Browse Content (88 total)
- Collection: Jigs
Don't Get Me Anything
My friends from Winnipeg, Canada, Alice Bérubé and her sister Jeannine, visited with Sandy and me a few years ago. Both of them play fiddles and they enjoy getting together to talk, laugh, and play music. They meet once a year, as Alice lives on…
Johnson State Jig, The
Another tune that Eric Eid-Reiner played for me during that early morning recording session in Gasson Hall on the Boston College campus. Eric told me that he wrote the jig after listening to a lively session at Johnson State College in Vermont. The…
Vermont Jig, The
Another composition from the multi-instrumentalist Eamon Flynn from Mountcollins in County Limerick. Eamon moved from Boston to The Green Mountain State, Vermont, in 1987. His memories of the hills and fishing brooks of this beautiful state in New…
Barney's Jig
This track comes to us courtesy of Kathleen Boyle from Glasgow. Kathleen recorded it in Donegal in 2011 in the county where her grandfather, the great Néillidh Boyle, lived. Kathleen carries on her grandfather's tradition of composing as she…
Go Easy, Young Hag
The fiddle playing of Devin Shepherd from Chicago is heard once again on this track, playing one of his own compositions. He is joined by Marta Cook, who plays the harp. A lovely tune, Devin, thanks for sending it along. Thank you too, Marta, for…
Larry's Strange Jig
Ted McGraw has an amazing collection of music in his library. He sent me this recording of Larry Redican and suggested that it was 'a strange jig'. Ted doesn't know where the recording took place, and he has little or no information about the tune.…
Bill Sullivan's Jig
Accordion player William Sullivan immigrated from Clifden, Ireland, to New York City in the 1920s, later settling in Parlin, New Jersey. He recorded this tune on Sampler Records in the late 1980s in a duo with Mitzie Collins, a hammered dulcimer and…
My Meitheal Class
A week-long Irish music school known as Meitheal is held every year in Limerick. The five-day immersion in Irish music is directed by flute player Garry Shannon. As a teacher at the summer school, I had an assignment to work with a group of students…
Great Composer, The
A prolific composer in the world of Irish music was master fiddle player Larry Redican. I didn't have a name for this jig, hence the title 'The Great Composer' came to mind. Larry plays the fiddle on this tune, which was a favourite of his friend Mr.…
Thomas Power's Jig
This jig, played here for us by Josephine Keegan from South Armagh, was learned from the cassette tape that Michael Power sent me of the playing of his father, Thomas Power, a lovely fiddle player from Doonbeg in west County Clare (see 'Thomas…
Shandon Bells
Having lived in the beautiful and historic city of Cork in the 1960s, I often think back to the happy times I had while beginning to find my feet in the big world of city life. The clock tower of St. Anne's Church has special meaning for me because…
Charlie Mulvihill's Jig in A
Accordionist, concertina player, and composer Charlie Mulvihill from New York composed this tune. Charlie was very friendly with the great Paddy Killoran, master fiddle player from County Sligo. When Paddy Killoran died, his wife Betty gave Charlie…
How Are You, Sandy? (Sandy Connolly's)
It meant much to my wife Sandy and me when Bill Black, our friend from Cape Cod, sent us a tune that he composed in her honour entitled 'How Are You, Sandy?' Bill later sent the tune under the new title 'Sandy Connolly's' when she left us to go to…
Canyon Jig
David Reiner has published a number of fiddle books, including Anthology of Fiddle Tunes (Mel Bay). According to Dave, this tune came together in his head while he was hiking with his parents and brother in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. After he…
I Love You Not and I Care Not
One could say not a very pleasing or romantic title, but certainly a tune worth preserving, even more so when it's played on the fiddle by Maeve Donnelly. Whilst driving through Italy with Chrysandra (Sandy), my wife, this old jig came into my head,…
Joy of My LIfe
This well-known jig is performed on this track by yours truly, Séamus Connolly. With help on the banjo from my friend Kevin McElroy, we offer this grand two-part jig as a way to invite musicians to play this tune once again. The interesting…
Lough Key
A lovely slip jig played here for us by its composer, master fiddle player Larry Redican. Lough Key in County Roscommon is one of the beautiful lakes in Ireland famous for its fishing.
Sarah's Valentine
Eamon Flynn composed this slow jig for his daughter Sarah on Valentine's Day when she was five years old. Sarah asked her dad to 'do a song' for her. What a lovely present to get, one that will remain documented forever. This recording comes to us…
Poke and a Tickle, A
While reflecting on Eric Eid-Reiner's musical compositions, my first thought was that he created 'happy music'. Indeed, as Eric himself described it, this is 'a light-hearted jig with a sense of humour'. Eric kindly arrived at Boston College one…
Old as the Hills
Jack Coen gave me the name for this jig, which can be found as a two-part tune in A major in the O'Neill's 1001 collection. I first heard the tune played by 'The Man of Many Tunes', Larry Gavin. I also heard a version of it performed by Mr. David…