I’ve been digging on alot of those “Dirty” players like Conal O’Grada & Seamus Tansey lately, does anybody know of some more players in this style?
Thanky
Brad Jr
Try getting “The Three Piece Flute” by Desi Wilkinson, and either of Harry Bradley’s CD’s. I’m not aware of anyone “dirtier” than Conal O Grada - I have to wash my hands after listening to him play 
I’m sure there are others but these 2 spring to mind instantly.
Cheers
Graham
I use Q-tips myself 
This kind of raw earthiness can also be heard in the playing of Kevin Henry (Sligo, now in Chicago) and Dan Healy (also Sligo). Both of them have CDs available. Also in the old recordings of John McKenna (Leitrim).
Would you guys say that John Skelton fits in with that style, he’s got a tone that can turn the air into cottage cheese. What about Peter Molloy?
Thanks for the leads, exactly the kind of obscure-o stuff I was hoping for. I was a little afraid I’d get responses that didn’t fit the bill.
I have Harry B’s “Bad Turns…” Album & like it alot, his vibrato from the gut is great, I don’t know if he’s a dirty player though. I think of him more as the yardstick for the nothern style (with the bandflutes etc). He’s the man, what a player.
I’ve only heard Peter Molloy 2 or 3 times, and that wasn’t my impression.
What is meant by “durty” playing? I’m trying to get the connection between Seamus Tansey and Conal. Conal, Desi, Kevin Henry I can connect - raspy, edgy, raw, breathy and somewhat overblown, attacking - all out playing not for the faint of heart, the flute has a sore throat kind of sound - or better yet - it definitely will when its all over, etc. ; and I think Harry’s recorded playing may flirt a bit with it. I’ll have to listen again. Never get tired of listening to his playing. (Right now I’ groovin’ on the Noel Hill and Tony Linnane Cd)
I always thought of Seamus’ recordings as wild and eccentric, guess what tune I’m playing, playful yet domineering, kind-of-in-your-face but tone-wise I think of his tone as being more ‘solid’ and less breathy. He also brings to my mind my man Fintan Vallely. Is he a candidate for the Durty players club? Hmm… Roger Sherlock? Eddie Cahill? Are they card carrying members too?
They’re all compelling players though. Imagine if they all played together? Tornado season
r
Ah, Surely! Eddie Cahill would fall into that camp too.
“Dirty” means different things to different people; to me it means raw and earthy playing, not overly refined or polished. The tone tends to be rough, the playing is rhythmic. Irish traditional music was originally peasants’ music, and this kind of playing harks back to those roots.
I would put Patsy Hanley into this camp too, even though his tone is more “pure,” his relatively simple and rhythmic style feels earthy to me. It’s a quality that I’ve heard mostly in Sligo and Leitrim flute players.
Kevin Henry. His style, (which has been called “the rushing”), is to me rather martial and foursquare in its feel, which makes sense in that the rushing style of the West of Ireland “was very likely indeed a fevered call to action, precipitated by the cruelty of the landlords, then fostered by the Land League marches.” (This quote from the liner notes intro by Justin O’Brien for K. Henry’s album “One’s Own Place”). Not necessarily a choice for those who presume the ceól draíochtana to be the stuff of exalted, flowery transports. Actually, if one listens closely, there’s some pretty gnarly ornamentation going on: it just stays out of the way of the tune itself.
(edited for spelling…again)
When I say dirty I mean it’s a loud tone, almost overblown to the next octave (so it has a strong octave overtone) with a raspy bit of natural distortion. It’s also the settings, the big D’s & alot of other stuff that’s hard to pin down with words. In other words - I know it when I hear it.
Kevin Henry. It’s not pure at all, and is frequently breathy, too.
Yah okay, I think I get it.
Then in my mind I may sort of link the ‘breathy and raspy tone’ raucous overblowers together in the ‘airy’ camp and the ‘solid and strong tone’ wild overblowers in the ‘earthy’ camp. Or something like that. But both loud, fiery, domineering and rowsing. And all are very much individualistic in their playing.
Traditional Irish fluteplaying — its the balls,
rama
Seamus MacMathuna is another player who would fit into the "dirty"category. I’ve only heard a few tiny snippets of his playing, but yeah…filthy. Anyone know where (or if) any recordings of him are available?
Conal O Grada is far and away the loudest, raunchiest, ballsiest beast of them all though. I once saw him pick up a one-key baroque flute and play it at a volume that many of us with our Hamilton, Olwell, and old Pratten “tune cannons” would find difficult to reach. Truly had to be seen and heard to be believed…
You can try Terry Coyne (think one of his album tracks is on the Obsession CD collection). Very dirty style that’s lots of fun to follow, especially on tunes you know! Great buzz tones and over-blows tossed in…and nice variations, too.
He’s got a website out there somewhere, i think
http://www.folk.be/coyne/index.htm has some info & samples. Links to websites and Google web & Newsgroup searches are built-in to the Wooden Flute Obsession webpage at http://www.worldtrad.org/WFO_CD2.htm
Kevin Krell
Boy this thread is turning me on to players Ive never heard of. I listen to the 32 mp3s of the geezers at least once a day and many of them I would consider "down and dirty" players. What would be the best source to start grabbing these guys CDs? Or is it a website cruise? Anyway thanks for all these names, if I ever get past the scales stage on this banshees curse of an instrument that is the style of play I want to experament with.
Tom
Tom, I can’t find the “elder statesmen” ( 
) files on my computer, so I don’t remember exactly who’s on it, but here’s one place you can get Conal O’Grada’s CD if his is one you’re interested in:
http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_OGrada_Conal.html
Susan
Many of the “geezers” from that collection never recorded commercially; those recordings are from radio interviews and concerts. I can’t remember exactly what all is in the “Geezer” collection; it was put together by bil mckenty in Philadelphia a few years ago from a couple of tapes, one that was originally compiled by Bill Dennehy in San Francisco (called “Flute Styles for Suki,” because he made the tape for S.F. flute player Suki O’Raghallaigh), and the other was sent to him by a friend in England. These were all concert and radio interview recordings, mostly from RTE. A few of those “geezers” recorded albums, such as Josie McDermott and of course Paddy Carty.
Speaking of RTE, the “Come West Along the Road” video that Tony McMahon put together (and which is available in the US from Ossian USA or Celtic Grooves) shows Seamus Tansey playing a reel and Josie McDermott playing an air. This video is a classic if you’re into the older stuff…it’s got a short clip of Willie Clancy playing the pipes, several bits of Seamus Ennis, Kerry sets with Denis Murphy and Johnny O’Leary, and lots of other wonderful moments and musicians. There’s nothing like watching these people play instead of just listening to a recording.
Thanks for those links, good stuff. Re: Harry Bradley On a second listen I think he does fit the dirty specs, I like his band flute playing too. Gnarly & very Ballsy. I’ve ordered the Kevin Henry CD, I’ll probably like it. Outside of the “Few Tunes” book/cd does John Skelton have any solo recordings?
Outside of the “Few Tunes” book/cd does John Skelton have any
solo recordings?
Just to save others the trouble, yes. The first cd is I think out of print, and
from Brad’s website -
<<
The new CD by John Skelton and Kieran O’Hare, “Double Barrelled,” will
be available directly from John and Kieran at the summer schools they
are doing (individually and collectively): Swannanoa, East Durham,
Augusta, and Lark in the Morning (for more details on these schools,
check out the July and August listings on the online Irish Flute Calendar).
John and Kieran are also setting up a Web site for orders, which should
be up and running by mid-July, at www.barrelmusic.com. John Skelton is
also releasing a book and CD set called “A Few More Tunes. … ”
Out of curiosity, does anyone know of any Irish flute players who are
considered to not play “dirty”? so as to compare the tonal differences.
Cheers, Lesl
Not dirty? I would think Chris Norman would be at the top of that list. Very nice & clean playing. I don’t think Kevin Crawford is very dirty either. But away from players like those I think of the “Huffy puffy” players like Josie McDermott as being the other end of the spectrum.