Browse Content (88 total)
- Collection: Jigs
Biddy from Sligo / The Connaughtman's Rambles
And as we present this last selection, we come to the end of a long musical journey. It is my hope that whoever reads my stories, anecdotes, and ramblings will get some insight into the tunes' histories, and some new information about them.…
Young When He's Dancing
This tune was composed by Chicago fiddle player Devin Shepherd. He plays it here with his friend Sean Gavin on flute. Devin named the tune for Mike Doyle from County Wexford, who now lives in Chicago. Mike is an avid enthusiast of the music and can…
What Care I for the Minister?
This slip jig from the Scottish tradition was taught to me by Boston harpist Kathleen Guilday. I told her about this project and asked her if she would record it for me. Kathleen was delighted, and graciously agreed to come to Maine to do the…
Biddy from Sligo
The fiddle master Néillidh Boyle recorded this tune as part of a two-jig set in Dublin in 1937. That recording happened to be the very first record of Irish fiddle music that I had when I was growing up. It is performed on this track by…
Road to Durham, The
Cathal McConnell, 'The Great One', gave me this tune, and he also gave it the above title. Recently, I discovered that the other 'Great One', Liz Carroll, had recorded her rendition of the tune on her long-playing record A Friend Indeed. Liz informed…
Champaign Jig Goes to Columbia, The
During that musical evening at the Gavins' in Balbriggan so long ago, Jimmy Keane, the piano accordion player from Chicago, played this tune. He informed me that it is one of Liz Carroll's compositions, entitled 'The Champaign Jig Goes to Columbia'.…
Lagan River, The
David Curry's broadcasts from the BBC studios in Belfast were eagerly awaited in my home. He broadcast many fine tunes, including this one, which Nicole Rabata and I arranged for flute and fiddle. Not having the tune's original title, I have named it…
New Road to Sligo, The
David Reiner composed 'The New Road to Sligo'. It is played for us by Liz Carroll. David told me that he composed this tune 'to tell the story of a musical road trip, from the bold beginning in G minor, to the detour into B flat, to the simpler and…
Port an Deoraí
This lovely and unusual slip jig is played here by Geraldine Cotter. It may also be found in her collection of fifty traditional Irish tunes called Rogha, Geraldine Cotter's Choice.
Pádraig O'Keeffe's
I first heard this tune played by Nicky McAuliffe and Connie O'Connell on two fiddles. They played it at a concert in Miltown Malbay at the Willie Clancy Summer School in 1988. They learned the tune from a Pádraig O'Keeffe manuscript. Here we…
Gallant Tipperary Boys, The
This tune may be found in the O'Neill's Music of Ireland collection under the title 'Gallant Tipperary'. It also appears in The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music in the 'Airs' section of that book. The tune, played here by Laurel Martin,…
Four-Fingered Fisherman, The
The young Chicago fiddle player Devin Shepherd composed this fine jig. He plays it on this track with his musical friend, flute player Sean Gavin from Detroit, accompanied by Brian Miller on guitar and Jackie Moran on bodhrán.
Rock Point Lane
'Rock Point Lane' is the name of the street in California where Sandy's parents live. One Christmas day, around 1990, when she and I were visiting them, the basic outline of this jig came to me. After working on it for a while and deciding which key…
For Betty Killoran
Another composition of accordionist and concertina player Charlie Mulvihill from New York. It is played on this track by Charlie and his children Tommy on fiddle, and Geraldine on piano. It is another of the tunes on the tape that Mr. Mulvihill made…
Shoemaker's Fancy, The
The young fiddle player Liam Lewis played this jig on a tape given to me by a friend one night after a concert. I stuck the tape into the cover of my fiddle case and forgot about it. Finding it later was a lovely surprise. My friend Laurel Martin…
Crooked Hurricane, The
My good friend Cindy Polo made this tune and dedicated it to another friend, Randy Bridgman. I enjoyed playing this tune with Cindy and Gabriel Donohue. In Cindy's own words, she tells us about 'The Crooked Hurricane': 'What else to do while the…
David Grady's
I love slip jigs and I enjoy playing them. Patrick W. Joyce collected this one from David Grady, a flute player from Ardpatrick in County Limerick, but he did not get the tune's name. 'David Grady's' sounds good to me. Mr. Joyce's collection was…
Laurel Martin's Jig
My musical colleague and friend Laurel Martin made this lovely tune. Laurel did not think highly of her composition, nor did she think it good enough for this collection. Laurel, I love your jig, as do many others who have heard it. Thanks for…
Green Mountain Boys, The
I first fell in love with this tune when I heard fiddle master supreme Winston 'Scotty' Fitzgerald from Cape Breton playing it on a recording. I had in my collection a tape of my friend, pianist Barbara MacDonald Magone, playing the jig in two…
Terry's Jig
Here we have another melody composed by the Grand Lady of New Brunswick fiddle music, Mrs. Matilda Murdoch. Its performer on this track, who once again gives Matilda's music a genuine Irish flavour, is none other than Maeve Donnelly.