Blog Of Good Cheer » Music

Throwing A Party For Liam MacCarthy

felix — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:58:19 +0000

Against all the odds Tipperary came through and are Senior All-Ireland Hurling Champions for 2010 beating Kilkenny by 4-17 to 1-18.

It was a fantastic game of hurling for a neutral and I certainly loved every minute of it.

Afterwards the Kilkenny manager Brian Cody said “The best team won the All-Ireland. That was comprehensive. Tipperary were excellent.”

The night before the final I saw JohnnyB perform The Premier Rap on RTE’s Up For The Match. There was a lot of belief in Tipp that they’d win this year even if the bookies didn’t see it their way.

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Throwing A Party For Liam MacCarthy

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Four Concerts And A Cancellation

felix — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:14:43 +0000

I was at the Glen Campbell concert in Vicar Street on Saturday. This was the fifth concert I planned to go to in a nine day period that included two concerts on the same day and three in the same venue.

This was the schedule:

I don’t think I’ve ever gone to such a run of concerts before, but I was looking forward to all of them. Different musical styles, different venues and a couple of artists I knew nothing about; not a bad concert recipe.

The run ended with Glen Campbell last Saturday and don’t think I could’ve picked a better concert to finish on.

I like Glen Campbell’s music, but I think it wouldn’t have been fair to say I was a fan. I am now.

I went to the concert knowing he was in his seventies and thinking that if he can nail a few of his classics on the night (and one in particular) I’d go away happy. He did much more than that.

He came on stage after the excellent support by Mike Bartlett and for the rest of the night he entertained, joked, sang, played wonderful guitar, introduced his very talented family and held the audience in the palm of his hand.

Many people there appeared to be devoted fans, but there was a large contingent that was just out for good night. I’d be surprised if they didn’t go home thrilled that they saw a complete professional who can still deliver a great performance.

He started with John Hartford’s beautiful track Gentle on My Mind. What a way to start. Here’s a clip showing him in action.

He followed that up with many of his other hits including By the Time I Get to Phoenix and one of my all-time favourites Wichita Lineman.

Wichita Lineman is one of those songs that make me stop what I’m doing. I’m sure you have songs like that too. You know the way it works, you’re busy in your own little world and your hear Elvis doing I Just Can’t Help Believing or Pink Floyd playing Wish You Were Here and you just have to stop and listen, you’ve no choice. I’m sure you have different songs that do that to you but for me Wichita Lineman does it every time.

There were a few unexpected treats during the night also. He did Duelling Banjos with his daughter Ashley, Jackson with his daughter Debbie, a damn fine version of U2’s All I Want Is You and Mason William’s instrumental Classical Gas. All through this his son Cal showed his skill on the drums.

Was there anything I didn’t like about the concert?

Well this is being really picky but I missed the brass in Gentle on My Mind.

What were the highlights?

I found it really hard to pick anything in particular so I asked P and after thinking about for a few seconds she said that she loved the song Postcard From Paris written by Jimmy Webb. She hadn’t heard it before and loved the way Glen Campbell sang it.

And what wasn’t to love? His voce and guitar playing was excellent. The band, including his family, was superb. If I could I’d go see him again tomorrow.

I only recently discovered that Glen Campbell was a much sought after session guitarist at the beginning of his musical career. He played with very tight group of musicians that became known as The Wrecking Crew. There’s a documentary directed by Denny Tedesco that tells the story of these musicians and if you ever get a chance you definitely should watch it.

The list the artists that benefitted from their talents is huge. There’s a good chance that many of the much loved classic 60’s songs you’re familiar with were helped by The Wrecking Crew. As a session musician Glen Campbell played on tracks for Bobby Darin, The Monkees, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, The Troggs, Jan & Dean, and The Mamas & the Papas, naming but a few.

At this point I feel I should tell you about the other four concerts.

I only got to three of them as the Big Band Divas, which promised music remembering great female vocalists as Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday didn’t happen. We were bringing P’s parents but it got cancelled as the musicians and singers were grounded by volcanic ash.

Of the other gigs I think the one the stood out was the traditional music concert at The Button Factory. It was my first time there since they renamed it and I loved it. It’s a super place for a concert and having a couple of pints listening to Slide, Fidil and the duo Brendan Begley and Caoimhín O Raghallaigh. All the musicians were brilliant, but for me Slide stole the show. I plan to get their third CD Overneath in the next few days.

The other two concerts were in the John Field Room of The National Concert Hall. They were part of a lunchtime series and they were artists I’d never seen or heard of before.

The first was Max Greenwood who sang and played the piano. He had a double bass player and a drummer there too and I thought the music they created was really good. I wasn’t a fan of the singing style but the audience was and they appeared to be really enjoying every song he sang.

And finally Derby Browne treated us to an hour of songs, mainly in French, inspired by the Boulevards and romantic cafes of Paris. I knew a few of the songs with included La Vie En Rose, Boom! Why Does My Heart Go Boom? and Where Do I Begin, the theme to Love Story.

It took a while before I got used to her style of delivery. She was helped by a piano and a wonderful accordion – I could have listened to that accordion all day and if I closed my eyes I could almost believe I was in a cafe in Paris.

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Four Concerts And A Cancellation

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Foot Tapping Fun at The Coach House, Dublin Castle

felix — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:19:55 +0000

We went to The Homecoming concert last night in The Coach House, Dublin Castle. Four wonderful musicians gave a sold out concert that I thought was exceptional.

The line-up was

Susan McKeown voice
Paddy O’Brien accordion
Cillian Vallely uilleann pipes, low whistle
Aidan Brennan guitar

A combination of traditional and folk songs, mixed with jigs, reels, polkas and marches kept my foot tapping from the first tune to final note.

Traditional Irish music wouldn’t be my first choice normally. But since it was organised by The Music Network, who I believe always offer great value for money, and it was in The Coach House, Dublin Castle, a lovely intimate venue (perhaps a little chilly last night) and the musicians themselves are highly regarded by those in the know – it seemed like a no brainer.

Here’s a chance to see Susan McKeown and Aidan Brennan in action at Irish Center in Philadelphia.

In the clip Susan is having a bit of fun introducing the next song, and I think she and her three fellow musicians appeared to have a lot of fun last night also. Susan and Paddy were probably the most talkative, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Now my knowledge of traditional music is not the best. There’s no way I’d put myself out there and claim I knew the difference between a jig and a reel. To me a polka seems like a waltz with a bit of extra bounce! At one point I thought I got the feel for the different rhythms involved but after a while I just gave up and sat back and enjoyed the music for what it was. My mother, who loves ceilis, set dancing and hangs on Kieran Hanrahan’s every word on RTE’s Céilí House would despair at my lack of true trad tradition.

I know that having a greater understanding of styles, techniques and forms can make listening to music more enjoyable. In fact based on comments made by Paddy O’Brien during the concert, I think many of the audience last night were traditional musicians or traditional vocal artists. Certainly many of the people there seemed to know each other, and the artists, very well. My lack of understanding might be the reason I’d tend to shy anyway from listening to traditional music at home, thinking that its proper place is in a dark pub with a turf fire. But last night I may have finally got a little insight into how much fun it can be if you just let yourself enjoy it.

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Foot Tapping Fun at The Coach House, Dublin Castle

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Elvis Presley Stopped Me In My Tracks

felix — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:03:34 +0000

I’m putting together a playlist for a friend of mine. It’s supposed to have an acoustic blues guitar theme.

I got distracted!

I started listening to songs I hadn’t heard for a while and then I played this…

It took a while before I finally “got” Elvis. When I did I focused on the Sunrise and Tiger Man albums. But I think this has to be my favourite Elvis song.

It’s one of those that causes me to stop what I’m doing and just listen. It gives me goose bumps.

You just have to sing along; come on, on three…one, two, three…I just can’t help believin’…

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Elvis Presley Stopped Me In My Tracks

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Don’t ignore me!

felix — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:06:24 +0000

This is my saxophone! It is a Yanagisawa Alto model 901 and I love it.

Up until last week I hadn’t played it for the best part of six months. I really enjoy picking it up, having a toot and playing the odd tune. So considering I enjoy it so much why have I neglected it for so long?

It was in its case!

There it was, in its case, on top of a book shelf and hidden from view. I just ignored it. I didn’t give it a chance to grab my attention. I let other interests win my time. I’ve quite a few interests/hobbies, and I enjoy them all. I certainly don’t want to neglect them, but I never intended to ignore my sax for so long.

Last week I met a friend who had recently bought a drum-kit. He said he placed it in full view so that any time he passed by it called out to him. Even if it was only for 10 minutes he gave it a bash and had a bit of fun.

That made me realise the mistake I was making. If there is something you want to give time to that you’ve been neglecting for too long, place it in full view so that it demands attention. My playing the saxophone is not an urgent activity. Bad things won’t start to happen if I don’t do it. But I get a lot of fun out of it and I want to get better. So placing it so that I see it several times a day I think is the key.

Up until now my saxophone was treated with respect. Perhaps too much respect. It was a major purchase so I didn’t want any harm to come to it. After every use I’d wipe it clean, carefully take it apart and put it safely back in its case. Definitely good practice to protect it. But it also increases the chances of it being ignored.

So from now on it lives on its stand in full view so I see it several times a day. I still take it apart, and clean it, but now it goes back on its stand.

It’s working. It’s got my attention. Time to play!

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Don’t ignore me!

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Giving Music A Chance

felix — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:07:49 +0000

A few days ago I was working at my laptop and I heard the first couple of bars of a particular song. I hadn’t heard it in a while and it instantly grabbed my attention and made me stop what I was doing. It was Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. I love that track. I just had to stop and listen. There are some songs that do that. I wouldn’t be able to list all that affect me that way, in truth the list is probably mood related and what catches my attention today may not have the same effect tomorrow. But I think Wish You Were Here could very well do it every time.

It got me wondering if I really gave music a chance to move me anymore. I like to work with music playing in the background (usually set to random), I go to concerts regularly, and I’ll turn on the radio often. So I usually get a blast of new and familiar songs all through the week. If it’s something new, and I really like it I’ll buy the CD, import it into iTunes, and “listen”, most likely from my computer while I’m working. What I rarely do is put it into my CD player and sit down with the sole purpose of listening.

I’m out of the habit of actually choosing an album and putting it on and playing it all the way from beginning to end. Then putting it on again, and again, if I really enjoyed it. When did I last do that? Right now I’m listening to random play music using iTunes! I just had a song by The Magic Numbers, followed by Thelonius Monk, and now it’s the turn of Harold Budd and Brian Eno. I like random play, it can re-acquaint you with music you’ve not heard for a while, but I don’t think it’s truly listening.

(Dionne Warwick has just started asking why do you have to be a Heartbreaker.)

The great beauty of random play is you get surprised by what comes next. But I really don’t think it is the same as putting on the artist you most want to hear, sitting back and letting it do its work. The right music can turn a foul mood into pure joy, it can induce calm, and it can bring feelings and memories you may have forgotten, flooding back. The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and almost anything by Nick Drake can send me into an almost meditative state. Yet it’s months, maybe years, since I blocked off an hour to do nothing but listen to an album.

(Leonard Cohen is claiming he was Never Any Good.)

So I plan to do it today. I haven’t picked the time, the artist or the album yet, but I’m going to do it. Now that I’ve written it down I feel I must succeed, I am honour bound. I have to say I’m really looking forward to it. The prospect of having a period of uninterrupted time, listening to the artist that I most want to hear, has started having a positive effect already. I can’t wait. But I have to. I have a couple of things that I feel I must do first so I’ll do it late this afternoon or tonight.

I’ll report back letting you know what I picked and how it worked out.

In the meantime here is the random selection of music that iTunes played for me as I wrote this post.

Let Somebody In - The Magic Numbers (Those The Brokes)
Misterioso - Thelonious Monk (‘Round Midnight and Other Jazz Classics)
Not Yet Remembered - Harold Budd & Brian Eno (Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirrors)
Heartbreaker- Dionne Warwick (The Essential Collection Disc 2)
The Cool, Cool River - Paul Simon (The Paul Simon Anthology Disc 2)
Great Northerns Stomp - Otis Spann (My Home In The Delta BC #32)
Party Girl - Elvis Costello & The Attractions (Armed Forces)
For All We Know - Dave Brubeck Quartet (The Great Concerts)
Cry! Cry! Cry! - Johnny Cash (Walking The Line: The Legendary Sun Recordings – CD1)
Porgi Amor - Kiri Te Kanawa (Mozart Arias)
Jambalaya - Clifton Chenier (Frenchin’ The Blues BC #42)
Honey Don’t - The Beatles (Beatles For Sale)
Never Any Good- Leonard Cohen (More Best Of)

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Giving Music A Chance

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