Browse Content (29 total)
Old Schoolmaster, The
'Maestro' Seán Maguire played this tune in the key of A major at a concert in Kilfenora, County Clare, many years ago. My friend Sally K. Sommers Smith Wells reminded me that it somehow was like the song 'Love Will You Marry Me?' Brendan…
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…
Quinn Family, The
Shannon and Matt Heaton give vibrant life to a barndance which I first heard on the long-playing record Music from the Glens. The album featured the talented Quinn family from New York, hence the title I've given the tune to honour this musical clan…
Rakish Highlander, The
Larry Redican, the great New York fiddle player and composer, once told me he loved going through old books and manuscripts 'looking for strange tunes'. The reel on this track is certainly a version of the tune found in Ryan's Mammoth Collection,…
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…
Séamus Connolly's
I am so honoured that my great friend, the prolific composer Bob McQuillen, wrote this tune for me. 'The Professor', as I call him, is a special person in my life and I have for many years admired his compositions and music. Bob is heard playing his…
Sporting Nell
A fine version of 'Sporting Nell', played here for us by one of my favourite young fiddle players, the talented Tina Lech from Boston. I first heard this reel in Chicago in 1972 played by another of my favourite fiddle players, the great Johnny…
Tulla Lodge
Martin Hayes, the great fiddle player from East Clare, gives us this beautiful rendition of a tune I have given the title 'Tulla Lodge'. This tune was given to me by Larry Gavin.
Waltzing Down the Aisle
Another tune from the pen of Kathleen Boyle from Glasgow in Scotland. She wrote this waltz for her sister's wedding, for her to walk down the aisle to. Here we hear 'K.T.' beautifully playing her own composition on piano and piano accordion.