Dungannon Piper Jarleth (sp) Henderson has won the Radio2 Young Folk Musician award. I think there’s a broadcast on Wed 10th on "Folk on 2 ".
Alan
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Wonderful news. It gives me warm fuzzies seeing the kids, especially irish kids, taking up the pipes and doing well at it.
Jarlath is a nice youngfella and he’s playing well too. Fair play to him
Incidentally he was on tv last night playing in the streets of Clonmel with some friends playing fierce fast stuff full of syncopations which I don’t really care for all that much. The presenter of the programm with was the annual instalmetn of Comhaltas Fleadh propaganda said ‘and here’s another fine bunch of young musicians who learned their playing through the Comhaltas teaching system’. Pass the bucket please.
Some crusty old piper with a sharp tongue ought to have been there to jump all over that statement with a few well-chosen words.
What a putz.
I just met Jarlath a couple weeks ago and will heartily agree with the statement that he is a great guy!
The thing that struck me the most was that I didn’t perceive any inflated ego. In my experience with teenagers, it would be pretty easy for someone with his obvious ability to want to upstage everyone around him. I watched him play with some “basic-tune” level pipers and be very patient and generous.
My memory of the particular evening is a bit thick (ah the Guiness) right now but I think I also watched him make a total goof of himself trying to do a Scots folkdance with a group of girls. Perfectly willing to make a fool of himself with the rest of us and not squirrel away in a private session with the elite. Very refreshing!
He plays a Dave Williams set that will knock your socks off. The tone is very “present” in the session mix. Others were comparing it to a “Coyne” sound - whatever that means.
Williams sets do NOT sound like Coyne sets, that’s for certain.
That program is really the pits, it’s on every year and there is rarely any really good stuff on it. Mind you Jarlath and his friends were doing brilliant stuff, never mind that I can live without the syncopated bits but these wafts of comhaltasdom really get to me. That aside, I think in that particular case the Armagh pipers club is due a bit of credit too.
Yes, Radio2 BBC, it’s about 7pm I think.
Alan
I completely understand, Peter. CCE has done almost nothing for the preservation and promotion of irish piping compared to NPU, the Armagh Pipers’ Club, and the Seattle Club, to say nothing of those teachers who, independent of any organization, open their own homes to students or travel miles to give lessons for little or no monetary compensation. Some blowhard taking credit for the hard work of others rubs me the wrong way, big time.
The show is broadcast at 8pm to 9pm on BBC Radio 2.
Try following this link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/folk/harding/
they do actually stream the show so those in other time zones or with better things to do on a Wednesday night can skim through the show and pick up the traditional bits. That site actually says that highlights will be broadcast on Feb 11th, don’t know what to expect from tomorrow’s broadcast.
Ken
Sorry, I should have read the stuff on that link more closely, it’s the grown ups folk awards that wil be broadcast on Feb 11th, back to tomorrow for the young musicians.
Ken
Grown ups folk awards!! shudder
Alan
Sorry Alan, I should have said old farts awards, one look at the play list and you wonder what British folk music is all about.
Ken
Heard him at the Dutch tionól last year. Wonderfully mature and unassuming as a musician, he is able to do the flash stuff but knows when to leave it out.
Is it true he’s only 17? That’s disgusting!
Just heard Jarlath playing on the BBC show. I’m going to bed. I don’t feel good. 
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