Browse Content (338 total)
Message to Séamus
One of America's most distinguished master musicians, North Carolina banjo player, fiddle player, and composer Tony Ellis was out on his tractor one day when he began to hear this barndance in his head. Not knowing whether he'd heard the tune…
North Clare Jig
Paddy Kierse, as Ciarán Mac Mathúna said on his Radio Éireann program A Job of Journeywork, was a lovely old musician. Ciarán recorded his playing of this tune on a visit to north County Clare. Mr. Kierse, from Kilnaboy, near Kilfenora, had wonderful…
Dan Sullivan's
America's foremost uilleann piper, Jerry O'Sullivan, learned this and a number of other tunes from recordings of Dan Sullivan and his band that I sent to him. Jerry recorded the tunes with the engineering expertise of Gabriel Donohue, himself an…
Kathleen Coen's
Flute player Mr. Jack Coen, brother of Monsignor Charlie Coen, was visiting his daughter Kathleen in Clinton, Massachusetts. I took a trip down that same day to meet Jack and to play a few tunes with him. Many of the tunes we played that day I had…
Moyasta Polka
Another tune from the repertoire of Mrs. Ellen Galvin. It is played on this track for all of us to enjoy by one of my heroes, Josephine Keegan. Josephine again makes full use of modern recording technology in order to be recorded playing both fiddle…
Dunboyne Straw-Plaiters
The reel played here by Jerry O'Sullivan is another tune from the music of Boston's Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band. Nicky McAuliffe told me that the tune is in P.W. Joyce's collection, Old Irish Folk Music and Songs. Nicky, you are a walking…
Harvest Field, The
I had a scratchy old 78 RPM recording of a band from Boston and could barely identify the tune they were playing. I believe the person playing the accordion on the track was Billy Caples, a well-known Boston accordion player and teacher. I sent it to…
P.J. Conlon's
The accordion master Peter 'P.J.' Conlon recorded an amazing series of 78 RPM records. He recorded this jig (under the title 'Clancy's Jig'), as did his friend Bill Sullivan, who called it 'Conlon's'. Here it is played on melodeon by my nephew Damien…
Parkersburg Landing
The music of Ed Haley, a fiddle player born in West Virginia in 1883, has for over twenty years given me much enjoyment and pleasure. My good friend Mr. Joe Wilson, former director of The National Council for the Traditional Arts, gave me a tape of…
Frank Quinn's
Accordion player, fiddle player, and all-around entertainer Frank Quinn lived in New York and recorded for a number of record companies in the 1930s. I heard this reel played by him on an old 78 RPM recording. Jimmy Noonan plays flute on this…
Fly by Night
I first heard this hornpipe in the early 1960s, played by Mr. Kieran Kelly, a wonderful accordionist from near Athlone, County Westmeath. The tune has been recorded by a number of musicians and has been given different titles, including 'The Low…
Jim Conroy's
Jack Coen had a storehouse of older tunes from his native East Galway. Jack learned this tune from the playing of Jim Conroy, a flute player from his part of the country who was a great musical influence. It is played here for us by the one and only…
Brian O'Kane's
I have a tape of a wonderful evening of music in the home of the Gavin family of Balbriggan, County Dublin, which includes this hornpipe played by Jimmy Keane from Chicago. I wanted to include the tune in this collection, so I phoned Jimmy to ask…
Jimmy Hogan's (Number Two)
Another of Jimmy Hogan's North County Clare tunes. It is played here, as was 'Jimmy Hogan's Number One', by Josephine Keegan on fiddle.
Jack Rowe's
Recorded by Seán Maguire, the celebrated master fiddle player, with Josephine Keegan on piano, as well as by Maeve Donnelly and Peadar O'Loughlin on their CD The Thing Itself. A version of this tune was given to Breandán Breathnach by…
Humours of Ballyhaunis
The 'goings on' or happy and fun times in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, give this slip jig its name. I first heard the tune played by the talented musical Quinn family from New York. A version of the tune may be found in O'Neill's great collection of…
Seán McCusker's
Mentioned earlier in this collection was The Pride of Erin Céilí Band from Fermanagh, a group of wonderful people who loved to play their music. One of the band members was flute and button accordionist Seán McCusker. Seán…
Patsy Hanly's
I played a recording of this reel for my friend Jimmy Noonan. The identity of the player was a mystery to me, but Jimmy's astute judgment identified the musician as Patsy Hanly, the flute player from County Roscommon. Who better, then, to play this…
Bird's Nest, The
Tina Lech, a former fiddle instructor at Boston College, performs this tune for all of us to hear. Tina learned the reel from a tape I gave to her of Larry Redican, the Dublin fiddle player who lived in New York. The tune's title was given to me by…
First Slip, The
On that night in Ennis in the home of my brother Martin and his wife Pauline (see ‘John Egan’s’), I thought I had captured Kevin Crawford playing a slip jig called 'What Care I For The Minister?' However, in the confusion,…