Hello fluters! I’m getting back into flute playing after a hiatus of a few years (currently awaiting a Folk Flute from Casey Burns), so have been listening to as much flute-centric music as I can. Along with solo flute, I really like the combination of flute and fiddle. What other recordings than the ones listed below could you recommend?
Contentment Is Wealth, Matt Molloy and Sean Keane
Ceol Aduaidh by Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Wooden Flute and Fiddle by Calum Stewart and Lauren MacColl
Absolutely love this wee album…and welcome back! I also returned a few months ago to ITM and the flute after a hiatus of 15 years. One of the beneficial side effects of my time away was that while I stopped listening to the music, the musicians kept going and there was a great deal new music to discover and enjoy.
Don’t forget the “ould fellas” - eg Fred Finn & Peter Horan, Packie Duignan & Seamus Horan. Hard recordings to find these days, but some clips are up on “Youtube”.
Harry Bradley & Paul O’Shaughnessy - “Born For Sport”
Dylan Carlos, Cein Sweeney and John McCartin
Sean Gavin, Jesse Smith and John Blake - “Music From The Lost Continent”
and one I’m really enjoying at the moment - from the good ol’ USA - Will Woodson, Caitlin Finley and Chris Stevens - “The Glory Reel”
“Molloy, Peoples and Brady”
Tara and Dermy Diamond - "“Seanchairde”
That should do enough damage to your bank balance
PS - you missed out my good musical buddy Calum Stewart [ flute ] from your last selection with Lauren MacColl.
Many thanks for all these suggestions! I’ll pick a few from this list.
Kenny: Thanks for the recommendations (and for catching missing Calum Stewart’s name from his album with Lauren MacColl. I’m a former editor, so we’re even susceptible to such oversights). I absolutely love this record and have been working on Aileen’s jig and Crow Road Croft on low whistle lately until my flute arrives. Sure wish Calum was still playing the flute, but he’s of course he’s a brilliant piper (and whistle player).
As for Scottish flute players, I’ve also been listening to Hamier Napish’s The Woods and The River quite a bit. Since you mentioned the Molloy/Brady/Peoples record (which I have), I suppose a bit of guitar/bouzouki accompaniment would be all right (which of course would include a lot of other recordings) as long as the focus is still flute/fiddle.
Nanohedron: Good suggestion. I have Kevin Crawford’s ‘D’ Flute Album, which I like a lot.
Tunborough: Chris Norman is on my list to check out, so thanks for reminding me of him. FWIW, I played classical music (cello) for 30 years, but most (not all) of the flute repertoire didn’t really do it for me, except maybe the Bach B minor concerto.
KevinK: Just a shout out for the Wooden Flute Obsession series: What a great collection. It’s been my foundation for discovering the diversity of traditional flute playing.
“Aileen’s Jig” is indeed a beautiful tune, and quite tricky as well.
One other very fine recording which was released only last year was “A Snapshot In Time” by 2 sisters from Donegal, Paula and Melanie Houton. https://houtonmusic.com/
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