Another powerhouse duet recording of Noel Hill (concertina) and Tony MacMahon (C#/D accordion), live in Dublin in 1993. They're joined by sean-nos singer Iarla O Lionaird (later of Afro-Celtic Sound System), who is accompanied for the songs by John Gibson, playing piano arrangements made by Peadar O Riada. But the bulk of the disc is the fantastic unaccompanied duets by Hill and MacMahon, very much in the spirit of the titanic "In Knocknagree" (also in this archive), joined again by a good group of set dancers; the playing on this disc may be even stronger.
Further to the above: one slightly frustrating aspect of this disc (like the earlier Knocknagree, and in fact almost all of MacMahon's recordings) is that it's played on Cooley's old Paoli box, actually pitched D/D# but using C#/D fingerings. This means the tunes all come out 1/2 step high (e.g., a la Frankie Gavin) and that can impede playing along on a fixed-pitched instrument.
In fact, the Noel tracks are TWO 1/2 steps high.
However, the playing is so good that it's worth using one of the various methods for re-recording and lowering the pitch.
Submitter's Comments
Another powerhouse duet recording of Noel Hill (concertina) and Tony MacMahon (C#/D accordion), live in Dublin in 1993. They're joined by sean-nos singer Iarla O Lionaird (later of Afro-Celtic Sound System), who is accompanied for the songs by John Gibson, playing piano arrangements made by Peadar O Riada. But the bulk of the disc is the fantastic unaccompanied duets by Hill and MacMahon, very much in the spirit of the titanic "In Knocknagree" (also in this archive), joined again by a good group of set dancers; the playing on this disc may be even stronger.
Absolutely essential.
# Posted on May 30th 2005 by coyotebanjo
Further to the above: one slightly frustrating aspect of this disc (like the earlier Knocknagree, and in fact almost all of MacMahon's recordings) is that it's played on Cooley's old Paoli box, actually pitched D/D# but using C#/D fingerings. This means the tunes all come out 1/2 step high (e.g., a la Frankie Gavin) and that can impede playing along on a fixed-pitched instrument.
In fact, the Noel tracks are TWO 1/2 steps high.
However, the playing is so good that it's worth using one of the various methods for re-recording and lowering the pitch.
# Posted on May 30th 2005 by coyotebanjo
The "Whelan's Jig" cited is actually a slip-jig, more commonly known as "Na Ceannabhain Bhan" ("The Little Fair Canavans").
# Posted on May 30th 2005 by coyotebanjo