’ harper Derek Bell died today.
More detail here:
Very sad news.
T
More sad news. He’ll be greatly missed.
Very sad news. Derek was a great harper, a great human being and one of the funniest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. He will be missed.
The music will be less with his passing
even as it grows from the weight of the loss.
A lament for music,
Lee Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-10-17 15:16 ]
That’s why we need to treasure these musicans, they just don’t live forever!
I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to see Derek Bell only ten days ago (Oct 7) at the Ryman in Nashville, which was The Chieftains 40th anniversary tv taping titled “Down The Old Plank Road”. He was a superior, versatile musician with a great sense of humor and did a spectacular ragtime piano solo in the finale of the tv taping. He was a treasure to the Celtic community and to the world. He will be missed but his musicianship and memory will live on.
Denny
Men like him enrich the world because of their music, and when they pass they can never be replaced in our hearts. May God enjoy his new Harper and we thank him for lending him to us for a while.
What a tragic loss, so much of O’Carrolan’s music would be unknown today if not for him reviving it. I am so grateful I had the chance to meet and talk a bit with him last year. His passing will leave a great hole in the music community, but his contributions will lift many a heart for many years to come.
My God! This is terrible. I wonder what the minor surgery was.
J
Wow. What a character!
I’ve seen the Chieftains perform live only once, and Derek was memorable in that he charmed the audience.
For those looking for a glimpse at both his music and his goofy banter with the audience, I’d recommend “A Celtic Evening with Derek Bell”. It’s 70 minutes of live recording, released in 1997. A treat.
He’ll be missed.
Jef
Strange, and unexpected news.
As the old Irish phrase goes:
“May God take a liking to you but none too soon, for sure he must be knowin’ - that earth has angles all too few, and Heaven is overflowin’”
He may have been the most ‘colorful’ member of the Chieftains, but there is no question as to his musical strengths. May God rest his soul.
Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam; go sábhála ´Iosa a anam.
He had a mighty music.
He will be missed–one voice, forever silenced, whose empty chair no one else can claim.
The strings are as still as the blood
But the air still echoes
And then the echoes too fall silent
May his sleep be peaceful and his memory treasured.
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Thank goodness for recordings anyway.
NPR’s “All Songs Considered” has a tribute to Derek Bell here</a](http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/features/index.html#bell">here</a)> (Link goes to NPR’s site).
For those here in Utah, Mark Cantor (fellow whistler and box player) who hosts the ‘Fret and Fiddle’ program on FM 90 (90.1 FM) sent me this:
**Thanks, Brian. I’ll dedicate a radio show to him a week from Sunday.
Mark
His shows are always nice, so tune in if you can. Starts at 7:00 I think.
Bri~
There’s a tribute program to Derek Bell on Radio 1 IE’s Late Session this week, which you can listen to with RealPlayer here: http://www.radio1.ie/evening/latesession/