I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the concert the pipers club held last sunday in Dublin.
The concert was very interesting with outstanding musicians featuring, but the highlight for me was Frankie Gavin and Marteen O connnor.
I feel when I hear them play together they are breaking new horizons whilst still be true to the tradition. Their music is innovative whilst still revering the greats of the 1920's as they themselves said. Is frankie gavin the future and past all in one?
Maybe. Frankie takes a lot of inspiration from the '20s, e.g. the Flannagan brothers and John Kimmel. A lot from Morrison, too. But what makes him so great (IMHO) is that he is a fantastic entertainer, just as the 1920s greats were.I think his inspiration is from the past, but his performance is right now.
I've heard more of Mairtin's solo work than Frankie's - lots of variety and fireworks on "Perpetual Motion", his non-ITM disc. But wasn't this kind of eclecticism (which I'm all for) parallelled by Irish musos in America way back? I don't know enough about them, but would have thought that some would be temperamentally inclined to try a lot of novel/different stuff out, and that quite a few would have been obliged to play (to them) exotic numbers if they were playing to the general public for a living. If this is the case, F and M's playing of innovatory *material* (I'm not here referring to novel treatment of trad tunes) ought to qualify as something pretty traditional!
having attended the NPU gig as well, I'd have to say I was a little disappointed with Gavin and O'Connor. I thought they were not anyway near as interesting as some of the other acts on the bill. The highlights for me were a piper I had never heard before called Sean McKiernan and the sean nos singer Jimmy Canavan. McKiernan was playing Patsy Touhey's own set of pipes (left handed) and his music was out of this world. His tin whistle playing was so reminiscent of Willie Clancy's it was incredible (I'm more than slightly bias as Clancy would be my favourite whistle player).
Canavan stole the show. There was dead silence while he sang, complemented perfectly by ground shaking applause and yells when he finished. He has to be one of the most gifted singers I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. Does anyone know where he's based or if he plays out much - I'd kill to hear him again!
I think it's wonderful that NPU would include two artists like this - not widely known to the greater public but prolific exponents of the music. Although Frankie and Mairtin were great, there wasn't one set I hadn't heard them play before. I'm not slagging them, just offering a different take on the concert.
Yes McKiernan and canavan played very nicely but clearly frankie and oconnor are street ahead. No offence but I don't think you understand the difference between good musicians and professional musicians.
I'm with you skip canlon whoever you are. The two above certainly stole the show for me, why you might ask? Simply because the music came straight from the heart/soul of these musicians/singers. Gavin and O'Connor/ and the two young lads at the end just showed off the mastery of their instruments but where was the music? Lost somewhere in the ether i'm afraid. To my ears it was just plain boring.
In fact the whole concert was disappointing. The Frank Harte concert the night before was much better. Great atmosphere and musicianship from both musicians and singers alike.
I would argue that I do understand the difference between good musicianship and professional musicians. In some ways you have argued my own point. I have no interest in listening to Gavin, or whoever, recite the same tripe they've been playing for countless number of years. We've all heard The Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba to Galway, quite frankly she's outstayed her welcome. If professionalism is getting up on stage and flogging a dead horse, then I want nothing to do with it.
If you coulndn't hear the difference in class between McKiernan/Canavan and Gavin/O'Connor, then quite clearly the seat was wasted on you and should have been giving to one of the countless number outside Liberty Hall gagging for any seat they could get in the venue (the concert would have sold out 3 times over from what I heard).
mariaphilmurphy,
Can't say I'd agree with all your points. I thought Liam O'Connor and Sean McKeon (the two young lads you refer to) played exceptionally well. Sean's solo hornpipes and Liam's rendition of the Wild Geese were brilliant - they are widely recognised as torch bearers for the 'pure' element of our tradition, and I believe they did themselves proud on that concert platform. They were the closing act and really rounded a wonderful evening off very well.
I was at the Frank Harte concert too, and can't say I thought it was as good. There were some great performances - Mary Stewart and Sean Garvey spring to mind - but I really do believe the Liberty Hall gig was exceptional, even with aforementioned acts playing their 'greatest hits'.
Skip I think you're missing the point here. Frankie and Marteen have been playing together for a long time and I really felt their performance has a polished class to it. I have to say I totally disagree with your comment that "If you coulndn't hear the difference in class between McKiernan/Canavan and Gavin/O'Connor, then quite clearly the seat was wasted on you". I didn't say I didn't appreciate the other acts, indeed I thought all the acts were wonderful and would give my right arm to be as good as any of them.
Any self respecting musician would never refer to the musicianship of frankie and marteen as 'flogging a dead horse', indeed your mentality is the only dead horse around here. Frankie and Marteen had the humility to try and start up a session in the lobby afterwards and I think anyone would have been welcome to join in. I personally feel that I was very lucky indeed to hear this renowned duo play in liberty hall. Not sure how much you know about music Skip but Willie Clancy was a piper, not a whistle player. Hasn't he got a festival named after him?
'Not sure how much you know about music Skip but Willie Clancy was a piper, not a whistle player'
Well here real class and knowledge lets itself be known doesn't it?
Dear Pamplemousse, Willie Clancy was started on the whistle by his father Gilbert during childhood, he considered the thorough grounding he got as the solid foundation he built his musicianship on. While he took up the pipes in his twenties he always kept playing the tinwhistle and was by many considered as one of the foremost whistleplayers of his generation.
Breandan Breathnach considered him more of a whistleplayer than a piper and Pat Mitchell, who wrote the book on Clancy, told me that when he thinks of Clancy he thinks of him standing in a corner in Tom Friel's pulling the whistle out of the pocket of his dungarees and playing a few tunes.
FWIW, Sean McKiernan was living in the US when someone sent him one of the Gael-Linn 78's, it was sent because of the Sean nos singing o nthe one side, the other side however was one of Clancy's recordings. Sean Mac was so struck by that he decided to go back to Ireland and learn the pipes. For this he sought out Willie, so it's no surprise his whistle playing would be strongly influenced by Willie's. Just as his pipin has strong influences from Willie, as well as the American Irgish pipers like Touhey and Carney. Altogether making up quite the mix.
So if you feel the need to go all pedantic on people in the future, do yourself a favour and try not to put your foot in it. OK?
this spat is similar to the Eileen Ivers thread. I wasn't at the concert, but there's probably no doubt that Frankie and Marteen gave the best performance. And a concert platform is an invitation to perform, so fair play to them.
But there's more to this music than performance, yeah?
I think it's fair to say that Frankie and Marteen and Eileen are part of the future of the music. But I'm glad to say they are not "the" future.
Maybe it's just me but during the early 80s I would have agreed Gavin was part of the future of Irish music. Twentyfive years later he is, well, Frankie Gavin.
Anyone having problems finding the fada for the correct spelling of Máirtín? Or is there another reason for going all phonetic on the name?
Ah yes you got me there. Subtle with the ' t' there too. Class act.
Anyhow, that doesn't take away from the fact you were giving out to people about their knowledge of things musical while you obviously hadn't a clue what you were on about yourself.
'Maybe it's just me but during the early 80s I would have agreed Gavin was part of the future of Irish music. Twentyfive years later he is, well, Frankie Gavin.'
Yes, I agree with you there Kilfarboy. He was described as the future and low and behold here he is still very involved in Irish music, so people were right. And there is every chance he will remain part of the future. Tastes change but he has been and still is a great player.
He played the flute too. McKiernan and Jimmy Canacan are exceptional. Frankie has a mullet which would be better suited to swimming in the Liffey than playing in Liberty Hall. Mullets feed on dung and filth like trazz and The Raping of the Queen of Sheeba
I think only a fool would doubt Gavin's claim to being a great musician but by the late seventies into the mid eighties he was sort of flavour of the month in that a lot of people were trying to play like him, sessions would move in a De Dannan like backbeat and his influence could be heard. Over time that has changed, new fads have come and gone Martin Hayes, Caoimhin O Raghallaigh have been the focus and the influence of the moment in turn. When I think of 'the future of Irish Music' though I would think in terms of a lasting effect, things permanently absorbed into the mainstream. Time will tell I suppose.
Yes Willie Clancy played the flute and as it is handed down 'he could do on the flute all the wonderful variations and ornaments we can hear on the recordings of his whistle playing' . He could knock a tune out of a concertina too and there is the story of him commenting on Seamus Ennis' fiddle playing by saying that while there was a lot of talk who of the two of them was the better piper, there was little doubt he himself had the upper hand on Seamus when it came to the fiddle.
I know of only one, very poor quality, recording of Willie playing the flute. He play Banish Misfortune on it. Ennis' fiddleplaying had a strong flavour of Padraig O Keeffe influence, to my mind anyway. Recordings of Ennis playing the flute are rare too.
McKeon and O'Connor may have played technically brilliant music and obviously have been steeped in the tradition, and I agree the slow airs they played were lovely However, to my ears it was a very unmusical performance. Standard bearers they may be but Jimmy Canavan and Sean McKiernan stood out in their musicality and pure soul, as well as having the technique, the actually felt the music.
lol! i love it lord gordon! funny stuff, because i know where you're coming from! *nudge nudge*
Its hard to follow what people are arguing about here, it seems like everyone enjoyed the concert but its like they're more traditional then these or whatever.
i was also at the concert and enjoyed the whole thing. i thought all the acts were great but for me the stand out was Jimmy Canavan. i hadn't, like most people, even heard of the man b4 the concert and was astounded by his performance. he was brilliant. totally understated, came on stage, no introduction for any of his songs, he just sang them. and he was great! sean mckiernan was great as well and produced a great sound from tuoheys pipes.
as regards the frankie situation. i am great fan of his old stuff, the de danann stuff aswell, paul brocka dn all that, but i can't say that i care to much for the music he plays now. hibernian rhapsody, the group, that has to be the worst cd ive ever heard. it has an identity crisis because it cant decide whether its classical, traditional, pop (the songs) or jazz. the result is a limbo mish-mash which comes across as a half thought out piece of garbage. now you cant say that is the future.
as regards his performance with mairtin, i agree with the fact that they are 'performers' and thats certainly what they did. and they did it well. as far as music goes it was entertaining and in the last couple of years bith of these musicians have been making a living doing that, and not necessarily caring what contitutes as substance music, because its about making a few bucks. music for the masses. this didnt take much thought for them, they just treat it like another concert, another audience. while people like canavan let their singin do the talking. now that was genuine and from the soul.i think they probably should have played more straight down the line tunes, and i disagree with you pamplemousse (or whatever your name is) i think they really are pushing it when you have to AGAIN resort to the queen of sheba when you are playing to an audience of mainly thoroughbread traditional musicians. fine it was great musicianship, but people didnt pay 25 into a concert to hear classical music. sheba was done over 20 years ago, i think its time to lay to rest, especially for that concert. i thinkin that regard they were flogging a dead horse. and pamplemousse i have to seriously question your knowledge of the music when you say that frankie and martin wouldn't have minded anybody join their 'session'. maybe you shud do more research on frankie. lol. he has fallin out with any musician he's ever played with, why do think alec doesn't play with him anymore? frankie screwed him over , same with derck hickey, the other box player from england (not mullane), the list goes on. why do think he keeps getin these young players to play with him. cause the old heads knows what he's about. and now he's back playin with martin again to flog the horse again. he's running out of ideas methinks. go pedantic if you want pampers, but judging from your last comments, its pretty sad to see you resort to schoolboy comments like the 'kil-fart-boy one'. that EMBARRASSING!! lol. if you knew the people you were arguing with (you do realise there are musicians behind the pseudoyms?) you wud probably realise how little you actually know.
I would assume Jimmy Canavan to be noe other than Jimí Ó Ceannabháin of Ros Muc from one of the greatest familial repositories of culture in the country. Already mentioned in a few previous comments by kilfarboy and others. It still boggles the mind that singers of his stature are completely unknown, never mind barely known, outside of his parish although in fairness he does get around to a few singing festivals. One could argue that his extended family is without equal in Western Europe. McKiernan was born in the States if I'm not mistaken but his family is from more or less the same area (Carna I think).
I would have LOVED to be at this concert. One of my favourite recordings is a bootleg tape of Gavin and O'Connor playing at the Galway Arts Festival in 1986 (I think.) I bet they played a lot of the same stuff... Isn't it possible to think of their performances now as a kind of reunion tour? Sure, The Queen of Sheba thing is old hat, but I personally wouldn't mind seeing THEM do it again. And weren't there a lot of younger musicians there who had never seen them play together before? If I went to see some reunion tour, the band better play their hits! Maybe it was just the wrong program for them to be a part of.
ok, so to sum it up, everybody who was at the concert enjoyed it. Many of us have issues with Gavin's performance, but in reality we had these issues before the concert even started. At least he was there to keep the ignoramuses in the audience happy (I can't believe I was accused of being musically ignorant by someone who told me Willie Clancy wasn't a whistle player!!!! )
In conclusion, Sean McKiernan was brilliant and Jimmy is THE MAN. For any of you who haven't heard this man sing, make every effort you can to do so. I promise you, the first time you hear him sing will be a memory you'll hold dear until your dying day.
We had Sean and Jimmy O'Brien Moran as teachers last Nov 2007 at our pipers tionol. The last video is Sean playing Tommy Klein's concert D set. Sean spent hours talking about Willie Clancy and playing the pipes. JOBM wasn't bad either . Jimmy will kill me after that last.
I enjoyed that video I-Fel. Thanks. No in a position for marriage at the moment. Technically it would be very hard to sustain a long distance relationship fiddleruairi and skip. Flattered
I_fel, thanks very much for that. Who would have thought a discussion topic started about that gimpy little mullet bandit would have ended with video clips of McK that we hadn't seen? That's made my day, even though my marriage proposal was turned down :(
"I know of only one, very poor quality, recording of Willie playing the flute. He play Banish Misfortune on it. Ennis' fiddleplaying had a strong flavour of Padraig O Keeffe influence, to my mind anyway. Recordings of Ennis playing the flute are rare too."
Man, I'd kill to hear any of those... I have no doubt that Willie lived up to that reputation as well.
Frankie- the future of irish music
Frankie- the future of irish music
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the concert the pipers club held last sunday in Dublin.
The concert was very interesting with outstanding musicians featuring, but the highlight for me was Frankie Gavin and Marteen O connnor.
I feel when I hear them play together they are breaking new horizons whilst still be true to the tradition. Their music is innovative whilst still revering the greats of the 1920's as they themselves said. Is frankie gavin the future and past all in one?
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by pamplemousse
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
No
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by strayaway
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
You can all judge for yourselves at Scoil Cheoil na Botha 2008!!
Frankie Gavin and Máirtín O Connor performing at it on the 17th October in Scotstown, Co. Monaghan.
www.anbhoth.ie
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by ScoilCheoilnaBotha
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Maybe. Frankie takes a lot of inspiration from the '20s, e.g. the Flannagan brothers and John Kimmel. A lot from Morrison, too. But what makes him so great (IMHO) is that he is a fantastic entertainer, just as the 1920s greats were.I think his inspiration is from the past, but his performance is right now.
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by Chrishty
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I've heard more of Mairtin's solo work than Frankie's - lots of variety and fireworks on "Perpetual Motion", his non-ITM disc. But wasn't this kind of eclecticism (which I'm all for) parallelled by Irish musos in America way back? I don't know enough about them, but would have thought that some would be temperamentally inclined to try a lot of novel/different stuff out, and that quite a few would have been obliged to play (to them) exotic numbers if they were playing to the general public for a living. If this is the case, F and M's playing of innovatory *material* (I'm not here referring to novel treatment of trad tunes) ought to qualify as something pretty traditional!
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
"Is frankie gavin the future and past all in one?"
Yes - not to mention the present. But he's not alone. Isn't that what all the best trad musicians are?
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
having attended the NPU gig as well, I'd have to say I was a little disappointed with Gavin and O'Connor. I thought they were not anyway near as interesting as some of the other acts on the bill. The highlights for me were a piper I had never heard before called Sean McKiernan and the sean nos singer Jimmy Canavan. McKiernan was playing Patsy Touhey's own set of pipes (left handed) and his music was out of this world. His tin whistle playing was so reminiscent of Willie Clancy's it was incredible (I'm more than slightly bias as Clancy would be my favourite whistle player).
Canavan stole the show. There was dead silence while he sang, complemented perfectly by ground shaking applause and yells when he finished. He has to be one of the most gifted singers I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. Does anyone know where he's based or if he plays out much - I'd kill to hear him again!
I think it's wonderful that NPU would include two artists like this - not widely known to the greater public but prolific exponents of the music. Although Frankie and Mairtin were great, there wasn't one set I hadn't heard them play before. I'm not slagging them, just offering a different take on the concert.
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by skip canlon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Yes McKiernan and canavan played very nicely but clearly frankie and oconnor are street ahead. No offence but I don't think you understand the difference between good musicians and professional musicians.
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by pamplemousse
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I'm with you skip canlon whoever you are. The two above certainly stole the show for me, why you might ask? Simply because the music came straight from the heart/soul of these musicians/singers. Gavin and O'Connor/ and the two young lads at the end just showed off the mastery of their instruments but where was the music? Lost somewhere in the ether i'm afraid. To my ears it was just plain boring.
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by mariaphilmurphy
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
In fact the whole concert was disappointing. The Frank Harte concert the night before was much better. Great atmosphere and musicianship from both musicians and singers alike.
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by mariaphilmurphy
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
pamplemousse,
I would argue that I do understand the difference between good musicianship and professional musicians. In some ways you have argued my own point. I have no interest in listening to Gavin, or whoever, recite the same tripe they've been playing for countless number of years. We've all heard The Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba to Galway, quite frankly she's outstayed her welcome. If professionalism is getting up on stage and flogging a dead horse, then I want nothing to do with it.
If you coulndn't hear the difference in class between McKiernan/Canavan and Gavin/O'Connor, then quite clearly the seat was wasted on you and should have been giving to one of the countless number outside Liberty Hall gagging for any seat they could get in the venue (the concert would have sold out 3 times over from what I heard).
mariaphilmurphy,
Can't say I'd agree with all your points. I thought Liam O'Connor and Sean McKeon (the two young lads you refer to) played exceptionally well. Sean's solo hornpipes and Liam's rendition of the Wild Geese were brilliant - they are widely recognised as torch bearers for the 'pure' element of our tradition, and I believe they did themselves proud on that concert platform. They were the closing act and really rounded a wonderful evening off very well.
I was at the Frank Harte concert too, and can't say I thought it was as good. There were some great performances - Mary Stewart and Sean Garvey spring to mind - but I really do believe the Liberty Hall gig was exceptional, even with aforementioned acts playing their 'greatest hits'.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by skip canlon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Skip I think you're missing the point here. Frankie and Marteen have been playing together for a long time and I really felt their performance has a polished class to it. I have to say I totally disagree with your comment that "If you coulndn't hear the difference in class between McKiernan/Canavan and Gavin/O'Connor, then quite clearly the seat was wasted on you". I didn't say I didn't appreciate the other acts, indeed I thought all the acts were wonderful and would give my right arm to be as good as any of them.
Any self respecting musician would never refer to the musicianship of frankie and marteen as 'flogging a dead horse', indeed your mentality is the only dead horse around here. Frankie and Marteen had the humility to try and start up a session in the lobby afterwards and I think anyone would have been welcome to join in. I personally feel that I was very lucky indeed to hear this renowned duo play in liberty hall. Not sure how much you know about music Skip but Willie Clancy was a piper, not a whistle player. Hasn't he got a festival named after him?
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by pamplemousse
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
'Not sure how much you know about music Skip but Willie Clancy was a piper, not a whistle player'
Well here real class and knowledge lets itself be known doesn't it?
Dear Pamplemousse, Willie Clancy was started on the whistle by his father Gilbert during childhood, he considered the thorough grounding he got as the solid foundation he built his musicianship on. While he took up the pipes in his twenties he always kept playing the tinwhistle and was by many considered as one of the foremost whistleplayers of his generation.
Breandan Breathnach considered him more of a whistleplayer than a piper and Pat Mitchell, who wrote the book on Clancy, told me that when he thinks of Clancy he thinks of him standing in a corner in Tom Friel's pulling the whistle out of the pocket of his dungarees and playing a few tunes.
FWIW, Sean McKiernan was living in the US when someone sent him one of the Gael-Linn 78's, it was sent because of the Sean nos singing o nthe one side, the other side however was one of Clancy's recordings. Sean Mac was so struck by that he decided to go back to Ireland and learn the pipes. For this he sought out Willie, so it's no surprise his whistle playing would be strongly influenced by Willie's. Just as his pipin has strong influences from Willie, as well as the American Irgish pipers like Touhey and Carney. Altogether making up quite the mix.
So if you feel the need to go all pedantic on people in the future, do yourself a favour and try not to put your foot in it. OK?
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
this spat is similar to the Eileen Ivers thread. I wasn't at the concert, but there's probably no doubt that Frankie and Marteen gave the best performance. And a concert platform is an invitation to perform, so fair play to them.
But there's more to this music than performance, yeah?
I think it's fair to say that Frankie and Marteen and Eileen are part of the future of the music. But I'm glad to say they are not "the" future.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Why aren't there any accordions in Star Trek?
Because it's the future.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by boxedup
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Maybe it's just me but during the early 80s I would have agreed Gavin was part of the future of Irish music. Twentyfive years later he is, well, Frankie Gavin.
Anyone having problems finding the fada for the correct spelling of Máirtín? Or is there another reason for going all phonetic on the name?
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
lazy copy pasting, sorry.
Anyway, why aren't there any theramins in star trek?
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Shouldn't there be a fada in Seán too? Before you get pedantic on it. Kilfartboy.
"So if you feel the need to go all pedantic on people in the future, do yourself a favour and try not to put your foot in it. OK?"
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by pamplemousse
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Ah yes you got me there. Subtle with the ' t' there too. Class act.
Anyhow, that doesn't take away from the fact you were giving out to people about their knowledge of things musical while you obviously hadn't a clue what you were on about yourself.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
'Maybe it's just me but during the early 80s I would have agreed Gavin was part of the future of Irish music. Twentyfive years later he is, well, Frankie Gavin.'
Yes, I agree with you there Kilfarboy. He was described as the future and low and behold here he is still very involved in Irish music, so people were right. And there is every chance he will remain part of the future. Tastes change but he has been and still is a great player.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by bogman
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
He played the flute too. McKiernan and Jimmy Canacan are exceptional. Frankie has a mullet which would be better suited to swimming in the Liffey than playing in Liberty Hall. Mullets feed on dung and filth like trazz and The Raping of the Queen of Sheeba
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Lord Gordon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Will people still be influenced by his playing after he's long gone? I'd sure hope to be (if he goes before me that is).
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Mullets are tasty
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I think only a fool would doubt Gavin's claim to being a great musician but by the late seventies into the mid eighties he was sort of flavour of the month in that a lot of people were trying to play like him, sessions would move in a De Dannan like backbeat and his influence could be heard. Over time that has changed, new fads have come and gone Martin Hayes, Caoimhin O Raghallaigh have been the focus and the influence of the moment in turn. When I think of 'the future of Irish Music' though I would think in terms of a lasting effect, things permanently absorbed into the mainstream. Time will tell I suppose.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Yes Willie Clancy played the flute and as it is handed down 'he could do on the flute all the wonderful variations and ornaments we can hear on the recordings of his whistle playing' . He could knock a tune out of a concertina too and there is the story of him commenting on Seamus Ennis' fiddle playing by saying that while there was a lot of talk who of the two of them was the better piper, there was little doubt he himself had the upper hand on Seamus when it came to the fiddle.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I know of only one, very poor quality, recording of Willie playing the flute. He play Banish Misfortune on it. Ennis' fiddleplaying had a strong flavour of Padraig O Keeffe influence, to my mind anyway. Recordings of Ennis playing the flute are rare too.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
McKeon and O'Connor may have played technically brilliant music and obviously have been steeped in the tradition, and I agree the slow airs they played were lovely However, to my ears it was a very unmusical performance. Standard bearers they may be but Jimmy Canavan and Sean McKiernan stood out in their musicality and pure soul, as well as having the technique, the actually felt the music.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by mariaphilmurphy
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
lol! i love it lord gordon! funny stuff, because i know where you're coming from! *nudge nudge*
Its hard to follow what people are arguing about here, it seems like everyone enjoyed the concert but its like they're more traditional then these or whatever.
i was also at the concert and enjoyed the whole thing. i thought all the acts were great but for me the stand out was Jimmy Canavan. i hadn't, like most people, even heard of the man b4 the concert and was astounded by his performance. he was brilliant. totally understated, came on stage, no introduction for any of his songs, he just sang them. and he was great! sean mckiernan was great as well and produced a great sound from tuoheys pipes.
as regards the frankie situation. i am great fan of his old stuff, the de danann stuff aswell, paul brocka dn all that, but i can't say that i care to much for the music he plays now. hibernian rhapsody, the group, that has to be the worst cd ive ever heard. it has an identity crisis because it cant decide whether its classical, traditional, pop (the songs) or jazz. the result is a limbo mish-mash which comes across as a half thought out piece of garbage. now you cant say that is the future.
as regards his performance with mairtin, i agree with the fact that they are 'performers' and thats certainly what they did. and they did it well. as far as music goes it was entertaining and in the last couple of years bith of these musicians have been making a living doing that, and not necessarily caring what contitutes as substance music, because its about making a few bucks. music for the masses. this didnt take much thought for them, they just treat it like another concert, another audience. while people like canavan let their singin do the talking. now that was genuine and from the soul.i think they probably should have played more straight down the line tunes, and i disagree with you pamplemousse (or whatever your name is) i think they really are pushing it when you have to AGAIN resort to the queen of sheba when you are playing to an audience of mainly thoroughbread traditional musicians. fine it was great musicianship, but people didnt pay 25 into a concert to hear classical music. sheba was done over 20 years ago, i think its time to lay to rest, especially for that concert. i thinkin that regard they were flogging a dead horse. and pamplemousse i have to seriously question your knowledge of the music when you say that frankie and martin wouldn't have minded anybody join their 'session'. maybe you shud do more research on frankie. lol. he has fallin out with any musician he's ever played with, why do think alec doesn't play with him anymore? frankie screwed him over , same with derck hickey, the other box player from england (not mullane), the list goes on. why do think he keeps getin these young players to play with him. cause the old heads knows what he's about. and now he's back playin with martin again to flog the horse again. he's running out of ideas methinks. go pedantic if you want pampers, but judging from your last comments, its pretty sad to see you resort to schoolboy comments like the 'kil-fart-boy one'. that EMBARRASSING!! lol. if you knew the people you were arguing with (you do realise there are musicians behind the pseudoyms?) you wud probably realise how little you actually know.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I would assume Jimmy Canavan to be noe other than Jimí Ó Ceannabháin of Ros Muc from one of the greatest familial repositories of culture in the country. Already mentioned in a few previous comments by kilfarboy and others. It still boggles the mind that singers of his stature are completely unknown, never mind barely known, outside of his parish although in fairness he does get around to a few singing festivals. One could argue that his extended family is without equal in Western Europe. McKiernan was born in the States if I'm not mistaken but his family is from more or less the same area (Carna I think).
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Patkiwi
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I would have LOVED to be at this concert. One of my favourite recordings is a bootleg tape of Gavin and O'Connor playing at the Galway Arts Festival in 1986 (I think.) I bet they played a lot of the same stuff... Isn't it possible to think of their performances now as a kind of reunion tour? Sure, The Queen of Sheba thing is old hat, but I personally wouldn't mind seeing THEM do it again. And weren't there a lot of younger musicians there who had never seen them play together before? If I went to see some reunion tour, the band better play their hits! Maybe it was just the wrong program for them to be a part of.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Chrishty
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
Gavin and O Connor did one of the 'Full Set' programmes for TG4 didn't they? That may be still downloadable somewhere.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
ok, so to sum it up, everybody who was at the concert enjoyed it. Many of us have issues with Gavin's performance, but in reality we had these issues before the concert even started. At least he was there to keep the ignoramuses in the audience happy (I can't believe I was accused of being musically ignorant by someone who told me Willie Clancy wasn't a whistle player!!!!
)
In conclusion, Sean McKiernan was brilliant and Jimmy is THE MAN. For any of you who haven't heard this man sing, make every effort you can to do so. I promise you, the first time you hear him sing will be a memory you'll hold dear until your dying day.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by skip canlon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
BTW, Lord Gordon, will you marry me?
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by skip canlon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
me first. lol.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
http://www.socalpipers.com/tionol_2007.html
Jimmy will kill me after that last.
We had Sean and Jimmy O'Brien Moran as teachers last Nov 2007 at our pipers tionol. The last video is Sean playing Tommy Klein's concert D set. Sean spent hours talking about Willie Clancy and playing the pipes. JOBM wasn't bad either .
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by I_Fel
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I enjoyed that video I-Fel. Thanks. No in a position for marriage at the moment. Technically it would be very hard to sustain a long distance relationship fiddleruairi and skip. Flattered
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Lord Gordon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I_fel, thanks very much for that. Who would have thought a discussion topic started about that gimpy little mullet bandit would have ended with video clips of McK that we hadn't seen? That's made my day, even though my marriage proposal was turned down :(
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by skip canlon
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
I'm in your area lord gordon, pick me!
1800UZLESSFIDDLER
I agree Jimmy was the showstopper the other night, I wonder is HE married???
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Gerry1972
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
"I know of only one, very poor quality, recording of Willie playing the flute. He play Banish Misfortune on it. Ennis' fiddleplaying had a strong flavour of Padraig O Keeffe influence, to my mind anyway. Recordings of Ennis playing the flute are rare too."
Man, I'd kill to hear any of those... I have no doubt that Willie lived up to that reputation as well.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by wbajzek
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
ill marry you skip
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by pamplemousse
Re: Frankie- the future of irish music
pamplemousse, judging by your childish, ignorant views on music I can only assume you're below the age of consent. I ain't no Gary Glitter.
# Posted on October 2nd 2008 by skip canlon