Irish Traditional Music CD and Book Reviews - 2005

These first appeared in the Irish American Post (IAP), the Irish Gazette (IG), or in The Living Tradition (TLT) magazine. They appear here with the kind permission of the Irish American Post, Irish Gazette, or The Living Tradition.

For Irish Herald CD reviews of 2002, click here.

For Irish Herald CD reviews of 2003, click here.

For Irish Herald CD reviews of 2004, click here.

For CD reviews of 2006, click here.

You can contact the author of these reviews

The Reviews

• March - Hidden Fermanagh: Traditional Music and Song from County Fermanagh (IAP, IG)

• May - Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin: Ar Mhuin Na Muice (IAP)

• May - James Kelly: Melodic Journeys (IAP)

• July - Joe McHugh and Barry Carroll: An Mhéar Fada - The Long Finger (IAP)

• July - Aoife Ní Fhearraigh: Loinneog Cheoil (IAP)

• August - Josephine Keegan: Traditional Irish Tunes collected by Josephine Keegan (IG)

• August - Patrick Mangan: Farewell To Ireland (IG)

• September - Catherine and John McEvoy: The Kilmore Fancy (TLT)

• November - Jerry O'Sullivan: O'Sullivan Meets O'Farrell (IAP)

• November - Michael Coleman: The Enduring Magic (IAP)

• November - Various Artists: Seoltaí Séidte – Setting Sail: 43 Historic Irish Recordings 1957-1961 (IAP)

• December - Michael Rooney and June McCormack: Draíocht - Traditional Irish Music on Harp and Flute (IG)

• December - Archie McKeegan: The Smith of Tiveragh – Traditional Songs from the Glens of Antrim (IG)

Hidden Fermanagh: Traditional Music and Song from County Fermanagh
http://www.fermanaghmusic.com/

A few years ago, Cathal McConnell had the spark of an idea for a CD of music from his native county of Fermanagh. Cathal McConnell may be known to some Americans from his many appearances with Boys of the Lough on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion radio show.

A talented and charming singer, flute player, and whistle player, Cathal McConnell’s simple idea for a CD in time brought people together to capture two brilliant CDs of tunes and songs from Fermanagh, a county at the southwestern edge of the Irish province of Ulster.

It was also decided to produce a book that featured the tunes and songs on the CDs, as well as other tunes and songs from Fermanagh. Some of these tunes come from the John Gunn book, a manuscript dating to the mid-19th century. John Gunn was a fiddle teacher who collected about 150 tunes, many of which had never been recorded until the release of these CDs. All in all, the Hidden Fermanagh book has transcripts of over 100 tunes and 33 songs.

The book also uses stories, interviews, and photographs of people and places in Fermanagh music to capture some of the history of the people that kept alive Fermanagh music during the decades of massive emigration and the loss of Irish culture.

Among the many fascinating parts of the book is an interview with John McManus, descendant of John Gunn. John talks at length about the house dances, the céilí band era, and the changing musical environment 50 years ago in Ireland. Not to be missed is a long interview with Cathal McConnell himself. The book also includes an index for the tunes and another for the songs.

Some of the tunes on these CDs are played as they would have been played 100 years ago - or even just 30 years ago: without guitar or other accompaniment. This naturally Irish, melodic way of playing the tunes preserves and brings out the natural vibrancy of the tunes, something sometimes lost when chords from a guitar or like instrument are played on top of an Irish melody.

Among the many sparkling tunes, one could mention the lively opening tune set on the first CD, the reels Dickie Gossip, The Primrose Lass, and Uncle Hugh's Reels.

Two barndances bursting with life follow the opening set, Bobby Treacy’s and Sunnyside Banks. The vibrant, rugged style of these tunes is one rarely heard on modern recordings, which are often turned into a sonic mush with unneeded “accompaniment”.

Among the other outstanding tunes are the reels The Wrecking Reel, Handsome Sally, and Sally Kelly’s. Played by Pat McManus on fiddle, these tunes slowly unwind the melody in a series of serpentine undulations that seem to play in that magical playground of the mind between the dark and the light. They have delicate, tasteful accompaniment that does add beauty to the arrangement. Fiddler Pat McManus is a descendant of John Gunn, so it’s a mighty moment when you find that these haunting tunes all come from the pages of his ancestor’s own work, The Gunn Book.

One of the most stunning songs is Edward on Lough Erne’s Shore. Sung by Catherine McLaughlin, whose voice can reach the many low notes with great resonance, the song is a wee epic of lost love and liberty. In the song, the singer dreams of her banished lover, Edward. As if the lovely tune behind the song weren’t enough, the song’s lyrics could hardly be more finely crafted:
Delight had fled me, and woe hath wed me,
Why did you leave me, my love a stór…

There are many other songs, some tragic, some funny, all rich in their reflections of the darkly bright Irish mind and its shadow, Irish history.

The CD even features a lilting duet, a rare bird indeed in the Irish song tradition. The lilting tune is picked up on whistle, making for an absolutely lovely moment in music.

These CDs and this book can take their place alongside other equally historic, recently released collections of tunes and songs from Ireland.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Book_Hidden_Fermanagh.html

Ar Mhuin Na Muice
Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin
http://www.brid.at/

Don’t let the title in Irish put you on your back foot if you don’t speak Irish; all of the Irish songs are given in Irish and English in the extensive CD booklet, and two of the songs are in English. But you won’t need the lyrics in English to take pleasure straightaway from this CD, and that’s because the songs are all sung, accompanied, and arranged with a real sense of adventure and fun.

Ar Mhuin na Muice (Air Win nah Mwik-yih) means “On the Pig’s Back”, which refers to doing well in life. It reflects both Bríd’s own Irish culture and language, as well as her own life. It may be reflected in the confident tone of these lovely Irish songs, and the confidence to change things that are rarely changed in Irish singing. For example, in an interview in www.beo.ie in August 2004, she notes how she put a new melody with the lyrics of “An tSeanbhean Bhocht” and put a new rhythm on her version of the classic Donegal song “Máire Bhruithneal”.

These may seem like small things, but they are of a piece with a playfulness and a larger willingness to try new things. This sense of fun comes out in Bríd’s songs and the arrangements of Alan Burke, Bríd’s co-conspirator on the CD.

This can easily be heard on charming songs like “A Stór a Stór a Ghrá” (My dear, my dear, my love), which Brid sings a cappella, but with vocal backing, something uncommon in traditional songs in Irish. There is also the haunting version of Bríd Óg Ní Mháile (Young Bridget O’Malley), which Bríd sings to the truly beautiful and modern guitar accompaniment of Alan Burke.

This sense of openness, on a tether of good taste, is also to be heard in the inclusion of “The Fuschia”, a song in English by John McNutt, a friend of Bríd’s family from northwestern Donegal. The English lyrics capture the same feeling that so many Irish songs express, a wistful and yet rather direct sense of gain and loss as seen in the seasons and each person’s life. The accompaniment on this song is supernal.

Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin (Breej nee Weel-yon) was born of Irish parents in Kenya. She grew up in the Ros Goill area of northwestern Donegal. She was a member of her family’s band, Ceoltóirí Ghoill, until 1985. She moved to Graz, Austria, in 1998, when she accepted a job as a lecturer on German-English translations. She had been wanting to make a CD for sometime, and when she met guitarist and singer Alan Burke in 2000, she knew that he was the man to help her make it happen.

Together, they have made a remarkable CD. They had lots of help from distinguished people like Derry man Joe McHugh on uilleann pipes, whistle, and low whistle, and Dublin fiddler Kevin O'Connor. Among others, she even has help from her mother Caitlín and brother Pádraig.

A jewel of a CD.

Available in America through http://celticgrooves.com.

Melodic Journeys
James Kelly
http://www.jameskellymusic.com

Unlike a lot of the music these days that is being released as “Irish traditional music”, this CD is the real thing. Melodic Journeys is lovely Irish tunes played on fiddle in a lively, warm style. It’s friendly, unpretentious, “living room” music that gets your attention through its sweetness and subtlety, not its flash and dash.

Melodic Journeys is not a CD that’s on “steroids” of any sort, be they newcomers like guitar, bouzouki, or mandolin. Guitar accompaniment in particular often adds nothing to an Irish tune, with notable exceptions like Chicago guitar player Dennis Cahill, who plays with the brilliant County Clare fiddler Martin Hayes. This fine CD is all fiddle, with nothing between the listener and the clear, crisp call of Kelly’s fiddle.

James Kelly himself comes from a famed Irish musical family. Born in Dublin in 1957, James grew up surrounded by traditional Irish music. From 1945 on, his father John and mother Frances ran their famous Horse Shoe music instrument shop from a time that saw the lowest point for Irish traditional music, around 1950, to a time when the revival started later in the 1950s. The family was heavily involved in the traditional music scene in Dublin. His father played the fiddle and concertina and his mother played the accordion.

James’ father John grew up in Rehy West, County Clare, from a family steeped in the rolling concertina music of the rolling County Clare hills. Among many other great achievements, James' father was a founding member of "Ceoltóirí Cualann", which later became the Chieftains.

James started to learn the fiddle at three years of age from his father. He has since recorded on many CDs, taught Irish music, toured all over the world, and has been part of several ensembles. He has also composed over 600 tunes, an unusually high number among Irish musicians.

Some of the standouts on this CD are the slow airs like “An Páistín Fionn”. James’ gentle, soulful playing is absolutely spellbinding.

Kelly plays dance tunes like the hornpipes “The Friendly Visit” and “The Leitrim Fancy” with a tempered, gentle pacing that is rarely heard on Irish CDs these days. He’s in no hurry; he lets the tune work its way out of the fiddle at its own pace.

One masterpiece in particular is the air called “O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music”, written by Irish harpist and composer Turlough O’Carolan shortly before his death in 1738. Kelly brings out this bittersweet harp air with brilliant understatement and feeling.

This CD by one of Ireland’s most respected musicians is not just one that folks who play Irish traditional music will cherish; it’s also a CD that anyone who enjoys Irish music may find a welcome respite from the grey, featureless sonic blast that nowadays passes itself off as Irish traditional music. Listening to this CD, especially on your commute, you can’t help but relax and take a deep breath. It will take you back to the Ireland of 100 years ago, because it is still with us, buíochas le Dia, and thanks to folks like James Kelly.

An Mhéar Fada - The Long Finger
Joe McHugh and Barry Carroll
http://www.joemchugh.net/

An Mhéar Fhada (un vare wahdah) is one of the most unusual CDs ever to come out of Ireland. It’s the happy marriage of uilleann pipes and the hammered dulcimer. Derry piper Joe McHugh and Antrim hammered dulcimer player Barry Carroll show just how beautiful these instruments can sound together as they turn out tunes. The sounds of the pipes and hammered dulcimer blend together quite naturally, much like the sounds of the pipes and the fiddle. One compliments the other, as both go with the flow of the melody.

Along with the bright, lively pipes and dulcimer duets, there are a few surprises. On one tune, Joe plays the slow, lovely Drogheda March on low whistle. Joe also plays a brilliant piping solo learned from the great Patsy Tuohey. Barry plays a stunning set of solo tunes on dulcimer, starting with the dreamy Bruach an tSulláin. Maguire and Patterson’s are picked on the guitar first, then the dulcimer joins in, then the pipes, making altogether for a lovely arrangement.  The CD even features a beautiful wedding march from Galicia on dulcimer.

Most Americans think of the hammered dulcimer as an instrument from the Appalachian mountains, but its history dates back to the Middle East and the first millennium. It was apparently first brought to Europe when the Crusaders came home.

Joe McHugh and Barry Carroll are the second uilleann pipes and dulcimer duo in Ireland to make a recording since Drops of Brandy in 1976. That historic pipes-dulcimer  recording was made by the brilliant Fermanagh piper Seán McAloon and Antrim dulcimer player John Rea. The way it is, Barry Carroll took his inspiration from John Rea, whom Carroll met in the 1980s. Among others, piper Joe McHugh also appeared on Bríd Ní Mhaoilean’s wonderful CD, Ar Mhuin na Muice, reviewed here recently.

The title comes from the phrase “to put something on the long finger” (to postpone something), which comes from the Irish phrase "rud a chur ar an méar fhada". The way it was, the tunes were recorded in a bedroom in Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin, and then “put on the long finger”, until Barry Carroll eventually set about putting out the record.

This CD is available at http://www.joemchugh.net/.

Loinneog Cheoil
Aoife Ní Fhearraigh
http://www.aoife.ie

Loinneog Cheoil (Lunyug Heol), which means “A Musical Refrain”, is a collection of songs from Aoife’s first record, released in 1991. They are now finally available on CD.

Aoife Ní Fhearraigh (Eefa Nee Aree) grew up speaking Irish at home, in an Irish-speaking area of Ireland, so she has an intimate knowledge of the richness and history of these Gaelic songs, and the unique world that they come from.

Aoife still lives where she grew up, in remote northwestern County Donegal in the far northwest of Ireland. She has been singing in the choir of a local church, Séipéal Mhuire, each Sunday since she was a child. Her voice is one of the most purely lovely in all of Ireland. Ethereal, evocative, angelic, these words are just pale shadows of her true voice.

Her mother came from nearby Dobhar, home to people like Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, later to become Enya, as well as Enya’s siblings in Clannad.

All but one of the songs on this CD are love songs, all of them from the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster. For those who don’t understand Irish, don’t worry, the beauty and feeling of these songs “surpasseth understanding” - or not understanding - the lyrics. Each song is printed in Irish and English.

As a mark of Aoife’s standing in the singing community in Ireland, and among her own neighbors in northwestern Donegal, Altan’s Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh praises Aoife’s new CD to the sky in the CD's liner notes.

Amhránaíocht den scoth atá ann. Singing of the highest order.

Available at http://www.tayberry.com/.

Traditional Irish Tunes collected by Josephine Keegan
Josephine Keegan

Josephine Keegan has been known as a fiddler, respected teacher, and piano accompanist on several albums, but in 2003 she released “The Keegan Tunes”, an impressive book of her own compositions, as well as two CDs of her own tunes.

Now, she has published “A Drop in the Ocean”, a modestly-named collection of tunes written by others, tunes that she has been gathering since shortly after World War II ended. The book has approximately 600 tunes, including reels, hornpipes, double jigs, single jigs, and slip jigs.

This is a treasure trove for musicians who love Irish trad music, particularly fiddlers. While some of these tunes were transcribed from recordings or the radio, others were sent to her over the past half-century by literate musicians like Leo Rowsome and Paddy Canny, rare birds in Irish trad music, then and now.

The book is well-organized and the transcriptions are meticulously done. Tunes are divided by type, so the reels, for example, are all together. Each section has its own index, so finding a tune is easy.

Josephine even has a special chapter at the end of the book devoted to tunes from modern Irish composers. This tip-of-the-hat to these composers, many of them largely unknown outside their own townlands, is a lovely gesture that captures the general sense of community and goodwill that is such an attractive part of Irish traditional music.

While this book does not have the seanchas (lore) surrounding the tunes and the musicians that some other recently-released books have, its sheer volume of tunes sets it apart from other tune collections.

“A Drop in the Ocean” is another lasting testament to Josephine Keegan’s love of her own enduring culture. It’s worth noting that, shortly after she began collecting tunes in the late 1940s, Irish music was at its lowest ebb. Now, with Irish traditional music apparently healthy again at home, the release of this collection comes as a validation of the great respect and love that she has had for her own native music all her life.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Book_Keegan_Drop.html.

Farewell To Ireland
Patrick Mangan
http://www.patrickmangan.com/

Young Patrick Mangan hails from Brooklyn, New York, but his roots go deep into the world of rural Ireland over 100 years ago. It was then that legendary Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman was born. Coleman later immigrated to New York, where he recorded many historic records. He also taught Andy McGann, who taught Brian Conway, who taught Patrick Mangan. The health of this chain of teaching shines through in the fiddling of Patrick, especially considering that, while he is still only in his early 20s, Patrick is already a brilliant fiddler.

As a youth, he was the All-Ireland fiddle champion twice. At 16, he appeared in Riverdance on Broadway, which made him the youngest fiddler in the show’s history. In 1995, Irish America magazine named Patrick one of its “Top 100 Irish Americans of the Year.” He has also been a member of the John Whelan Band, and has appeared with the Cathie Ryan Band and Whirligig.

In this CD, Patrick shows just why he has come so far so fast. The best example may be the classic slow air, “Amhrán na Leabhar” (Song of the Books), which describes the loss of a poet’s beloved works in a storm. Slow airs are always the acid test for Irish musicians, as any mistake is easily heard, but Patrick fearlessly and slowly brings out the sorrow of this tune. Many musicians have recorded this tune; this haunting version is on a par with the best of them.

One of the many blessings of this CD is the focus on the fiddle, thanks to the minimal accompaniment. Except for one tune, all the other tunes on this CD have some sort of accompaniment. While this certainly was not a feature of the music that Michael Coleman played as a youth in Ireland, it is a feature in many recordings now. Here, Patrick and his producer fortunately keep this to a tasteful minimum, as accompaniment in the guise of “filling out” a tune can turn a crisp, vibrant Irish melody into a sonic jumble.

The one tune that has no accompaniment is “Loftus Jones”, written by Turlough O'Carolan some three centuries ago. Patrick plays this playful piece, with its mix of Irish and baroque influences, to absolute perfection. His training as a classical violinist seems to do him no harm here.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Mangan_Patrick.html.

The Kilmore Fancy
Catherine and John McEvoy
http://www.copperplatedistribution.com/lagore001.html

In Ireland, sweet, gentle music is not dead, not yet, despite the best efforts of some there to replace it with a mad dash to the final note. As proof of this enduring life, we have this warm, lively collection of tunes from Catherine McEvoy, one of Ireland’s best-known flute players, and her brother, fiddler John McEvoy.

Catherine McEvoy was recognized long ago as a flute player “den scoth”, Irish for “of the highest quality”. She grew up surrounded by the enduring magic of the music of her parents’ native County Roscommon, even though she was born across the Irish Sea in Birmingham. Catherine returned home to Ireland in 1977, where she has since been a prominent member of the traditional music scene.

Some 10 years ago, Catherine recorded a flute CD, reviewed in issue 20 of The Living Tradition. On that CD and this CD, she has the good fortune to be accompanied on piano by New York-born Felix Dolan.

On this CD, she is joined by her brother, John. Together, their flute and fiddle round out the sound beautifully. It’s an especially fitting and smooth combination because the two siblings grew up playing music together.

Today, their music is every bit as sweet and gentle as the melodies that they first heard as children. It’s a great credit to their talent, a credit to all the Irish musicians that inspired them those many years ago, and a great gift to their listeners.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_McEvoy_Catherine_John.html.

O’Sullivan Meets O’Farrell
Jerry O’Sullivan
http://www.jerryosullivan.com/

Coming almost exactly 200 years after the publication of O’Farrell’s historic collections of music, this CD by Jerry O’Sullivan is a remarkable musical meeting of uilleann pipe masters. Both men collectors, composers, and performers, they now enable each other in a unique way to be part of this brilliant, lively CD.

The historic importance of this CD aside for a moment, the music itself wants mentioning straight off. Jerry O’Sullivan is often spoken of as the greatest living American-born piper, and his playing here bears that out. There are crisp, pure, sweet tones, and stunning ornamentation that would put a lesser man’s fingers in knots, and none of it drowned out by modern “accompaniment”.

And this is all without going into the wide variety of styles to which O’Sullivan must bend his mind and his fingers. In addition to the Irish tunes, including some Turlough O'Carolan harp tunes, there are Scottish tunes, English country dance tunes, minuets, quick-steps, Welsh airs, and rondos.

The O'Farrell collections consist of four Pocket Companions, which contained only tunes, and a National Irish Music tutor, which also contained some tunes. O'Farrell’s tutor was the first ever printed for the uilleann pipes. Altogether, the collections contain a staggering 407 piping tunes, all published in London in the early 1800s.

O’Farrell (his first name is not known) is something of a legendary figure in Irish music. Fortunately, the CD jacket is thick with what is known of O’Farrell and his times. There is an introduction from Jerry O’Sullivan, an historical essay on O’Farrell, and detailed notes on each tune.

Although Jerry O’Sullivan plays Irish uilleann pipes, flute, various whistles,  Highland warpipes, and Scottish small pipes, this CD is devoted to the uilleann pipes. Only the first tune has “accompaniment”, in the form of Jerry’s voice introducing the CD. It makes an already warm, rich recording even more personal and inviting.

It’s all even more personal when one realizes that Jerry O’Sullivan recently underwent treatment for cancer - and has apparently made a full recovery. Maith thú féin. Go maire tú i bhfad!

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_OSullivan_Jerry_Meets.html.

The Enduring Magic
Michael Coleman
http://www.colemanirishmusic.com/

Born in 1891, Michael Coleman came from near Killavil, Co. Sligo, a part of Ireland famous for its fiddle music. He learned to play the fiddle at a young age, and, surrounded by fiddle masters, he soon became a respected fiddler.

Had Michael Coleman stayed in his native land, he might today simply be considered one of many fine Irish fiddlers, but when he was 23, in 1914, he left for New York. In the 1920s and 1930s, Michael Coleman, and many other Irish musicians, were recorded for the first time. Those early New York records were important because they found their way back to Ireland, which was by that time suffering from the loss of many of its greatest musicians. The records were treasured at home because they brought new life back to the fading Irish traditional music scene.

Coleman has been described as the most influential traditional musician of the last century, because his recordings influenced not just his native South Sligo, but all of Ireland, and Irish music in the big cities of America and England, where many other Irish musicians had settled.

Michael Coleman is known for his great technical skills and his amazing ability to come up with variations on a theme. His playing is smooth and nimble, with a powerful flow to it.

This CD has been released by the Coleman Heritage Centre in Gurteen, Co. Sligo. The CD contains 20 tunes from their archives, and is based on two records which came out in the 1970s and eight other Coleman tunes not available before on CD.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Coleman_Michael_Magic.html.

Seoltaí Séidte - Setting Sail
Various Artists: Forty-three Historic Irish Recordings 1957-1961
http://www.gael-linn.ie/

As part of Gael-Linn’s Golden Jubilee, the Irish music label has released all 43 of the classic recordings that it put out between 1957 and 1961. The remastered 2 CDs come with a stunning 96-page companion booklet by Nicholas Carolan, head of the Irish Traditional Music Archives in Dublin. The booklet is in Irish and English, and describes how the original records were made, and gives detailed notes on all the performers and all the tunes and songs.

On the tunes, the performers are a who’s who of Irish musicians of 50 years ago. The fiddle players include Sean Ryan, Denis Murphy, and Paddy Canny. The pipers include Willie Clancy and Tommy Reck. The CD even features accordion player Joe Burke, who is still performing almost 50 years on.

On the songs, the CDs are a treasure trove of some of the best sean nós (shan nose/sounds like “dose”) singers of the time. The singers came from all of the major Irish-speaking areas: Conamara, Donegal, and Cork/Kerry. They include Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Joe Heaney), Aine Ní Ghallchobhair, and the incredible Aodh Ó Duibheannaigh. All the songs have an English translation in the booklet.

There are many jewels in the crown here. Among them, fiddler Seán Ryan’s breath-taking, mind-bending version of “The Dash to Portobello”. When you hear this blazing, intricate fiddle masterpiece,  recorded about a decade before the first guitars and bouzoukis were used in Irish traditional music, you will wonder why some think Irish trad music sounds “better” with accompaniment from such rhythm instruments. The solo, melodic instrument is the core of the tradition, and it never sounded better than on this dazzling tune.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Various_Seoltai_Seidte.html.

Draíocht - Traditional Irish Music on Harp and Flute
Michael Rooney and June McCormack
http://www.draiochtmusic.com/

Lively, nimble, bright; these words may begin to describe “Draíocht”. Draíocht (dree-ucht) in Irish means magic and druidry, and this CD does capture the rapture that can be got from truly soulful, unpretentious traditional Irish music.

And while Michael Rooney and June McCormack might seem like magicians of the music, their own hard-earned skills are certainly at the root of their powers. Both are veterans of the Irish traditional music scene. Michael is senior All-Ireland Champion on the harp, has recorded on several other trad CDs, and has composed “Ocras”, a CD marking the utterly devastating famines stemming from the potato blight in Ireland just over 150 years ago. He is also a talented concertina player.

June McCormack herself won the senior flute competition at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 1998, and that year was also voted the Young Traditional Musician of the Year. As part of the group Síona, she recorded “Launching the Boat”, which had great success in Ireland. She has also recorded on several other trad CDs.

Together, the harp and the flute form a fine, and rare, union. The only other harp/flute CD of like quality that comes to mind is “The Tailor’s Choice”, recorded over 20 years ago. Here, the same harmony of spirit is produced, with the flute and harp each lightly weaving the melody together.

Among the great pleasures of this utterly charming CD are tunes composed by Michael Rooney himself. A magnificent minuet called “Na Maithe Móra“ (“The Great Nobles”), was written to capture the feel of the dancing in the houses of the Irish and English landed aristocracy during the famines. The bright beauty of this perfectly ordered minuet makes a dark shadow when one becomes aware of the chaos and suffering outside the gates of the aristocracy’s lands, where the Irish tenant farmers and their families were starving. It’s a stark social contrast that famine historians have struggled to describe; here Michael Rooney captures it in the terrible beauty of this tune.

Alongside the dark, of course, the CD has the bright, light sound of jigs, reels, and hornpipes. These quick dancing tunes are complemented by slower tunes like the lovely “An Bhuatais“, which is almost transcendental in its feel.

One of the best Irish trad CDs to come out this year, “Draíocht” charms by its measured, graceful pace and melodic simplicity, and by not overwhelming one with excessive “accompaniment”. When you have such a perfect gem, you don’t need a fancy “setting”.

Available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Rooney_McCormack.html.

The Smith of Tiveragh – Traditional Songs from the Glens of Antrim
Archie McKeegan
http://www.glensmusic.com/

In cooperation with the Antrim Glens Traditions Group, Glens Music has released on CD for the first time this wonderful recording of rare songs from the late Archie McKeegan, a man with a great name among traditional singers.

Archie McKeegan was a poor farmer from Lubitavish, a townland northwest of Cushendall on the Antrim coast, near the megalithic court cairn known as Ossian’s Grave. The glen here is Glenaan, which has been immortalized in song and poetry, not the least of which is the unforgettable poem “Sunset over Glenaan”, by the late John Hewitt.

While Archie McKeegan’s circumstances may have been wanting in wealth, his share of songs made him rich, and he generously shared those songs with the people around him. He sang regularly in local pubs, notably McCollam's in Cushendall, and in his latter years sang often at the Singing Club run by the Antrim Glens Traditions Group.

These recordings are not just a collection of songs, but they also reflect the warmth of Archie McKeegan the man himself and the Glens that he loved. His unaffected, unaccompanied voice reflects the good humor in his heart and the sad history of his part of the world. There being no guitar between Archie’s voice and the listener’s ears, these songs offer a rare chance to hear clearly the human voice of the Glens.

Archie McKeegan was the most noted traditional singer of the Antrim Glens. A few years ago, he went “to the next country”, as he himself used to describe it, but he lived to see his recordings come out and to see his singing appreciated around the world.

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