International acts to add global touch to 60 th All Ireland Fleadh in Cavan

Transcription

1 Internationalactstoadd globaltouchto60 th All IrelandFleadhinCavan TOPEUROPEANDANDAMERICANPERFORMERSTO PLAYPEACEIIIGIGRIGANDOTHERVENUES TheAll IrelandFleadhhaslongbeenacknowledgedastheworld sbiggest event on the traditional Irish Music calendar, and this will be highlighted more than ever before at this year s 60th Fleadh Cheoil na héireann in Cavan town, where top traditional acts from around the globe will make thefestivalatruly world event. Sponsored by the Arts Council, great bands and individual performers from Europe and North America will play in various venues throughout the week, givingfleadh2010anall newinternationalflavour. If Irish music has travelled the world, then this year s Fleadh will see Cavan bringingitallbackhome forthefirsttimeever! WilloS fromitaly,nustalgicfolkfromcadenazzoinswitzerland,rírafromthe Czech Republic, and Folk from Orkney, a trio of talented musicians from the northern isles will add to the worldwide touch, as will fiddle playing virtuoso MarcoFabbrifromItaly,andmouthorganexpertDonMeadefromtheUSA,who fellinlovewithirishtunesasayoungmaninsoutherncaliforniaandadapted themtotheharmonica. These special international visitors will be among the acts featured at the outdoor Peace III Gig Rig shows in the Egg Market, off Connolly Street, on Wednesday18 th Augustfrom2pm 7pm,andagainonThursday19 th,inadaylong WorldMusicDay onthesamestage,whichrunsfrom12noonto11pm. WilloS areawell establishedfive pieceinternationalbandbasedinsiena,italy. They are no strangers to Cavan, having visited the county on a number of perviousoccasionsaspartofthenyahfestival,wheretheirlivelyshowsalways guaranteedthemawarmwelcome! Made up of Alice Reynolds, USA on vocals, Stephanie Martin from Belfast on fiddle, Lorenzo del Grande, Italy on flutes, Luca Mercurio, Italy on guitars and bouzoukiandgiulioputti,alsofromitalyonanarrayofpercussioninstruments, WilloS perform a repertoire of contemporary folk that blends Irish, MediterraneanandAmericanrootscultures.Withfiddle,djembè,bouzouki,Irish andconcertflute,darbouka,cajun,folkand12 stringguitar,bodhran,bass,flute andtinwhistlesallmixedwiththerecentarrivalofalice sfolkyvocals,theband createauniquesoundthatisrecognisedfarandwide. Theirlivelyandinventivetakeonthemusiccanbeheardtobesteffectontheir latest album Dirt Tracks, which was recorded and produced by the great fiddle playerathenatergis.

2 WilloS haveperformedaround400gigsinthelasteightyears,playinginitaly, Switzerland, France and Ireland. The band have performed with well known musicians like Joe Craven, Alison Brown, John Doyle, Liz Carroll and Athena Tergis,andtheyfeaturedattheIrishEmbassyinRomeforthe2006StPatrick s DayCelebrations.TheyhavealsoplayedtherenownedWhelan svenueindublin andinallthemainitalianfolkfestivals. They area currently working on a European promotional tour for the new album,andthisyearwillos willbetheheadlinersamongtheinternationalacts featuring at the All Ireland Fleadh in Cavan, which should get them well preparedforatripovertheatlantictopromotethenewalbumintheusanext year. AspecialguestwiththebandinCavanwillbepercussionistEttore,whoplay s djembè,darboukaandtablas.ettorehasbeenplayingdrumsofeverykindsince 1980, studying in Italy and India, where he became an expert in the art of the tablas,traditionaldrumsofindia.sincethenhehasperformedwithtopitalian folkbands,touringineurope,australiaandjapan.heisamasterpercussionist whoneverfailstoinjectasurgeofrhythmanddancetoanymusicheplays. WilloS willbeheadliningtheworldmusicdayshowonthepeaceiiigigrigon Thursday19thAugust(12noonto11pm),andtheywillalsobeplayingatother eventsandsessionsthroughouttheweekofthefleadh. Nustalgic Folk from Switzerland are a four piece hailing from the southern, Italian speaking canton of Ticino, and early fleadh visitors can catch their captivating performances on the Peace III Gig Rig shows on Wednesday and Thursday,aswellasthroughoutthetownovertheweekend. Forseveralyearsnow,thebandhavebeencommittedtokeepingthetradition ofpopularmusicinticinoverymuchaliveandkicking!incavan,fourofthese musicianswillstruttheirstuffwithanunusualcombinationofinstruments. DiegoBiffionmandolin,JackyMuttonionmouthorgan,JoeMorettinionrhythm guitar, Piero Perucchini on bass guitar will lash out some favourite oldies with gusto,ledbyanintriguingpairingofthemandolinandmouthorgan.themouth organisseldomusedintradmusicthesedays,buttheseguysfromtheheartof old Europe intend to show the audiences what has been missed out on as a result! Teamed up with the bass and rhythm guitar, their mandolin and harmonicaledmusicmakesahappyharmoniouswhole! DonMeadeisanothermusiciancomingalongwaytohighlightthefinerpoints of what the mouth organ (harmonica) can achieve in the tradition. And it s appropriate too, that he will be coming back to the home county of one of he greatexponentsoftheinstrument,thelateeddieclarke,whoseplayinghewas inspiredby. HavinggrownupinsouthernCaliforniainthe1960s,likemanyIrish Americans of the time he was introduced to Irish music by the recordings of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He got his first harmonica in 1965 and started tryingtoplaythemelodieshe dlearnedfromthoselp s. AftermovingtoNewYorkCity,DonencounteredmusiciansfromtheolderIrish instrumentaltraditionandbecamearegularattendeeatweeklysessionsatthe

3 former Eagle Tavern, where he drew particular inspiration from the late LongfordfiddlegreatPaddyReynolds. In addition to learning the tenor banjo and fiddle, Don tried to apply his harmonica skills to traditional dance music, but he was frustrated by the limitations of the little ten hole diatonic mouth organs. But the recordings of Cavan born harmonica virtuoso Eddie Clarke opened his ears to the greater possibilities of the chromatic instrument. While tremendously inspired by Clarke s approach, Don was also influenced by Irish two row button accordionists, whose techniques for transferring the music of fiddle, flute and pipestothebuttonboxcouldinturnbeadaptedtothechromaticharmonica,a free reedinstrumentofsimilarconstruction. Playingonachromaticharmonica,Donwonthemouthorganchampionshipin 1987atFleadhCheoilnahÉireann.Perhapsnotcoincidentally,themouthorgan competitionsatfleadhannahavesincebeenrestrictedtodiatonicplayers! Don plays regularly at concerts, dances and pub sessions throughout the New York area. He is a member of the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock OrchestradirectedbyMickMoloney,andleadsaweeklysessionintheLandmark TaverninManhattan shell skitchendistrict. He is also well known as the producer, since 1985, of a series of Irish traditional music concerts at the Eagle Tavern, Blarney Star bar and, most recently, at New York University s Glucksman Ireland House. He served as the foundingartisticdirectorofthecatskillsirishartsweekineastdurham,new York and is still on the teaching staff of that annual program of music classes, concerts,dancesandsessions. Don was a traditional music columnist for ten years at New York s Irish Voice newspaper, and he has contributed articles to publications like Current Musicology, New York Irish History, The Companion to Irish Traditional Music andthenewhiberniareview. Don will be playing, fittingly enough, as part of the Eddie Clarke Harmonica Recital at 2pm in Farnham Arms Hotel on Saturday 21st August, and he ll undoubtedlybespottedplayingatothereventsthroughoutthefleadh. FolkFromOrkneyismadeupofthreefinemusiciansfromtheOrkneyIslands whoareteamingupincavantobringtheirownblendofsongsandmusicinto theinternationalmixthatwillbefleadh2010. Led by guitarist and singer Ingirid Jolly, the trio, going under the simple moniker FolkfromOrkney willsurelybeechoingthemusicofhullion,onethe renownedtradbandsfromthescenicgroupofislandsoffnorthernscotland. Ingirid,whoputsherownuniquestamponhertraditionaltunesandsongshas been a long time member of Hullion, but she also enjoys being involved in impromptusessionsaswell,makingthefleadhanidealsettingforher! OwenTierneyisamulti instrumentalistandsingerwhoplaysguitar,mandolin and mandola and is also a member of Hullion, Orkney s premier trad band. He hasplayedindancebandsovermanyyears,andoveralmostthreedecadeshas recorded many other Orkney musicians through the studio and record label (AtticRecords)thatheestablished27yearsago. The Folk from Orkney trio are completed by fiddler player Laura Lockyer, whosemusicalbackgroundliesinrousay,orkneywhereherloveofmusicwas

4 born.nowbasedinaberdeen,lauraisinvolvedwithseveraltraditionalbands, andteachesthefiddleandattendssessionswhenevershegetsachance. TogethertheywillbringaflavouroftheOrcadiantraditioninmusic,songand spokenword,andfleadhgoerscanenjoytheirperformancesatthewednesday 18 th andthursday19 th GigRigshowsandothereventsovertheFleadhweek. Marco Fabbri is a masterful fiddler in Irish traditional music, known and appreciated in Ireland and Scotland for the authenticity and dynamism of his style. Marco has been to the fore on the Irish and Scottish traditional music scenesforover25years,andisconsideredamongthebestfiddleplayersinitaly. AReal sessionman,marcofabbribecamethefocalpointforalargegroupof musicians that developed the Irish scene in Rome, which now has many workshopsthroughouttheancientcity,andindeed,therestofthecountry. At only twenty years of age he moved to Belfast with a view to widening his repertoireoftunes,anditwastherethathereallydevelopedhisstyle,meeting upwiththebestmusiciansandcollaboratingwithmanylocalgroups. HewentonplayinextensivetoursofEurope,takinginareaslikeBrittanyand Scandinaviaespecially,andafterbeinginvitedtotheEdinburghFringeFestival he moved to Scotland. There, he began to explore the local fiddling techniques, addinganotherstringtohisbowintermsofregionalstyles. On returning to Italy, he founded in 1992 the Scuola Popolare di Musica di Testaccio ( WorkshopofMusicofOralTradition ),whichplaysaverystrongrole inpromotinganappreciationofirishandscottishmusicinrome. Averyversatileplayer,Marcohascollaboratedwithmusiciansandgroupsfrom othermusicalgenreslikerockandjazz,andinitalytodayheistheonlymusician whoperformssolofiddleshowswithguitaraccompaniment. CatchMarcoFabbriinconcertontheSaturdaynightoftheFleadh(21stAugust) at the Cavan Crystal Hotel, as part of the Ed Reavy Tribute Concert (9.30pm 1am), at the Peace III Gig Rig Wednesday and Thursday shows as well as in sessionsthroughouttheweekend. Also,check,Marco swebsite, Rí Ra are a six piece from the Czech Republic who specialise in Irish tunes as well as the occasional Scottish or Canadian one, to which they put their own lively arrangements. Founded in spring 2008 in Prague, they do not strictly adhere to Celtic genre harmonies and melodies, but enrich the sound with jazz offbeats,bassguitarslap,andimprovisationsontheirishtheme. Their first CD was released in August 2008 in cooperation with Ethno Radio, 90.7FM,anditsawthebandpraisedfortheirinnovationsinthemusic.InApril 2010theoriginalsinger,MonikaKavalieriová,leftthebandandwasreplacedby MarkétaBínová. RíRawillberecordinganewCDthissummer,withMarkéta sstunningvocals to the fore. The band repeatedly perform at summer Celtic and Irish festivals held in the Czech Republic, such as the Celtic Event in Luzna, the Scottish Highland Games in Sychrov, the Vysehrad Celtic festival, the Lughnasad in Nasavrkyandmanyothers.Duringtherestoftheyeartheyappearonthestages of Prague clubs and cafes, and they have performed in the Celetna Theatre, as well.

5 Rí Ra s gigs in Fleadh 2010 will mark their first shows abroad. Joining lead vocalist Markéta will be band leader Daniela Vránová on flute, whistles, fipple andflute,martinakuglerováonviolinandvocals,radekbezděkaonguitarand vocals,pavelbrejchaonbodhrán,trump,andvocals,anddavidryšánekonbass guitar. RíRawillalsoputonspecialnighttimeshowsattheWidow sbar,belturbet(a long time supporting venue for traditional music) on Wednesday 18th and Saturday21staspartof BoatstotheFleadh Widow ssessions,whichalongwith their Peace III Gig Rig shows on Wednesday and Thursday and other appearancesatthefleadhitselfwillensurethatthis,theirfirstexpeditionfrom thehomecountrywillbeabusyone! Checkwww.rira.cz.