I was going through my Irish music CDs, and I just realized, there is one group that has I love to listen to more any other. That group is Altan. Two years ago they played, the Blue Idol tour, in Madison, Wisconsin in a small theather. Within 5 minutes, they had the whole place loving every thing they did. There were times, such as âGreen Grow the Rushesâ that everyone joined in, (including my classical music is the only music spouse.) They encouraged people to come up to the area in front of the stage and dance. The best dancer was a 10+year old little girl and the members of Altan made a big deal of her dancing. That made the little girl very proud and it made us very happy. For me the highlight was a whistle solo in a section of a piece they play, it was just so beautiful.. .
Since then, I have seen many Irish music groups. But none have approached Altan. When I hear the other groups, I hear just the music and maybe just a snatch of the feeling of their performances. When I hear Altan, the total experience comes back.
Altan is my favorite and I am sure others have theirs. I would like to get an idea what others see as their favorites.
Theyâre right up there among my favorites, too. I saw them live before buying any of their recorded music, and I initially found the recordings a bit of a letdown. Not any more. I will say that all the albums I own are from before Frankie died. Thereâs just something about his flute playing that I canât get over, and there are still days that I wake up bummed that he wonât be recording any more.
My absolute favorite these days is Deanta. Almost every day I wake up bummed that they arenât recording any more.
I would go for Deanta too, theyâre just awesome, far better than Solas (when they were ITM) and other ITM bands Iâve heard. I would like to meet some of the folks that were in the band, I wonder where they are now.
Sheehan is definitely one of the most underrated whistle players.
John is best known for his fiddle playing, but listen to track 5 of the âLive in Carreâ CD for an impressive example of his virtuosity on the whistle.
Itâs a tune set composed of âDunphyâs Hornpipeâ, âLeitrim Fancyâ, and âDown The Broomâ.
One of my all-time favorite recordings!
Deirdre Havlin has been playing flute with a band called the London Lasses. I bought the album with her on it and was sorely disappointed. IIRC they have four melody instruments (2 fiddles, flute and box), a vocalist, and a guy playing the piano. Ms Havlin isnât featured much (unlike Deanta where all the players got their moments), and the piano player does a lot of oom-pah. Sheâs just TOO good to be in a group like that.
Cloddagh Warnock plays a lot, at least in the summers. She seems to be in high demand as an accompanist in festivals, etc. I think she may be the most underrated Irish musician â bouzouki and bodhran arenât the most glamorous instruments, but sheâs a really incredible accompanist on both.
Any Cherish the Ladies or Joanie Madden CD
Micho Russell âIrelandâs Whistiling Ambasadorâ
Paddy Maloney and Sean Potts âTin Whistlesâ (They are in Chiefains 1-10 IIRC)
Sean Ryan âTake the Airâ and âThe Minstrelâs Fancyâ
Vinnie Kilduff âThe Boys from the Blue Hillâ
Mary Bergin, of course âFedoga Stain 1 & 2â.
Mary is the sister of Antoinette, the singer and harper with Joe McKenna and is featured as guest artist on many albums.
Another good non-Irish band for Irish trad listeners is the Swedish trad band SwĂ„p, especially if you are a fan of Altan. To see a video, go to www.tvfolk.net, click on the Swedish flag, and find their name on the list. I especially like âRobertâ. No whistles, but some incredible Scandinavian fiddling.
While youâre there, also click on the Faroe Islands flag and check out the videos by Markamot. Very, very nice whistle playing!
This is more than I hoped for. I got my love of the music of Altan stated and learned at lot of other players and groups. Now to get the CDs of some of those mentioned.
By the way, you cannot believe what I went through to get the music of Mary Jane Lamond, (Cape Breton). For two of the four CDs, I searched every local dealer and finally ordered them directly from Cape Breton. (Longer wait and no preview, but I did get some neat stampsâŠ) The CDs were well worth the it!
I was going through my Irish music CDs, and I just realized, there is one group that has I love to listen to more any other. That group is Altan. Two years ago they played, the Blue Idol tour, in Madison, Wisconsin in a small theather. Within 5 minutes, they had the whole place loving every thing they did. There were times, such as âGreen Grow the Rushesâ that everyone joined in, (including my classical music is the only music spouse.) They encouraged people to come up to the area in front of the stage and dance. The best dancer was a 10+year old little girl and the members of Altan made a big deal of her dancing. That made the little girl very proud and it made us very happy. For me the highlight was a whistle solo in a section of a piece they play, it was just so beautiful.. 
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