Just listening to Matt Molloy’s “Heathery Breeze” yet again, really listening to his tone, phrasing, intonation. I’ve misplaced the cover to the CD, but think he is playing a Rudall on the tracks he plays on D flute, e.g. tracks 1 and 12, as well as the waltz/aire in A(track #8?). Then, I listened to his Miss Monaghan reel on “Music at Matt Molloy’s” track #9. I believe I’ve read that Molloy switched to a Boosey Pratten and is now playing an Olwell Pratten. Did Molloy already switch to his Boosey on the “Music at Matt Molloy” tracks, or is he still playing his Rudall? Can anyone give me a specific timeline when Molloy switched and his reason for doing so?
I think he swithed to the Bossey Pratten flute as he left the Bothy Band and joined Planxty more or less. In “Music at Matt Molloy´s” he is playing the Bossey for sure.
Regards,
S.
I think on one of the Bothy Band album covers Matt can be seen holding a Rudall&Rose. His Pratten was in E flat and he seemed to prefer playing it over the D R&R.
Sorry lads but there is way too much ignorant guessing going on here.
The Eb he used on the black album was not a Pratten. Yes he is holding the R&R on the second Bothy Band LP. and yes he is holding the Pratten on the cover of The Stony Steps. He probably started using that flute as his main instrument around 1983/4. That info from Paul Davis from a conversation I probably had with him in 1985 or 86.
I think there used to be an interview with Molloy somewhere on the net that might give a bit more info.
“I borrowed a Rudall and Rose – I was presented with a Rudall and Rose to see what I thought of it. It was a beauty. A friend of mine gave it to me. I did all of the Bothy Band work with a Rudall and Rose.” “What I play [at the time of this interview] is a Boosey…I keep going back to it. I’m playing it for the last 25 years now.” Matt Molloy, 26 September 1997.
Yep–it’s from the interview. I read it awhile ago and was too dog tired to remember and go back. Thanks for redirecting me.
Who made that E flat? It sure looks like a Pratten, in photos I’ve seen of it. But of course other makers made that style as well.
For decades I played a flute made c1860 by Koehler & Son, London, which is a dead-ringer for a Pratten. The bore, fingerhole spacing, and key style is identical.
I used to own a c1880 Boosey Pratten E flat that looked just like Molloy’s.
Just to add to the ignorant guessing, seems to me like most of the little Eb band flutes I’ve seen “in the wild” were stamped Hawkes & Son. That doesn’t mean that Matt’s was one of those, but there are a bunch of those out there so the odds may be very good. Cheers,
I have no idea who made that flute but I think you and I must be looking at different flutes. I’ve never seen anything by Boosey that looks like the flute on the black album. The rings and key pattern are totally different. I’m using Pratten as referring to the Pratten Perfected model made by Boosey not the generic description that modern makers have started to adopt for anything with bigger holes.
The keys on the flute on the black album don’t looks like the Hawkes pattern either. although there are a lot of Hawkes Eb flutes around.
Ken
The Eb flute on the “black” album (funny we call it that…seeing as Seamus Tansey’s recording was really the first “black album.”…
anyway…the flute he used had a banded head piece that appears on the original cover (i have one of them with the vinyl inside), then was airbrushed out because it didn’t look like a traditional flute…
now the latest CD versions (i saw one at Virgin yesterday) has the original banded flute photo back again.
Amusing.
I’ve tried for some time to figure out which maker it is by the shapes of the keys and cannot. It may just be a nice-playing german variety that he had around seeing as his father/granddad played, too.
it’s possible.
apparently he hadn’t planned on doing the recording in Eb at all, but Donal Lunny’s zook was tuned there, so that’s what it was.
well, you know how rumors go…
nothing like folk lore
either way…it was Peoples who pushed it.
From Molloy (the “he” at the start is the guy he bought the flute from…notice it is “band” type flute):
He used to play flute in a brass and reed band; they played in Eb. I didn’t know anything about that, but he wanted to sell me the flute, which he did. There was great tone off it, great bang off it. So I was thrilled with this thing. But I had nowhere to go with it. All the sessions were in D. But Tommy heard me play this. He used to love to crank the strings up into Eb and play, so that’s how we got the whole thing started. And I made the first solo album with that flute
<<
