What's New Fall 2006
The debut recording of
Edel Sullivan
In the Time Of
"….the best traditional album I've heard all
year…..she manages to blend a smooth sweetness of tone
with life, swing and spot-on rhythm. It's as a composer and
arranger that she really stands out, though."
- Sarah McQuaid, Hot Press (2/11/06)
"Spellbinding." [4/5 stars - A cut above the rest]
Siobhan Long, The Irish Times (3/11/06)
"an exquisite, compelling and authoritative CD"
Irish Examiner and Cork Evening Echo music writer Paul
Dromey.
Listen and buy it online
The West Ocean String Quartet, Seamus Mc Guire, Neill Martin, Niamh Crowley and Kenneth Rice, who released the CD Unwrapping Dreams (see What's New for Fall 2004) and have worked with leading musicians such as Sinead O'Connor, Brian Kennedy, and Liam O'Flynn, are in the finishing stages of two musical projects.
The first project, The Guiding Moon, features the quartet plus Matt Molloy on flute (Chieftains, Bothy Band, etc) Anticipated release date is October.
The second project features the string quartet with
traditional singer Mariead Ní Dhomhnaill in a song
cycle entitled, Oilean na Marbh or, Island of
the Dead. This work has been premiered in Dublin, but not
yet recorded for release.
Both works composed by Cellist Neill Martin.
The Scribe
The Life and Works of James O'Neill
By Caoimhin Mac Aoidh
The publication of the various O'Neill collections of traditional Irish music in the first decade of the 1900s was the culmination of a visionary project begun in the 1880s. The chance meeting of Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill in Chicago's Irish neighbourhood of Bridgeport began a working partnership which produced Irish music collections, regarded by musicians as some of the most important primary sources of tunes. Francis O'Neill's high profile life was founded on a distinguished career in public service. James O'Neill, an accomplished fiddler from Co. Down, Ireland, on the other hand, lived a quiet and modest existence. This book documents, for the first time, the life, career and work of one of Ireland's most important musicians. It confirms previously undiscovered links to an important pre-existing work which sets the O'Neill collections in an entirely new light.
Click here to purchase online from Drumlin Publications, County Leitrim, Ireland.
Learn more about James O'Neil from An
article by Caoimhin Mac Aoidh
in Fiddler Magazine
Learn more about Caoimhin at:An
interview with Caoimhin Mac Aoidh
by Ben Nelson.
Sligo - Style fiddle expert
Brian Conway has two recordings
coming out soon:
A solo CD, and a duet recording with Joe Burke entitled,
A Tribute to Andy McGann. Check
back for release details.
Fiddler Gerry O'Connor has a
new live recording with guitarist Gilles LeBigot
Look for this and other albums at Gerry's Page
Also look for the Winter Issue of Fiddler Magazine where I had the honor of interviewing Gerry and hearing him tell of his musical family, community, and the "pockets and seams of tradition" on the east coast of Ireland.
Part 3 of my series on making a start in Irish Fiddling
comes out in October at the "Fiddle Sessions"
website
Here are the first two installments:
Tips and Techniques for Irish Fiddling PART I
Tips and Techniques for Irish Fiddling PART II
It's very basic and aimed at those new to Irish fiddling (and outside of Ireland). If you like it, be sure to let them know!
See What was new in Spring - Summer 2006
See What was new in Fall 2005
See what was new in The Spring of 2005
See what was new in The Fall of 2004
See what was
new in The Spring of
2004
See what was new in The Summer and Fall of 2003
See what was new In the Summer and Fall of 2002