Doing research for my review for the Séamus Begley and Oisín Mac Diarmada cd got me interested in Finbarr Dwyer, the great and legendary Irish button box player and composer. Finbarr has been an inspiration for many box players and his compositions are found in the repertoires of all the great Irish musicians.
Finbarr (often misspelled as Finbar) Dwyer was born September 26, 1946 in Castletownbere, Co. Cork into a family of musicians dating back to the 17th century.  His parents both played accordion and his father also played fiddle. His brothers Richard and Michael both played accordion and Michael (died 1996) was an All Ireland Senior Tin Whistle champion. His brother John, born 1933, played fiddle with the Castle Ceili Band, former All-Ireland Champions. In addition to accordion, Finbarr also plays fiddle (left handed) guitar tin whistle and piano. He composed his first tune while at boarding school in Killarney. Bored during a school holiday, he locked himself in the billiard room and cranked out two tunes. Among his compositions are: The Beare Island Reel (1974), Berehaven (1970), The Holly Bush (1974), The Kylebrack Rambler (1979), Farewell to Kilroe (1970), and The Waltz of the Birds. There are also many tunes credited to him simply titled: "Finbarr Dwyer's".

Finbarr emigrated to England in 1966 and worked as a secondary school teacher for 10 years. He often played in pubs with musicians such as Martin Byrnes and Bobby Casey and won the All England accordion championship in 1969. He performed and recorded until 1990 then took an extended break, reappearing in 2007 for a few years of live performances. In 2010, along with his brother John, he was honored as the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Composer of the Year. In attendance were such luminaries as Martin Hayes, Séan Potts, Paddy Glacken, Liam O'Flynn and the Boys of the Lough. Sadly, it was recently reported that he is in ill health and not playing at this time.

Finbarr made several recordings with the Belfast Outlet label and there have been some re-releases. Here are some of his recordings:
Finbarr Dwyer. Accordion Music from the Soul. 2008. 
Contents: Finbarr Dwyer's Fancy—Richard Dwyers jigs—Rakish Paddy ; The crib of perches—The fly by night—Clais an admid ; Paddy Kelly's fancy—Waltz of the birds—Finbarr Dwyer's favourite ; Emelda Roland's reel—The Lake Shore ; The exile's return—Molly Bawn—Paddy Fahy's ; The old thatched cabin—Whistling Rufus ; Marching through Georgia—Alpine slopes.

Finbarr Dwyer Irish Traditional Accordionist with Theresa MacMahon piano. Recorded at International Studios, Belfast. Producer Bill McBurney, Engineer Cel Fay
Side 1. Trim the Velvet / Berehaven Reels
2. Hill 60 /The Spring Well Reels
3. The Pipe on the Hob/Kitty's Rambles Jigs 
4. West the Hill/The Druid's Field Hornpipes
5. The Fries Breeches Jig
6. Banish Misfortune/Tatter Jack Welsh Jig

 Side 2

. The Pigeon on the Gate/Gillespies Reels
2. The Groves of Slaney/The Iron Gate Hornpipes
3. Paddy Ryan's Dream/Farewell to Cailroe Reels
4. Finbarr Dwyer' #2/The Meadow Reels
5. The Concert Flute/Upstairs in a Tent Reels
6. John Dwyer's Jig/Paddy Taylors Reels
Pure Traditional Irish Accordion Music:  Several of Finbarr's tunes along with other players such as Kevin Loughlin, John Whelan, and Joe Burke. A nice compilation available as a digital download and a great introduction to Finbarr's playing.

I just got my hands on the recent CD that features the fiddle/accordion team of Séamus Begley and Oisín Mac Diarmada. I recently wrote a review of another recording with Oisín Mac Diarmanda playing with the Innisfree Ceili Band. This time he teams up with the great Kerry accordion player Séamus Begley and they take us on a wild ride of breakneck reels, jigs, hornpipes, and polkas. As an added bonus, Séamus delights us with a few wonderful songs in his masterful Séan-nos style (un-ornamented songs in Gaelic).
It's just the two of them playing on the recording, except for an occasional singing duet with Séamus and his daughter Méabh Ní Bheaglaoich. Séamus comes from an illustrious musical family with a  brother who also plays accordion (Brendan Begley). This recording is the result two years touring with Oisín's troupe of "Irish Christmas in America". The influences, references and tune names on the CD read like a who's who of great Irish musicians: Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford, Ed Reavey, Andy McGann, Michael Coleman for the fiddlers and Finbarr Dwyer, Joe Burke, Johnny O’Leary, and Denis Doody for the box players. The recording starts of with a set of rollicking slides: "The Scartaglen and Trasna Na dTonnta. This is followed by two reels: Richard Dwyer's and The Hunter's House and then a great song by Séamus: "An tSeanbhean Bhocht" with delightful backup vocals by his daughter. The rest of the CD keeps up the pace and quality with more songs, reels, jigs, hornpipes and polkas. Throughout the recording, we feel the excitement and joy these two great musicians have playing together. It feels at times like two great thoroughbreds on a race to the finish, running neck a neck all the way.
 I highly recommend this CD.
Dr. Squeeze 


The CD is available on CD Baby and below is a rather strange video of Séamus and Oisín playing together in what looks like a gym locker room!?

I just opened up on Facebook a wonderful Christmas present from Cathie Whitesides, Jeremy Kammerer and WB Reid: The Joe Cooley Tapes -  the digitized 1970's San Francisco field recordings of the legendary Irish accordion player Joe Cooley. Born in 1924, Joe Cooley came from a musical family in South County Galway. His father and mother played the melodeon and he began playing when he was 10 years old. He was one of the early members of the Tulla Ceili Band and played of and on with them while traveling around on his motorcycle with a fiddle on his back and the accordion strapped to the fuel tank. He often shared the stage with another great accordion player, Paddy O'Brien. In 1953, both of them competed in the All Ireland  championship in Athlone: Joe Cooley on the C#/D accordion and Paddy O'Brien on the B/C accordion. Joe at first won, but after a recall by the judges, came in second. He moved to the United States after a tour in 1953, moving from New York, to Chicago, and finally San Francisco. Illness brought him finally back home to Ireland and he died at St Luke’s Hospital, Dublin, on December 20, 1973. Besides the great San Francisco field recordings, he left behind a recording of his music "Cooley" on the Gael-Linn label and a tribute album from Frankie Gavin and Paul Brock called Omós do Joe Cooley. Most of all, Joe Cooley left behind a lasting legacy for the next generation of musicians, including Jackie Daly, Dermott Byrne, Sharon Shannon, and his famous pupil Tony MacMahon who says of him: "Listen for his strong lonely sound, for it is the heartbeat of the past", 

I just got my hands on the recently released first CD of master Irish button box player Danny O’Mahony and it’s like a breath of fresh air.  The album was released in May 2011 after many years of Danny saying he wouldn’t make a CD – thank goodness he changed his mind. Here we have a master box player, several times All-Ireland champ, playing straight up classics with flawless technique on priceless vintage accordions.  Danny comes from Ballyduff in North County Kerry and earned a performance degree from University of Limerick. He has toured throughout Europe, North America and Australia and has a weekly radio show, ‘Trip to the Cottage’, which features Irish Traditional Music and Song on Radio Kerry. He also performs with the Shannon Vale Ceili Band who won the 2011 All Ireland Band title. On this his first CD, he is joined by some good friends and great performers such as Cyril O’Donoghue on bouzouki, Patsy Broderick on Piano and Johnny McDonagh on Bodhrán and Bones, but it’s really the accordion that dominates here and what a beautiful sound!

Danny plays three different accordions on the recording: a 1940’s vintage grey 3 voice B/C Paolo Soprani, another 1940’s grey 3 voice Paolo Soprani in D/D#, and finally the Ioria 6 voice D/C# box of the late great Tom Carmody from the 1930’s. The Ioria was bequeathed to Danny by Tom’s widow and Danny is presently doing research on the life and music of Tom Carmody and The James Morrison Band that dominated recordings of Irish Music in New York in the 1930’s. In Retrospect takes us back to those days of early Irish music in New York, with a faithful reproduction of the sound and the tunes. Custy’s Traditional Music Shop in Ennis says: “This album rates up there as one of the best accordion releases over the last ten years”. Definitely.

For more information on Danny O'Mahony  and some great videos, check out the links below:

http://www.dannyomahony.com/?page_id=5
http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/rafferty_mahony_fleadh_cheoil_2006/
http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_290_2_brid_harper_danny_omahony/


 

I have always been a huge fan of Jackie Daly.  I admired an early photo of him with his gentle elfish looks but macho tatoo from his early days in the Merchant Marine. He had the look of a gnarly box-playing seaman who had knocked around the far away ports of the world, picking up tunes and bar fights. I was impressed that he was a master of not only the C#/D box, but the B/C box, the Melodeon, and the Concertina. His first CD set the tone for the rest of his repertoire – the seminal, unaccompanied ‘Music From Sliabh Luachra’ that came out in 1977 and featured the famous tatoo photo along with never before heard tunes from an unknown region of Ireland. After a diet of Sligo and Clare tunes, Jackie’s introduction to the music of his home was authentic and refreshing.  He then became the first of the Da Danaan accordionists, appearing on their CD’s from 1980 to 1985. Some critics think that it’s thanks to his playing that the accordion went from a dance band instrument (think Jimmy Shand) to a concert-stage instrument.  Jackie Daly has played with many of the great Irish fiddlers, including Seamus Creagh (Jackie Daly agus Séamus Creagh 1977), Kevin Burke (If the Cap Fits 1978 and Eavesdropper 1981) and later in Patrick Street until 2007.  He played with Séumus and Manus McGuire in Button and Bows. 

Finally, in 2010 Jackie has teemed with Matt Cranitch to return to his Sliabh Luachra roots in ‘The Living Stream’. In Gaelic, Sliabh Luachra means ‘the mountain of rushes’. It is a region of Munster, Ireland bordering the counties of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick. The music features many polkas and slides and the region boast such legendary musicians as Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford, Paddy Cronin, Padraig O’Keefe and Donal Murphy. In ‘The Living Stream’ we have two great authorities, promoters, and performers of the Sliabh Luachra repertoire. Fiddler Matt Cranitch had already teamed up with Donal Muphy on accordion in 1995 to produce a CD of music from Sliabh Luachra called ‘Sliabh Notes’ (sleeve notes). On ‘The Living Stream’ he joins Jackie Daly to pay tribute to the great musicians and rich heritage of their home turf. They go back to their roots to present us the jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, barndances, slides and slow airs that are still played at set dances in their native counties. We hear tunes from Julia Clifford (The Tenpenny Bit and Art O’Keefe’s), from the collections of O’Neil’s and Breandán Breathnach (The Heather Breeze/Tap the Barrel/The New Mown Meadow), a hornpipe from Denis Murphy (An Trí is a Rian), some of Jackie’s compositions (The Kenturk Jig and An Ghlaise Bheo-The Living Stream). These are just a few of the gems to be found on this recording. 
 For more information on this recording, including sound files and purchase information, visit CD Baby at : http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cranitchdaly 
 For more information on the music of Sliabh Luachra, there is an excellent and very comprehensive article by Terry Talarek King at : http://homepage.mac.com/toddatdesk/blogwavestudio/LH20050408231626/LHA20050409024630/index.html

When the folks at Hearth Music asked me if I would like to review the new CD by the Innisfree Ceili Band, I jumped right unto it. I am always interested in anything that involves accordions and I am also a member of the Shilshole Bay Ceili Band here in Seattle. Not  only does the Innisfree Ceili Band boast two accordion players, both button and piano, but they also have four flute players, three fiddlers, a piano player and a drummer. One of the fiddlers, Oisin Mac Diarmada is already well known as the founder of the Irish Christmas in America show and a member of the famed Irish group Téada. The Irish Times praised them for « keeping the traditional flag flying at full mast » and the Innisfree Ceili Band carries on the tradition. All the players in the group grew up playing together in the North Connacht region of Ireland and represent the styles of Sligo, Leitrim, and Roscommon. Following in the footsteps of the great Ceili Bands of yore, such as the Tulla and the Kilfenora, the Innisfree Ceili Band plays with the smoothness and drive of a great dance band.
The word ‘Ceili’ in Gaelic means a social gathering or a party. In the early days, most Ceilis hosted singing, dancing, and story telling. Ceili dances became popular after the Public Dance Halls Act in 1935, passed to discourage the wild house parties and crossroads dances, replacing them with licensed, regulated and government-controlled dances in larger venues that could afford the license fees. This led to larger dance bands in a more formal setting, often dressed in suits or tuxedos and hiring drummers, pianists, and even saxophone players. The glory days were in the 40’s and 50’s, then declined with the new ‘Seisîuns’ involving smaller groups in pubs, playing for their own enjoyment or as background music to drinking your Guinness. The Innisfree Ceili Band is helping to bring back the tradition of the old Ceili Bands and were the winners of the 2008 All Ireland Ceili Band Competition. 
Sit back and listen to this collection of jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, and marches. This is music that will set your toes tapping and lead you to the dance. Their blend of flutes, fiddles, accordion, piano and drum set is seamless and flows like a well-oiled dance machine. You will hear some great tunes handed down from legendary musicians such as Michael Coleman, Father Charlie Cohen, Michael Gorman, James Morrison, Paddy Kiloran, and Denis Murphy. And the dance goes on…..
For more information, including sound files and how to order the CD, visit Claddagh Records at:
http://claddaghrecords.com/WWW/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2939

It all started when Devon, our resident Ethnomusicologist, wondered aloud whether there was accordion music is some of the farthest regions of the planet, like for instance the Arctic! After some research, he indeed found that the accordion was a favorite instrument of the Inuit and they loved to dance to it. He played a few tunes for a visiting representative of the Makivik corporation at the University of Washington and now La Famille has been invited to perform at the Aqpik Jam in Kuujjuaq on August 12th. I decided to do an overview of Inuit Accordion Music in preparation of our trip.
Dr. Squeeze

There are more than 25,000 Inuit living in Northern Canada, in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Nunuvik in Northern Quebec. Inuit music was primarily based on drumming and throat singing but after contact with European and American whalers, the music has included fiddles and accordions. In the 1800's, Scottish and American whalers hunting blowhead whales traded their tunes, dances, and instruments with the native Inuit and the musical traditions were passed down through the families. They danced squares, round dances, polkas, and waltzes to the sound of the accordion. Dorothy Harley Eber, in her book "When the Whalers Were up North" tells the story of Inuit whale hunters leaving up to 30 of their accordions in a shed for safekeeping while they went hunting. They would choose several from the pile when they came back to play for a dance then leave them back in the shed for the next group.

In an article published in the Bulletin de musique folklorique canadienne 34.1/2 (2000) called "Inuit Accordion Music-A Better Kept Secret", Jim Hiscott lists some of the great Inuit accordion players. They include:  
  Kaina Nowdluk and his brother in Iqaluit. They come from a musical family and their mother played accordion.
  Edward May in Kuujjuaq
  Andrew Atagotaaluuk’s sons in Inukjuak
  Simeonie Keenainak from Pangnirtung north on Baffin Island (retired RCMP). Photo on left.
  Elisapi Kasarnak from Pond Inlet
  Qarpik Pudlat from Cape Dorset
 Zebedee and Jeannie Nungak from Kangirsuk in Nunavik.