Heres an article from the “Kerryman” newspaper written by Kevin Hughes--------
MASTER uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn will perform a live one-off show in Sol Y Sombra, Killorglin next Thursday, September 13.
Largely credited with having brought an emotional excitement to uilleann pipes, which had previously been associated with the strict discipline of highland bag pipes, he is best know for co-founding Planxty.
Growing up in County Kildare, his close friendship with Seamus Ennis taught him that there was much more to being a piper than playing tunes. In his teens he began to attend music sessions in the Kildare village of Prosperous where he met many of the people with whom he would later make his name and tour. These were musicians like Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine with whom, in the early seventies, Liam formed Planxty.
O’Flynn has also performed with the likes of John Cage, The Everly Brothers, Van Morrison, Kate Bush and Mark Knoffler with whom he performed the score to the movie Cal. Other movie scores include The Field, A River Runs Through It, Kidnapped and Roses from Dublin.
He has regularly collaborated with Catherine Ennis, daughter of Seamus Ennis and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney with whom Liam has performed in auditoriums around the world. They first performed together in a small church in Kenmare and regularly perform together in small intimate venues.
In 2003 he took part in the opening ceremony of the Special Olympic World Summer Games held in Croke Park and the following year he teamed up again with original Planxty members, Christy Moore, Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny for a number of high profile concerts. Earlier this year he received the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award for Musician of the Year.
Tickets for next week’s performance are €20 or €45 with a two course meal. The show gets underway at 9pm.
Largely credited with having brought an emotional excitement to uilleann pipes, which had previously been associated with the strict discipline of highland bag pipes
I think by “emotional excitement”, Mr. Hughes meant to convey " A chilly stoicism not unlike that of a career assassin, the ability to render Irish tradiitonal tunes with unbelievable skill and expression whilst looking as though thinking fondly of the cheese sandwich in the fridge at home." Creative piece of journalism, that.
I read an interview with LOF once…he said that to play the music the way he wants to/feels it requires going into a “zone”…paraphrasing here, but the gist of it was that he goes into his “special place” when playing. That would account for the apparent deadpan aspect that he has when playing. I don;t know what he’s like in person though when not buckled in…
Just been to the Sol y Sombra in Killorglin ,which happens to be a tapas bar to collect two tickets for thursday .Its actually an old converted church with very high ceilings so I expect the sound to be good !
On the way out I swiped this poster off the wall when nobody was looking .It would look very nice framed and hung in your pratice room,and maybe give you some inspiration in your playing
The first fifty euro secures !!! [/img]
I’ve seen Liam O’Flynn play a few times, but the concert the other night in Killorglin was the best by far, as Liam himself remarked the venue was excellent, it is a tastefully restored old but small church and the high ceiling and the atmosphere of the place plus the Bar makes for a very good concert venue. It is quite intimate as it was to full capacity with approx 160 people.
I sometimes used to think when at his other concerts that he used to do too much talking but I found the introductions to each tune this time very entertaining, and the general banter at the concert was very good. He mentioned that his father still plays the odd tune on the fiddle at 97 which got a round of applause (let’s hope Liam is still playing at 97). He also talked about his time spend with Seamus Ennis and Liam was telling us that he and his brother lived with Seamus Ennis for over 2 years which I never knew. He went onto explain that just being in the company of Seamus was an education in the tradition of understanding the music.
He played the full version of the Fox Chase which is the version he got from Seamus Ennis, and in his introduction of the piece he was explaining that in his opinion as it is slightly different from the version that Pat Mitchell transcribed in his book, that this version has a few extra parts in the Jigs that he thinks Seamus Ennis wrote himself.
He also mentioned that he is playing with an orchestra the full version of the Brendan Voyage later in the Autumn in Ennis which should be well worth seeing.
Here is a photo of him playing, I also managed to record him playing the Gold Ring on a small digital camera which I have been trying to upload onto my hosting site but couldn’t get it to upload, but if I do I will post a link.
Years ago in Chicago I helped host Liam O’Flynn for a piping workshop (part, I think, of a larger ITM fest). Anyway, he was a very nice guy, and, even then, quite the piper.
Fast forward about 10 years. Liam is playing at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Talking to him for a minute before he gets up onstage, I request “Spike Island Lasses”. Not only does he play it, he also mentions me by name saying (jokingly) that I should have known that it’s “always followed by ‘Dogs Among the Bushes’”-- which he also plays.
Me too, I met Liam at a ‘Masterclass’ in Ilkley where he was happy to chat to mere mortals such as myself and also to give valuable tips on piping technique.
His expression whilst playing (likened by my brother to that of King Rollo’s cat) Is nothing compared to the ‘tongue - out’ contortions displayed by many pipers. My own ‘gurning’ is usually found by audiences to be far more interesting/entertaining than the piping itself.
