The new Piobaire announces The Book with a pre-launch special price. Unfortunately it turns out the NPU on-line shop isn’t ready for orders so I put in an e-mail for it.
It’s interesting to see there will be 179 dance tunes included, all work JOBM did on the airs seems to have gone by the wayside. Still monumental piece of work though.
Fair play to NPU and especially Pat Mitchell for getting this job done, we had to wait much longer for the Touhey book.
Great news.
What’s the price?
The airs would probably justify a separate volume.
Does someone have JOBM’s email? Maybe we could cut a deal with him. 
djm
Peter Laban wrote:
The new Piobaire announces The Book with a pre-launch special price. Unfortunately it turns out the NPU on-line shop isn’t ready for orders so I put in an e-mail for it.
What’s the special price and what is NPU’s email so I can order one?
David
The Irish language Ennis Diaries are in the online shop, so the other new Ennis book should be up soon.
http://store.pipers.ie/store/product/1381/Mise-an-Fear-Ceoil------------/
Mukade
David C wrote
What’s the special price and what is NPU’s email so I can order one?
The Dance Music of Seamu Ennis
ISBN 978-0-9509743-6-1
60Euro / 50Euro NPU Members / 40Euro pre launch + p&p
Chris beat me to it. Pre launch price of 40 gyros for NPU members.
I think the launch date is May 25th.
Get those orders in now, folks!
You have to pay in Greek sandwiches?
Bloody globalism…
Yup. Better get it now before they let Turkey into the EU…
I once read “Seamus Ennis never played for dancers”
This is called “The DANCE music of Seamus Ennis”
I once read “Seamus Ennis never played for dancers”
This is called “The DANCE music of Seamus Ennis”
\
I read that too somewhere… Oh!!! I know.
Kevin L.Reitmann Wrote:
Ennis apparently refused to play the pipes for dancers, his music was for listening not dancing - something that was said about various pipers in the old days, too. That might explain why people are bothered by his shifting tempos, or the effect his ornamentation has on the rhythm - certain ornaments he did like the “shiver” trill or the ABC triplet (which you hear in the opening of the Bucks) sound like stuff that would trip up a dancer.. .
Now, that IS ironic.
Ennis did play for dancers (maybe not on the pipes).
If you listen to 40 Years of Irish Piping, you’ll hear him play the Copperplate on the whistle for a step dancer. Quite a lively version. Some of the people listening really get caught up in the moment. A great recording.
That particular recording was actually from the Alan Lomax collection, taken from a BBC recording, for which Ennis acted as field guide and collector.
The music is called “dance music” because it is for dancing, whether you play it at a ceíldhí or in a broom closet. Whether Ennis played for dancers is unimportant as to what genre the music belongs to.
djm
There’s also a Folktrax record with Seamus playing a couple reels with Peter Kennedy on fiddle, I think for dancers. Haven’t picked that one up myself. Peadar O’Loughlin said, speaking on the radio after Tommy Reck died, that Tommy had a very steady tempo and great execution but it wasn’t a style suited for dancing to. That’s the kind of thing I was getting at.
Apart from a steady tempo, you have to be able to hit the right tempo and dancers can be fussy. If they learn a dance at 110 beats per minute and you play it at 112, they don’t like it!!
I once read “Seamus Ennis never played for dancers”
This is called “The DANCE music of Seamus Ennis”
I read that too somewhere… Oh!!! I know.Kevin L.Reitmann Wrote:
Quote:Ennis apparently refused to play the pipes for dancers, his music was for listening not dancing - something that was said about various pipers in the old days, too. That might explain why people are bothered by his shifting tempos, or the effect his ornamentation has on the rhythm - certain ornaments he did like the “shiver” trill or the ABC triplet (which you hear in the opening of the Bucks) sound like stuff that would trip up a dancer.. .
Now, that IS ironic.
Well as someone wiser than us said “never say never”. I do remember reading somewhere that Ennis did play for dancers in his early days. Perhaps he gave up playing for dancers on pipes after he became established. In any event, this is great news and I look forward to seeing this book.
It could also be that when you play for dancers, the dancers are the focus of attention, not the musician. Ennis certainly wasn’t afraid of the limelight. Perhaps as he got older he just didn’t want to share it… 
“Dance music” is just used in opposition to “airs”. Whether you play for dancers or not, jigs or reels… are dance tunes. 
I haven’t received An Píobaire yet, so I didn’t have the ordering details, and wasn’t aware of the special price. I did contact NPU from their store site and placed an order, though. I haven’t heard back from them yet. Has anyone else?
djm
Got my AP today and there’s nothing in the ordering info there that Chris hasn’t mentioned, so contacting NPU and checking their store daily is about as good as you’ll do it seems.
It’s 480 pages long, too…if they’d included the airs it’d be like the OED of piping. Hope JOBM brings some of his texts to California for us to have a look see.