Apologies if this has been discussed in the past. Can anyone recommend some 5-string banjo players who play ITM? I know Bela Fleck has done a bit in the past.
Thanks. Forgot to say that I know about Leon Hunt as well. Taught by Bela Fleck for a while. Have you heard his album Miles Apart? It has a couple of Irish tracks, including the Silver Spire.
whoa! i just tried that link and clearly something went wrong. i thought it went to Tony Furtado's myspace page. Anyway he has published some tunebooks for 5-string banjo that might interest you.
Try looking up a guy called Ken Perlman, he does a lot of southern, American stuff, but he also does a lot of nice traditional maratime stuff. Neither of which are ITM, but it's still definitely both worth a listen.
Tom Hanway literally wrote the book (a book, at least) on Irish & Celtic 5-String (Mel Bay). If the instructional CD included is any indication, he is a superb interpreter/player of ITM on the three-finger style 5-string banjo. His instructional book, if still availabe, is excellent. Last I heard, he was an east-coast U.S. resident, around Jersey/NY. He has several CD's out, and does lots of different very innovative stuff.
There's a cat called Chris Grotewohl who played on a CD with a friend of mine. I know nothing beyond what I've heard on that record, but what I've heard sounds very good. I'd guess he's in the Kansas area, but I wouldn't know for sure. Here's a link that'll give you a taste:
Sorry, the 5 string banjo does not work in I T M....There certainly are very good players who play very good versions of irish tunes, but its not I T M. Personally I enjoy any good music and applaud innovation. I think we are in danger of confusing contemporary musicians playing traditional tunes with tradtional musicians playing traditional music.
.
absolutely agree Diarmuid K. 5 string banjo sounds horrible in a traditional Irish music session. The regular session I attend has several very good 5 stringers who play bluegrass but then they insist in joining in as accompaniment to the trad tunes and it fails miserably and indeed has driven people from the session. No matter how good the player is it just does not work in ITM.
Diarmuid: I suppose you're right. It's always nice to hear traditional tunes played on an unexpected instrument though. I think the 5-string banjo played in the melodic style can play any kind of music in the right hands, especially as a solo instrument.
Molly: that sounds a bit grim. You have 'several' 5-string players who join in the ITM session? Oh dear. I never thought of the 5-string as an ITM session instrument. It's a shame that other players have been driven away. Is there not a bluegrass session nearby?
for those who seem to think the the Banjo is not suited for Irish music, my question is this. Do you search out these threads so you can expose you learned opinion? Or is it the annominity of this site that enboldens you to talk such nonesense? What do you suppose Sweeney, the fellow who put the fifth string on the banjo was playing?
A poster, ayedbl, wrote: "Tom Hanway literally wrote the book (a book, at least) on Irish & Celtic 5-String (Mel Bay). If the instructional CD included is any indication, he is a superb interpreter/player of ITM on the three-finger style 5-string banjo. His instructional book, if still availabe, is excellent. Last I heard, he was an east-coast U.S. resident, around Jersey/NY. He has several CD's out, and does lots of different very innovative stuff."
Mel Bay's Complete Book of Irish and Celtic Banjo (MB 95759 BCD) has 101 tunes, 68 on the CD. When I lived in New York, I used to frequent sessions in the Bronx and Manhattan, learning tunes from Joanie Madden (Cherish the Ladies), Eileen Ivors, Seamus Egan (Solas) and the many Sligo-style fiddlers in Manhattan, Andy McGann (deceased), Brian Conway, Paddy Reynold (deceased), and Tony DeMarco
I used to make annual pilgrimages over to Ireland, to Clare, Galway, Kilkenny, Kerry, Donegal, etc. to collect tunes. I finally moved over in 2003, married an Irlsh girl, we bought a house, a camper van, and I'm still mad for tunes. Now it's only the price of diesel, which is no big deal, and we have a cosy camper, a Mazda Bongo, which is essential gear for getting around to the fleadhs and seisiúns in the country. I am lucky to be in Ireland, where I can follow my passion, never mind the high cost of living, junk banks, etc. Ireland is still beautiful and the level of musicianship is very high. Galway is the place (or one of them) for quality weekly sessions.
The 5-string meets with *resistance* and is discriminated against, a form of musical bigotry -- pay no mind -- but it's long been used to play tunes, going back to the mid-19th century, and it's used today in ITM, STM and it has no problem soaring through tunes from other Celtic lands (Wales, Isle of Man), the Celtic Diaspora, including Shetland and Cape Breton tunes, and then some. It's a wide open road for the 5-string. All will be revealed.
Today and all week long (beginning third weekend in July) is the Joe Mooney Summer School in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim. This festival is in full swing after two days. I can't wait to get back up to it, it's only up the road from us. We're bringing the husky and the 5-string. He was already in Miltown for Willie Clancy. He seems to prefer jazz (especially horns) to trad, lol, but there's no accounting for taste, and he's no musical purist. And neither are we, life's too short.
I'm working on another bare bones tune collection for Mel Bay, but my first collection, Complete Book of Irish & Celtic 5-String Banjo, can be found here on-line or ordered in all fine music shops back in the States.
I wrote that last post too quickly and misspelled a lot of names. Some of my old friends, acquaintances and teachers in and around NYC, people I learned tunes from at sessions, include Tony DeMarco (fiddle), Brian Conway (fiddle), Andy McGann (fiddle), Linda Hickman (flute) Eileen Ivers (fiddle) Joanie Madden (whistle/concert flute), Seamus Egan (tenor banjo/mandolin/flute), Mick McAuley (box), Jerry O'Sullivan (uilleann pipes) and on and on..
So, notice that I'm getting tunes not only from the tenor banjo, but from all the instruments, and I don't limit repertoire to just ITM, but get tunes from all Six Celtic Nations, the Celtic diaspora, and from anywhere that has good tunes, Irish, Celtic or not.
This stuff doesn't have to be so boxed in and predicated by hairbrained either-or choices. It's a huge area of music. 5-string players were playing tunes, ITM and Celtic styles before the 4-string was even a blip on the screen.
Still, I thnk that the 4-string is handier formost tunes in ITM, but not all of them, especially hornpipes and harp tunes. Many jigs and reels, some tricker than others, generally work well on the 5-string. The technique has to survive the music, and the 5-string has its own voice. It can go places a 4-string banjo simply cannot go, and the reverse is also true.
No editing function here, so this is what meant to write (above): "The technique has to *serve* the music". Also: "This stuff doesn't have to be so boxed in and predicated by *harebrained* either-or choices."
Good musicians make a style of music sound good, and bad musicians make a style of music sound bad, but it's not the instrument. It's the player. It's the same twelve notes and it boils down to individual determination, practice, desire and the like.
5-string banjo and ITM
5-string banjo and ITM
Apologies if this has been discussed in the past. Can anyone recommend some 5-string banjo players who play ITM? I know Bela Fleck has done a bit in the past.
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by McDermott
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Leon Hunt does some cool Irish stuff.
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by tnoumarap
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehSTssRUTRk
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by tnoumarap
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Thanks. Forgot to say that I know about Leon Hunt as well. Taught by Bela Fleck for a while. Have you heard his album Miles Apart? It has a couple of Irish tracks, including the Silver Spire.
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by McDermott
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmNhZ2VmcmVlcmVjb3Jkcy5jb20vY2F0YWxvZy90b255ZnVydGFkby5odG1s
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by pipewatcher
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
whoa! i just tried that link and clearly something went wrong. i thought it went to Tony Furtado's myspace page. Anyway he has published some tunebooks for 5-string banjo that might interest you.
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by pipewatcher
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Try looking up a guy called Ken Perlman, he does a lot of southern, American stuff, but he also does a lot of nice traditional maratime stuff. Neither of which are ITM, but it's still definitely both worth a listen.
http://www.kenperlman.com/kpcuts.htm
Try clicking on 'The Brae Reel/The Miramichi Fire. It's my personal favourite.
# Posted on January 10th 2009 by dannym
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Here's a link to an 8 string banjo player! Tom Saffell's the name of the guy playing, great stuff.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tx7pCR26yOc&feature=related
# Posted on January 11th 2009 by T
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Tom Hanway literally wrote the book (a book, at least) on Irish & Celtic 5-String (Mel Bay). If the instructional CD included is any indication, he is a superb interpreter/player of ITM on the three-finger style 5-string banjo. His instructional book, if still availabe, is excellent. Last I heard, he was an east-coast U.S. resident, around Jersey/NY. He has several CD's out, and does lots of different very innovative stuff.
# Posted on January 11th 2009 by ayedbl
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
There's a cat called Chris Grotewohl who played on a CD with a friend of mine. I know nothing beyond what I've heard on that record, but what I've heard sounds very good. I'd guess he's in the Kansas area, but I wouldn't know for sure. Here's a link that'll give you a taste:
http://irish5string.homestead.com/sunrush.html
# Posted on January 11th 2009 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Sorry, the 5 string banjo does not work in I T M....There certainly are very good players who play very good versions of irish tunes, but its not I T M. Personally I enjoy any good music and applaud innovation. I think we are in danger of confusing contemporary musicians playing traditional tunes with tradtional musicians playing traditional music.
.
# Posted on January 12th 2009 by diarmuid k
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
What confusion?
By the way, everyone playing today is a contemporary musician.
# Posted on January 12th 2009 by Bren
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Thanks for the suggestions. Very entertaining. I loved that 8-string banjo.
# Posted on January 12th 2009 by McDermott
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
absolutely agree Diarmuid K. 5 string banjo sounds horrible in a traditional Irish music session. The regular session I attend has several very good 5 stringers who play bluegrass but then they insist in joining in as accompaniment to the trad tunes and it fails miserably and indeed has driven people from the session. No matter how good the player is it just does not work in ITM.
# Posted on January 13th 2009 by MollyB
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
Diarmuid: I suppose you're right. It's always nice to hear traditional tunes played on an unexpected instrument though. I think the 5-string banjo played in the melodic style can play any kind of music in the right hands, especially as a solo instrument.
Molly: that sounds a bit grim. You have 'several' 5-string players who join in the ITM session? Oh dear. I never thought of the 5-string as an ITM session instrument. It's a shame that other players have been driven away. Is there not a bluegrass session nearby?
# Posted on January 13th 2009 by McDermott
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
for those who seem to think the the Banjo is not suited for Irish music, my question is this. Do you search out these threads so you can expose you learned opinion? Or is it the annominity of this site that enboldens you to talk such nonesense? What do you suppose Sweeney, the fellow who put the fifth string on the banjo was playing?
# Posted on February 2nd 2009 by croxton
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
A poster, ayedbl, wrote: "Tom Hanway literally wrote the book (a book, at least) on Irish & Celtic 5-String (Mel Bay). If the instructional CD included is any indication, he is a superb interpreter/player of ITM on the three-finger style 5-string banjo. His instructional book, if still availabe, is excellent. Last I heard, he was an east-coast U.S. resident, around Jersey/NY. He has several CD's out, and does lots of different very innovative stuff."
Mel Bay's Complete Book of Irish and Celtic Banjo (MB 95759 BCD) has 101 tunes, 68 on the CD. When I lived in New York, I used to frequent sessions in the Bronx and Manhattan, learning tunes from Joanie Madden (Cherish the Ladies), Eileen Ivors, Seamus Egan (Solas) and the many Sligo-style fiddlers in Manhattan, Andy McGann (deceased), Brian Conway, Paddy Reynold (deceased), and Tony DeMarco
I used to make annual pilgrimages over to Ireland, to Clare, Galway, Kilkenny, Kerry, Donegal, etc. to collect tunes. I finally moved over in 2003, married an Irlsh girl, we bought a house, a camper van, and I'm still mad for tunes. Now it's only the price of diesel, which is no big deal, and we have a cosy camper, a Mazda Bongo, which is essential gear for getting around to the fleadhs and seisiúns in the country. I am lucky to be in Ireland, where I can follow my passion, never mind the high cost of living, junk banks, etc. Ireland is still beautiful and the level of musicianship is very high. Galway is the place (or one of them) for quality weekly sessions.
The 5-string meets with *resistance* and is discriminated against, a form of musical bigotry -- pay no mind -- but it's long been used to play tunes, going back to the mid-19th century, and it's used today in ITM, STM and it has no problem soaring through tunes from other Celtic lands (Wales, Isle of Man), the Celtic Diaspora, including Shetland and Cape Breton tunes, and then some. It's a wide open road for the 5-string. All will be revealed.
Today and all week long (beginning third weekend in July) is the Joe Mooney Summer School in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim. This festival is in full swing after two days. I can't wait to get back up to it, it's only up the road from us. We're bringing the husky and the 5-string. He was already in Miltown for Willie Clancy. He seems to prefer jazz (especially horns) to trad, lol, but there's no accounting for taste, and he's no musical purist. And neither are we, life's too short.
I'm working on another bare bones tune collection for Mel Bay, but my first collection, Complete Book of Irish & Celtic 5-String Banjo, can be found here on-line or ordered in all fine music shops back in the States.
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=95759BCD
# Posted on July 17th 2011 by Tom Hanway
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
I wrote that last post too quickly and misspelled a lot of names. Some of my old friends, acquaintances and teachers in and around NYC, people I learned tunes from at sessions, include Tony DeMarco (fiddle), Brian Conway (fiddle), Andy McGann (fiddle), Linda Hickman (flute) Eileen Ivers (fiddle) Joanie Madden (whistle/concert flute), Seamus Egan (tenor banjo/mandolin/flute), Mick McAuley (box), Jerry O'Sullivan (uilleann pipes) and on and on..
So, notice that I'm getting tunes not only from the tenor banjo, but from all the instruments, and I don't limit repertoire to just ITM, but get tunes from all Six Celtic Nations, the Celtic diaspora, and from anywhere that has good tunes, Irish, Celtic or not.
This stuff doesn't have to be so boxed in and predicated by hairbrained either-or choices. It's a huge area of music. 5-string players were playing tunes, ITM and Celtic styles before the 4-string was even a blip on the screen.
Still, I thnk that the 4-string is handier formost tunes in ITM, but not all of them, especially hornpipes and harp tunes. Many jigs and reels, some tricker than others, generally work well on the 5-string. The technique has to survive the music, and the 5-string has its own voice. It can go places a 4-string banjo simply cannot go, and the reverse is also true.
# Posted on October 25th 2011 by Tom Hanway
Re: 5-string banjo and ITM
No editing function here, so this is what meant to write (above): "The technique has to *serve* the music". Also: "This stuff doesn't have to be so boxed in and predicated by *harebrained* either-or choices."
Good musicians make a style of music sound good, and bad musicians make a style of music sound bad, but it's not the instrument. It's the player. It's the same twelve notes and it boils down to individual determination, practice, desire and the like.
# Posted on October 25th 2011 by Tom Hanway