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Music Reviews
Music of the Irish Masters Gets a Nod
By Paul Carr
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!
This CD is available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_OSullivan_Jerry_Meets.html
Seoltaí Séidte – Setting Sail
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.
While there are many wonderful sean nós songs on this CD, Aodh
Ó Duibheannaigh’s rendition of the classic "Úirchill an Chreagáin"
(The Noble Graveyard of Creggan) stands out. Written in the 1700s, when
the English destruction of the Gaelic world was well underway, this aisling
(vision song) tells of a man who falls asleep in Creggan church graveyard
and is "awakened" by a fairy queen.
She bids him to leave the world of sorrow brought by the English and
come go with her "siar sa ród," "west along the road" to
the land of honey where the English rule not. It is one of the most famous,
touching, and powerful songs ever written in Irish, and in Aodh Ó
Duibheannaigh’s voice one can hear the cry of the Irish people. Whether
or not one has the Irish to understand the sung words, one only needs a
heart to hear the sound of a people in peril.
This CD is available at http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Various_Seoltai_Seidte.html
The Enduring Magic
Michael Coleman
http://www.colemanirishmusic.com/
 Born
in 1891, Michael Coleman came from near Killavil, Co. Sligo, 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 musician.
Had 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.
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 its archives, and is based on
two records which came out in the 1970s and eight other Coleman tunes not
available before on CD.
The sound quality on most tunes is excellent, considering that the recordings
were made around 75 years ago. On a few tunes, the quality is definitely
"archival," but the magic of Coleman’s playing endures.
This CD is available at
http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Coleman_Michael_Magic.html
 
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