The new James Morrison book is finally out. Fiddler Veronica McNamara, former pupil of fiddler James Morrison, has published a book of manuscripts of tunes he wrote down (in his own writing) for his students many years ago. .
I've seen it and it is a great job that she and Iris have done putting it together. The scans are very clear and look great. (Also I must add that the Professor had really good handwriting as far as drawing his dots - no squinting needed there!)
I just checked it out and what you see on the right side of the page there is one of the many original booklets included in this compilation. All the pages were scanned into a sturdy spiral bound new (hefty) book.
Ok yes so I'm a friend of Veronica's, but I'm posting this because the book is really cool folks. Has anyone here seen it yet? (It was premiered at the NJ Comhaltas convention this past weekend.)
That's great news. I have managed to see a number manuscripts that Morrison wrote for a pupil and it is great that its available to the public now. Is is just the manuscripts or are there other sections on her recollections of Morrison etc?
There is an introduction by Veronica, her memories of "The Professor" as he was called. Written so beautifully that she takes you on the tubes and subways from her childhood home in Jersey City, to East 96th street for her lessons with Morrison. Following that, a few photos, some that have been circulated before and I believe one that has not been. Some are with Jackie Roche, and one of Morrison's grave. The grave has been shot before but this particular photo was taken by Alan Morrisroe on his pilgrimage to St. Raymond's Cemetary last November, where many great legendary Irish musician now rest. We tried for a good while as well to get a shot of the basement apartment where Morrision taught, with a few false leads, and then in desperation I just drove to NYC one day, parked the car, and took shots of every old building on East 96th St. in hopes one would be right. We figured it must have been replaced by a highrise because none looked familiar to Veronica.
There have been histories of Morrison done before, and much info is on the web, so we steered clear of repeating all those facts in this book. The main purpose of the book is to present the "lessons" Morrison gave the children weekly as they went to him. As Veronica tells it, you would go with your little composition book, and he would fill yet another page with a tune to work on. These were written in pencil, in his near perfect penmanship, complete with bowing directions and other little notes (as in hints, not dots) to the student.
We debated whether to structure the book so it would have sections of jigs, another of reel, hornpipes, etc. or to leave the books intact. We both felt it would be more personal and a more interesting experience to leave the books as is and convey the experience to people of being one of Morrison's pupils. We included the cover of each of the six worn books... except for one that only had the back cover remaining, and so one is just the back. The intent is to make the reader feel they were opening each book, page by page. The book though it adds to the expense, we decided on spiral binding, so it could lie flat for tune learning.
There are 148 tunes in all, and all are fully indexed for ease of finding them. I had to laugh.... indexing seemed so easy, but I quickly realized why there is such a thing as professional indexers! We checked it over many, many, many times, until finally it all checked out. I will never forget those kitchen sessions with Veronica, at her table, the both of us going crazy with the indexing until we thought we'd lose our minds trying to find missing tunes.
Veronica's own music books went missing over the years, perhaps in a move, or just lost somehow, which was heartbreaking to her, so being able to find other books and to present the material to the world was very important to her. The books we used belonged to Joey Flynn, a NYC fiddler of some fame, now deceased, five of the six books were his, and the sixth book we used belonged to his sister Kathleen, I believe also deceased. The books were loaned by another sister, Marion Flynn Lynch. These books, Veronica says were pretty well identical to the ones she had, and though we did return the very fragile originals to Marion Flynn Lynch, Veronica is able now to enjoy the material again on a daily basis and we are thrilled the rest of the world now gets to own them as well if they wish. The sad truth is that it is unlikely that many sets of these books have survived. Most of Morrison's students are now gone, and unless their children or grandchildren also played these books may have looked meaningless to them and may have well been thrown out. That is what makes this book all the more important to the history of ITM.
I have put up that rudimentary website for starters just so ordering info and a quick peek is out there on the web, and will add to it as time allows, right now, I am happy to say, we have sold out over half the first run, but fully intend to keep this material in print for a long time. if we tun out, we can restock in a matter of a month or less. Much time right now is spent in packing and shipping orders for Veronica, but little by little the website will grow. If anyone would like to email comments about the book we may add them as well. The email contact is there at the site.
It has been a real honor to have worked on this book with Veronica, who is a great and wonderful person, and still a fine fiddler. We will be having Kevin Burke and Cal Scott in concert at IAANJ in Rockaway NJ this Saturday, 4/5 and Veronica will be the opening act. She is a person who is a link to the golden age of legendary NYC fiddlers, she played with Andy McGann, Paddy Reynolds, Larry Redican and others in sessions when they were all young, these greats were her contemporaries. With this book she is extending the life span of this era, for a very long time to come. Her book is a major piece of history and she has done a great thing by having the idea to preserve it for future generations of Irish musicians everywhere.
If any of you can make it Saturday to NJ, Veronica will once again be doing a book signing. We hope to have her, after this on a mini-tour of book signings at various sessions around NJ as the opportunity arises. These will also be posted as the website as they get planned.
Just letting you all know the website has just been updated, and there are six more sample pages shown, as well as one composition book cover, a picture of Veronica as a child, and vignette of James Morrison.
We'll plan on updating with any further information, such as book signing appearances!
Huge thanks to everyone involved in bringing these books back into the
light of day!
I’m not much on learning tunes from the dots, but I just had to have THIS book.
You don’t have to be a fiddler to appreciate and enjoy the charm and historical value
in these pages.
Don’t miss this one – It’s the next best thing to having ‘been there’.
Now – if I could just play fiddle like the Professor did…but, at least
I have some of his music now.
Thanks again – Well done!
Glad you enjoyed the book... looks like we are going to have to reprint in short order! Maybe the magic will rub off out of the pages and you'll play like him in no time.
I am not a music reader either, but this book is making me try to learn, yet again. I learned the Coulin on the harp from this book for my first tune out of it.
Do the bowing directions make sense though, even if you can't read the dots?
This book is about more than getting the dots though, it's just that it was in his own handwriting, and looking at the old worn pages, something about that is just wonderful.
The CD featuring Veronica McNamara is also lovely. Live session music, played at accessible tempi and with a sense of pleasure taken in the music and the friends. Music as it ought to be, without dubbing or special effects or frenzied high energy guitars driving the tunes aggressively.
Highly recommended: Veronica McNamara, "Petticoat Loose," with herself, The Great Rafferty, Willie Kelly, Iris Nevins, Lesl Harker, Tom Glynn, John & Brian Killackey, Eileen McIntyre, Mike Berry, Noirin Leslie and other session players.
This is amazing and wonderful. Hats off to all involved, but especially to Veronica and Iris. I just wish there was a way to order electronically – my checkbook's at home. Can't wait.
Hi Iris,
Yes, the bowing directions (the ones I’ve looked at so far) do make sense.
I have to admit that my bowing is kind of ‘ruled by nature’, that is, for
convenience of hand and satisfaction of ear – with the ear ruling, of course.
As with anything in the dots, it’s a starting place and most players will gravitate
to their own style/technique as they progress. It captures the basics, for sure.
You hit the nail on the head – maybe he magic WILL rub off…there’s more
than ‘dots’ in those pages!
So, here’s to the magic then!
As for Cocus' kind mention of Veronica's Petticoat Loose cd, I was just told Wednesday, by couple of friends in both Montana and England of all places, that 5 tracks were broadcast on Clare Fm (Claire Keville's show) - this past Tuesday..
To partly quote Gary's review:
"Starts at 60 minutes in and runs for almost 20 minutes! Woo!!
John Brennan's/Crooked Road to Dublin (Veronica and Iris)
Broken Pledge/Toss the Feathers (Veronica and Iris)
The Caucus (Mike and Willie)
The Boy in the Gap/The Scartaglen (Veronica and Lesl)
The Abbeyleix/Sean Ryan's (the Killackey brothers)
Almost like conjuring up the Professer, right Fr. Jack...?
It is like he is there! Wonder if you sleep with the book under your pillow...if... it will absorb somehow! I am sure you are a fine fiddler though already.... have heard rumors
I LOVE those Killackey kids too! They are Willie Kelly proteges, brilliant fiddlers, and I can't remember if their little brother Tommy was on whistle too there, as well as their sister Margot on whistle. What a talent packed family.
Oh, dear, the rumors again! I was once mistaken for Padraig O'Keefe -
'till I started playing!
Shhhhh... All this talk of magic and conjuring could get back to the Vatican.
Book under pillow - Hmmm. I'll let ya know.
J
Sorry Fr. Jack, just kidding.... some say they feel Morrison is there with them is all! A few say they had chills looking at the pages, it's more than just music, it's history on the most personal level, no facts or bio but just the person's life work directly from his own heart. Maybe not so important to the world at large, but for us here it sure is!
There really was some to do I think back in the 60s I believe, it may have been a Russian girl who could sleep on her schoolbooks and wake with all the information.
Now if we could include THAT promise with the book.... well even I might take up the fiddle.
For now, we anticipate possibly running out of books tonight at the Kevin Burke concert.... we are holding a copy for Kevin though. We'll get a new batch printed in short order too when that happens, maybe just 2-3 weeks at most if we run out.
In the meanwhile Fr. Jack.... get back to practicing.... and be sure to stop in at our session if the wind ever blows you to NJ!
God Bless!
Hi everyone..... just a note to say we are nearly out of the first run. Had we known what a stampede this would be we would have printed more. We can reprint but it may take around three weeks to get them. So please, check on availability before sending in a check. There will be info posted at the website and on this group too, as well as IRTRAD.
New James Morrison book
New James Morrison book
The new James Morrison book is finally out. Fiddler Veronica McNamara, former pupil of fiddler James Morrison, has published a book of manuscripts of tunes he wrote down (in his own writing) for his students many years ago. .
I've seen it and it is a great job that she and Iris have done putting it together. The scans are very clear and look great. (Also I must add that the Professor had really good handwriting as far as drawing his dots - no squinting needed there!)
I've just been advised there's a web page now with ordering info, here -
http://www.hearts-content.net/JamesMorrisonBook.html
I just checked it out and what you see on the right side of the page there is one of the many original booklets included in this compilation. All the pages were scanned into a sturdy spiral bound new (hefty) book.
Ok yes so I'm a friend of Veronica's, but I'm posting this because the book is really cool folks. Has anyone here seen it yet? (It was premiered at the NJ Comhaltas convention this past weekend.)
Lesl
# Posted on April 3rd 2008 by LH
Re: New James Morrison book
A friend of mine brought it to our session last weekend. It is nicely done - Morrison had extremely nice penmanship!
# Posted on April 3rd 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: New James Morrison book
That's great news. I have managed to see a number manuscripts that Morrison wrote for a pupil and it is great that its available to the public now. Is is just the manuscripts or are there other sections on her recollections of Morrison etc?
Looking forward to getting my hands on it.
# Posted on April 3rd 2008 by richard white
Re: New James Morrison book
There is an introduction by Veronica, her memories of "The Professor" as he was called. Written so beautifully that she takes you on the tubes and subways from her childhood home in Jersey City, to East 96th street for her lessons with Morrison. Following that, a few photos, some that have been circulated before and I believe one that has not been. Some are with Jackie Roche, and one of Morrison's grave. The grave has been shot before but this particular photo was taken by Alan Morrisroe on his pilgrimage to St. Raymond's Cemetary last November, where many great legendary Irish musician now rest. We tried for a good while as well to get a shot of the basement apartment where Morrision taught, with a few false leads, and then in desperation I just drove to NYC one day, parked the car, and took shots of every old building on East 96th St. in hopes one would be right. We figured it must have been replaced by a highrise because none looked familiar to Veronica.
There have been histories of Morrison done before, and much info is on the web, so we steered clear of repeating all those facts in this book. The main purpose of the book is to present the "lessons" Morrison gave the children weekly as they went to him. As Veronica tells it, you would go with your little composition book, and he would fill yet another page with a tune to work on. These were written in pencil, in his near perfect penmanship, complete with bowing directions and other little notes (as in hints, not dots) to the student.
We debated whether to structure the book so it would have sections of jigs, another of reel, hornpipes, etc. or to leave the books intact. We both felt it would be more personal and a more interesting experience to leave the books as is and convey the experience to people of being one of Morrison's pupils. We included the cover of each of the six worn books... except for one that only had the back cover remaining, and so one is just the back. The intent is to make the reader feel they were opening each book, page by page. The book though it adds to the expense, we decided on spiral binding, so it could lie flat for tune learning.
There are 148 tunes in all, and all are fully indexed for ease of finding them. I had to laugh.... indexing seemed so easy, but I quickly realized why there is such a thing as professional indexers! We checked it over many, many, many times, until finally it all checked out. I will never forget those kitchen sessions with Veronica, at her table, the both of us going crazy with the indexing until we thought we'd lose our minds trying to find missing tunes.
Veronica's own music books went missing over the years, perhaps in a move, or just lost somehow, which was heartbreaking to her, so being able to find other books and to present the material to the world was very important to her. The books we used belonged to Joey Flynn, a NYC fiddler of some fame, now deceased, five of the six books were his, and the sixth book we used belonged to his sister Kathleen, I believe also deceased. The books were loaned by another sister, Marion Flynn Lynch. These books, Veronica says were pretty well identical to the ones she had, and though we did return the very fragile originals to Marion Flynn Lynch, Veronica is able now to enjoy the material again on a daily basis and we are thrilled the rest of the world now gets to own them as well if they wish. The sad truth is that it is unlikely that many sets of these books have survived. Most of Morrison's students are now gone, and unless their children or grandchildren also played these books may have looked meaningless to them and may have well been thrown out. That is what makes this book all the more important to the history of ITM.
I have put up that rudimentary website for starters just so ordering info and a quick peek is out there on the web, and will add to it as time allows, right now, I am happy to say, we have sold out over half the first run, but fully intend to keep this material in print for a long time. if we tun out, we can restock in a matter of a month or less. Much time right now is spent in packing and shipping orders for Veronica, but little by little the website will grow. If anyone would like to email comments about the book we may add them as well. The email contact is there at the site.
It has been a real honor to have worked on this book with Veronica, who is a great and wonderful person, and still a fine fiddler. We will be having Kevin Burke and Cal Scott in concert at IAANJ in Rockaway NJ this Saturday, 4/5 and Veronica will be the opening act. She is a person who is a link to the golden age of legendary NYC fiddlers, she played with Andy McGann, Paddy Reynolds, Larry Redican and others in sessions when they were all young, these greats were her contemporaries. With this book she is extending the life span of this era, for a very long time to come. Her book is a major piece of history and she has done a great thing by having the idea to preserve it for future generations of Irish musicians everywhere.
If any of you can make it Saturday to NJ, Veronica will once again be doing a book signing. We hope to have her, after this on a mini-tour of book signings at various sessions around NJ as the opportunity arises. These will also be posted as the website as they get planned.
# Posted on April 3rd 2008 by irisnevins
Re: New James Morrison book
Just letting you all know the website has just been updated, and there are six more sample pages shown, as well as one composition book cover, a picture of Veronica as a child, and vignette of James Morrison.
We'll plan on updating with any further information, such as book signing appearances!
Enjoy!
# Posted on April 3rd 2008 by irisnevins
Truly a Gem
Huge thanks to everyone involved in bringing these books back into the
light of day!
I’m not much on learning tunes from the dots, but I just had to have THIS book.
You don’t have to be a fiddler to appreciate and enjoy the charm and historical value
in these pages.
Don’t miss this one – It’s the next best thing to having ‘been there’.
Now – if I could just play fiddle like the Professor did…but, at least
I have some of his music now.
Thanks again – Well done!
J
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by Fr.Jack
Re: New James Morrison book
Thanks. I will have to order a copy. Great work
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by richard white
Re: New James Morrison book
Thanks Fr.J
Glad you enjoyed the book... looks like we are going to have to reprint in short order! Maybe the magic will rub off out of the pages and you'll play like him in no time.
I am not a music reader either, but this book is making me try to learn, yet again. I learned the Coulin on the harp from this book for my first tune out of it.
Do the bowing directions make sense though, even if you can't read the dots?
This book is about more than getting the dots though, it's just that it was in his own handwriting, and looking at the old worn pages, something about that is just wonderful.
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by irisnevins
And a lovely CD
The CD featuring Veronica McNamara is also lovely. Live session music, played at accessible tempi and with a sense of pleasure taken in the music and the friends. Music as it ought to be, without dubbing or special effects or frenzied high energy guitars driving the tunes aggressively.
Highly recommended: Veronica McNamara, "Petticoat Loose," with herself, The Great Rafferty, Willie Kelly, Iris Nevins, Lesl Harker, Tom Glynn, John & Brian Killackey, Eileen McIntyre, Mike Berry, Noirin Leslie and other session players.
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by cocus
Re: New James Morrison book
Cocus.... that's on the agenda too, to add the CDBaby link to the book website! Little by little.
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by irisnevins
Re: New James Morrison book
This is amazing and wonderful. Hats off to all involved, but especially to Veronica and Iris. I just wish there was a way to order electronically – my checkbook's at home. Can't wait.
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by fidkid
Re: New James Morrison book
Hi Iris,
Yes, the bowing directions (the ones I’ve looked at so far) do make sense.
I have to admit that my bowing is kind of ‘ruled by nature’, that is, for
convenience of hand and satisfaction of ear – with the ear ruling, of course.
As with anything in the dots, it’s a starting place and most players will gravitate
to their own style/technique as they progress. It captures the basics, for sure.
You hit the nail on the head – maybe he magic WILL rub off…there’s more
than ‘dots’ in those pages!
So, here’s to the magic then!
J
# Posted on April 4th 2008 by Fr.Jack
Re: New James Morrison book
As for Cocus' kind mention of Veronica's Petticoat Loose cd, I was just told Wednesday, by couple of friends in both Montana and England of all places, that 5 tracks were broadcast on Clare Fm (Claire Keville's show) - this past Tuesday..
To partly quote Gary's review:
"Starts at 60 minutes in and runs for almost 20 minutes! Woo!!
John Brennan's/Crooked Road to Dublin (Veronica and Iris)
Broken Pledge/Toss the Feathers (Veronica and Iris)
The Caucus (Mike and Willie)
The Boy in the Gap/The Scartaglen (Veronica and Lesl)
The Abbeyleix/Sean Ryan's (the Killackey brothers)
here's the direct link
http://www.clarefm.ie/Tue_01-04-08.mp3 "
# Posted on April 5th 2008 by LH
Re: New James Morrison book
Almost like conjuring up the Professer, right Fr. Jack...?
It is like he is there! Wonder if you sleep with the book under your pillow...if... it will absorb somehow! I am sure you are a fine fiddler though already.... have heard rumors
# Posted on April 5th 2008 by irisnevins
Re: New James Morrison book
Thanks for that link LH....
I LOVE those Killackey kids too! They are Willie Kelly proteges, brilliant fiddlers, and I can't remember if their little brother Tommy was on whistle too there, as well as their sister Margot on whistle. What a talent packed family.
# Posted on April 5th 2008 by irisnevins
Re: New James Morrison book
Oh, dear, the rumors again! I was once mistaken for Padraig O'Keefe -
'till I started playing!
Shhhhh... All this talk of magic and conjuring could get back to the Vatican.
Book under pillow - Hmmm. I'll let ya know.
J
# Posted on April 5th 2008 by Fr.Jack
Re: New James Morrison book
Sorry Fr. Jack, just kidding.... some say they feel Morrison is there with them is all! A few say they had chills looking at the pages, it's more than just music, it's history on the most personal level, no facts or bio but just the person's life work directly from his own heart. Maybe not so important to the world at large, but for us here it sure is!
There really was some to do I think back in the 60s I believe, it may have been a Russian girl who could sleep on her schoolbooks and wake with all the information.
Now if we could include THAT promise with the book.... well even I might take up the fiddle.
For now, we anticipate possibly running out of books tonight at the Kevin Burke concert.... we are holding a copy for Kevin though. We'll get a new batch printed in short order too when that happens, maybe just 2-3 weeks at most if we run out.
In the meanwhile Fr. Jack.... get back to practicing.... and be sure to stop in at our session if the wind ever blows you to NJ!
God Bless!
# Posted on April 5th 2008 by irisnevins
Re: New James Morrison book
Hi everyone..... just a note to say we are nearly out of the first run. Had we known what a stampede this would be we would have printed more. We can reprint but it may take around three weeks to get them. So please, check on availability before sending in a check. There will be info posted at the website and on this group too, as well as IRTRAD.
the web, again is:
http://www.hearts-content.net/JamesMorrisonBook.html
and thanks for all the support on this book, Veronica really appreciates it!
# Posted on April 5th 2008 by irisnevins