FolkWorld Issue 34 11/2007; Photo Report
A Decade of Folk
Irish Music Magazine
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Irish Music ... as seen through the eyes of the Irish Music Magazine. The Dublin based magazine strives to inform readers and musicians alike about all major developments in the Irish traditional music community, according to their motto: Irish traditional music is at the heart of the Irish culture and history, never as a static antiquity, the tradition is alive and vital, open to change yet conservative of its core values.
In all arts and parts of society there are the golden ones. The adventurous, the
brave, the risk-takers and the fearless. There have been many past heroes
who have pushed the boundaries and redrawn the map, leaving an indelible mark
on the landscape. One such hero, who still to this day continues to fight the
good fight, is the favourite son of Tipperary and evergreen entertainer,
Liam
Clancy. 2006 marks a milestone for the musician. Five decades of success.
Dozens of albums. TV shows, radio and theatre. And I'm sure that when the
all-time list of Irish legends is created you'll be sitting proudly at the top,
and very deservedly so.
Eddie Creaney (January 2007)
His sheer uncompromising energy normally meant that once
Luke [Kelly]
sang a song,
he put his stamp on it, and his version became the yardstick.
Maybe his greatest number is the one, which Paddy Kavanagh gave him in
McDaid's off Grafton St., Raglan Road, written to fit the air of Fáinne Geal an Lae,
which was a song taught in schools, and probably the first tune anyone learns on a
tin whistle. He was irreplaceable.
Every so often, someone is hailed as the new Luke Kelly, but
the comparison doesn't stand up. Quite simply, he was unique.
John Brophy (March 2004)
Planxty:
The album that caused the biggest paradigm shift is [Christy Moore's] Prosperous from 1971.
Where for the first time the instrumental combination of strings and pipes
were successfully conjoined with the ballad repertoire. Thousands of bands have
adopted that formula as being the traditional thing to do.
Sean Laffey (November 1999)
It's now over thirty years ago that Christy Moore assembled what is arguably
the most influential set of traditional musicians to come out of Ireland in
the second half of the twentieth century. Theirs was one of the earliest
attempts to blend traditional Irish music with more modern instrumentation
and influences.
Without compromising tradition Planxty paved the way
for integrating Irish sounds into other contexts and genres, something we
take for granted today.
John O'Regan (January 2004)
Christy Moore
epitomised the song-writing circuit, his songs simple, exact and
to the point reached the masses, he redefined the term solo performance, his
shows reqired no frills or gimmicks. In an era when so much folk music
has become bland and safe, retreating behind the lace curtains, Christy Moore
was always there, prepared to be angry for just causes and to be the lyrical voice
of the ordinary man.
(May 1998)
For yet again, he has served up a selection of songs to make us think, feel,
question, rage, weep and perhaps, smile. He will say what needs to be
said and damn the consequences. Always has. Always will.
Cindy Reich (December 2005)
Solas:
Here is a band of dazzling individual talents with the discipline to produce
a sound that is never less than good and at times breathtaking.
Jim Kelly (July 1996)
Laurels seem to be bestowed at Solas' front door and it has to be said that
though America has some fine homegrown Celtic bands, none has captured the
imagination in the same way Solas has done.
John O'Regan (August 1996)
Forged in the hot cauldron that is Irish music in America today, Solas has
introduced a new vibrancy to the genre. Their sound is fresh, yet firmly
rooted in tradition -- full of youthful exuberance, yet shot through with
the kind of spirit and authenticity only the cream of traditional musicians
can produce. True to their name, Solas have lit a fire under Irish traditional
music all over North America.
Paul Dromey (August 1998)
It's been ten years since Solas took the Celtic world by storm.
Solas has continued to capture the imagination of not only America but of
the world. Playing their own brand of musically-tight, often lightning-fast,
and always uniquely well-crafted traditional music, Solas has proven itself
as a supergroup on the Celtic scene.
Helene Dunbar (June 2006)
In 1993 Karan Casey
struck off for New York in search of work and to further her
interest in jazz. Needless to say she fell in with the wrong crowd and before she
knew it she was singing Irish traditional songs She met Seamus Egan and
Winifred Horan who asked if she would like to sing a few songs with a new band
called Solas and, as they say, the rest is history.
Richie O'Rourke (April 2001)
The versatile vocalist from Waterford has a voice of gorgeous tone, a subtle and
powerful delivery, a gracious and beautiful spirit evident in the feel of the
material, a great intelligence in the selection of the songs, and a palpable
integrity in every syllable of her vocals.
David Ingram (June 2003)
Kila is on a sharply rising experience curve and it's ready to go off the chart.
But it's only to be expected. It would be hard to find another seven people who
between them are so musically eclectic, artistically diverse, energetic, enthusiastic
and good vibe orientated. Fighting off all-too-obvious labels such as neo-Celtic
music -- or indeed anything with the word Celtic in it -- Kila prefer to see their
unique concoction of traditional sounds, prominent percussion, rock shadings and
exotic ethnic tinges, as simply new Irish music.
Roderick O'Connor (March 1999)
Dervish were never a diehard purist outfit although their sound has always
been authentic, acoustic and rooted in the tradition of the northwest.
They are still thankfully a long way from rock and roll, but in terms of energy
and exuberance in performance however they are close.
Ita Kelly (July 2003)
Altan:
The Local Ground is again Donegal. The tunes, the references, the songs
are all steeped in the landscape, both physical and musical.
Brian Witt (June 2005)
Truly, although all of
Lúnasa
are superb musicians standing alone, when they
play together, they form an amalgam known as "Lúnasa" that is greater than
the individual parts. Traditional music's "dream team".
Cindy Reich (April 2004)
Lúnasa, much to their own surprise, have been playing together and enthralling
audiences all around the world for ten years. That's not bad for an Irish band.
Their timing was beautiful, catching the post-Riverdance wave of interest in Irish
music. The band are the undisputed masters of the shape-shifting set,
full of graceful and dramatic pivots from one tune to the next, one tempo to
another.
Tom Clancy (May 2007)
Youthful energy keeps
Téada
going forward. But it is the mixture of that
enthusiasm with a keen regard for age-old long-held traditions which give them
a sense of purpose as well as a dynamic playing style which takes the best from
yesterday into tomorrow.
Sean Walsh (May 2006)
[Gráda]
have gelled into a clean, lean music machine in the last couple
of years and have honed their considerable skills with a formidable touring
schedule. The arrival of lead vocalist, Nicola Joyce, has added a certain
solidity to their repertoire. Gráda have been moving towards the top
tier of contemporary Irish bands for a while and their ambitions are clear on this
vibrant new album [Cloudy Day Navigation] where they ramble smartly across a folk-tinged Irish music
landscape.
Tom Clancy (June 2007)
| Text excerpts by courtesy of the Irish Music Magazine. |
Photo Credits:
(1) Irish Music Magazine: A Decade of Tradition,
(2) Liam Clancy,
(3) Luke Kelly,
(4) Planxty,
(5) Christy Moore,
(6)-(7) Solas,
(8) Karan Casey,
(9) Kila,
(10) Dervish,
(11) Altan,
(12)-(13) Lunasa,
(14) Teada
(15) Grada
(by Irish Music Magazine).
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© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 11/2007
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