Last night, I was fortunate to attend the Montreal appearance of the legendary uilleann piper Paddy Keenan. It was truly a magical experience listening to this very talented former member of the Bothy Band. Paddy was accompanied by the singer / guitarist Billy Kelly. In addition to his piping, we were treated to quite a few tunes on low whistle.
Yes, I know. You NEED to know what whistles he played. He played Cillian O’Briain and Michael Grinter low whistles, both sublimely.
Opening for Paddy and Billy were a group of Montreal traditional musicians, including our own Stephen Jones, aka StevieJ. They performed a number of tunes from the new publication “A Dossan Of Heather”. Stephen played his new Overton (Goldie) modal whistle, and it sounded great. One of the highlights of the performance was the virtuoso display of Jean Duval, co-compiler of “A Dossan Of Heather”, of some one-handed whistle playing. It was astonishing to witness the range and technical complexity of the pieces, which were composed by Jean. He plays pretty good with two hands as well.
I would recommend, if Paddy ever visits your area, to make a point to see and hear him. It was truly an experience. Paddy plays again in Montreal on Sunday night at Hurley’s Irish Pub.
I’m not aware of anything specific towards the end of September. You might want to subrscribe to the Yahoo Group “Montreal_Trad_Irish_Music_Sessions”. Events are normally posted there.
On 2001-09-08 13:32, JamieKerr wrote:
I would recommend, if Paddy ever visits your area, to make a point to see and hear him. It was truly an experience. Paddy plays again in Montreal on Sunday night at Hurley’s Irish Pub.
I’m so glad you had the opportunity to hear Paddy Keenan. He’s an amazing musician and connects with his audience so well. He’s been appearing here in Seattle each Fall and will be here again next month. Sounds as though he’ll be changing the line-up… Kevin Burke will be with him. This is a definite MUST see/hear. Martin Hayes lives here and if he’s in town he wanders in the door to hear Paddy. We can only hope this year!
Thanks Jamie. It’s Hurley’s that my friends go to, but they couldn’t remember when session night is. They just love the music. And I know of Brother Steve’s website.