I would like to bring to your attention the recently released cd by Jimmy Hogan, a fine traditional flute- and whistle player. Jimmy, originally from Moy in West Clare, has lived in the Boston area for many years. Whenever I have had a chance to meet up with him it has been a memorable occasion, and I have taken every opportunity to try to catch some of his lovely unusual tunes and settings - and even more so the crisp and accurate, yet relaxed and flowing rhythm and phrasing of his dance music.
He has his own unique take on the music that may reflect in part his years playing in the ceili bands and sessions of Boston, yet from what little I know about these things, his style retains a strong flavor of his birthplace – some of you might find comparisons with the music that has been recorded by the Russell family, the Droneys, and the Kilfenora Band among others. Some of the jigs may have ancestry in fifing styles and repertoire, some of the reels have a darkness and power that may recall the pipers and the old Clare fiddlers. But again, those who know more about the history of this music might have more to say about that. For my part, the stark beauty of the settings, the strong sharp articulation, and the craggy tone and intonation bring to mind the contrasts of the landscape and weather in that part of Ireland. There is a depth to this music that has grown out of whole life lived with these tunes, and the generations before who did the same. I’m sorry, but this will not come through in ABC notation, even if I told you what kind of whistle Jimmy plays
Anyway I am really happy to have this cd. Not only can I now play the tunes over at will, for the first time I can hear (in the older tracks) Jimmy’s flute style. In the time I have known him he has only brought the whistle out. In this context, I should say that the cd is not a recent product of a studio recording session, but a collection of the best tracks that could be found among recordings of concerts etc., spanning many years – like the record of Joe Cooley that was made after Joe’s death. Thankfully, Jimmy is still with us to enjoy his new fame!
This cd is a joint production by the Cooley-Hanafin branch of CCE and by Boston College. Larry Reynolds of Comhaltas and Seamus Connolly have done a great service in putting this mighty music before the public. I have been given a phone number as a contact by which to obtain the cd, but rather than publish it on the web I think it is better if those interested email me (paul@groffsmusic.com), and I will email them the phone number. However, this is not a commercial activity for me and I do not have the cds for sale at present. I believe the price of $16 includes shipping within the US.
Others may want to add to this review…anyway I hope you all give it a listen and that you like it as much as I do.
Jimmy Hogan learned to play from a cousin who was originally from the Doolin area who had inherited a farm near Moy, which is a townland some three or four miles from where I am writing this.
Jimmy Hogan teamed up with Pappy Looney who was from the Kilfenora area if I am not mistaken and they used to play for house dances around the West Clare area. I have some tapes of their music (each separately), Jimmy’s style is a simple driven style for dancing. One of the houses they often played was that of peter Smith in Fahalunachta, home to my great friend Kitty Hayes. Both Jimmy and Pappy greatly encouraged her learning the concertina during the early 1940s, she still tells proudly how she once played for a dance with them. She gave up playing soon after because her concertina failed her, only to go back with a vengeance after 45 years. I gave her a tape of Jimmy’s playing some two years ago and she was amazed by the fact I had managed to find her one as well a the fact his playing and repertoire hadn’t changed much after 50 years in the States.
One of the stories Kitty has often told me is of one morning when they were supposed to make the hay, her father was out getting the horse ready(she was in her very early teens then) when Jimmy Hogan and Pappy Looney came walking across the field, on the way back from a night playing at a dance. Her father invited them in, they had tea and the flutes came out. Kitty gives a wonderful description of the morning light coming in the door. reflecting off the concertflutes while the music drifted across the fields. Her father got out the concertina. The girls danced a set and no hay was made that day. Their neighbour, a serious farmer, thought they were a bunch of lay-abouts, not making their hay but playing and dancing instead.
Keep it comming, Peter. You’ve made my day (or evening) once again. I’m tempted to start printing out your interesting comments and starting a collection. It sounds like the sort of thing I used to hear at my Grandparents house oh so many years ago.
I have just received the CD, which I ordered forKkitty Hayes who was very keen t ohear it, and to send Jimmy her own CD.
It’s a nice collection of the tunes of the day, most of which I am familiar with, from playing with Kitty Hayes, who has all the tunes she heard during her early teens stored safely in her head, and from the tapes I already have of Jimmy’s playing
There’s a strong influence from the North Clare repertoire, Jimmy played a lot with Pappy Looney and the musicians around the Kilfenora. There’s a strong Micho Russell influence as well, repertoire wise, Hogan never is quite as delicate as Micho though.
During the early 1940s during the summer big crowds from Ennis and Limerick and Ennis would come into lahinch on the West Clare Railroad for the dance bands in the evening and for days on the beach. During the day Jimmy Hogan and Micho Russell would play for sets on the Promenade, the flutes would provide music for the dancers and each couple would pay an amount for each set they danced.
Hogan’s music still has the old basic style of the player who was received his musical skills from playing for the sets night after night. As Kitty said earlier today when we were talking about those days: ‘They were great times, we had such fun at the dances’. And she told me how herself and the sisters would go out to the dance while her mother sat by the fire in a long skirt, doing her rosary getting ready for bed. When the girls sneaked back into the house around five in the morning the mother would always heard them as they unlatched the door. They must have been great times indeed.
The single jigs at the end of the CD are just lovely, interestingly the second one came out of nothing this afternoon when Kitty played the concertina. We played it for a while and she wondered where it came fro mas we had never played it. Another tune Hogan left behind him when he emigrated.
I know that Jimmy’s Comhaltas branch bought him an Abell whistle which when I heard his earlier tapes thought a very mixed blessing Like any player on the Abells I have ever heard, he has severe intonation problems playing this whistle. This doesn’t detract from the music all that much for me but his music on the old Clarke is by far superiour, both rhythmically and intonation wise.
