November/December 2007

Chasin' the Trane

Chasin' the Trane

On the fortieth anniversary of John Coltrane’s death, and in the context of recent commemorative events in Dublin, Kevin Stevens looks at the life and work of one of the greatest of jazz innovators

Published on 1 November 2007

Kevin Stevens is is a Dublin-based novelist and writer on history, literature, and jazz.

Letters: Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Experimental Traditional Music

Letters: Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Experimental Traditional Music

Published on 1 November 2007

Fintan Vallely lectures in traditional music at Dundalk Institute of Technology. He is author of several biographical and ethnographic books on the music, and is editor of the A-Z reference work Companion to Irish Traditional Music.

Singing the Ancestors

Singing the Ancestors

Challenging the standard idea that traditional singing ‘can’t be taught’, Fintan Vallely argues that there is now an urgent necessity to do so.

Published on 1 November 2007

Fintan Vallely lectures in traditional music at Dundalk Institute of Technology. He is author of several biographical and ethnographic books on the music, and is editor of the A-Z reference work Companion to Irish Traditional Music.

Seamus Ennis, Peadar Mercier, Dan O’Dowd & Proinnsias Ní Dhorchaí

Seamus Ennis, Peadar Mercier, Dan O’Dowd & Proinnsias Ní Dhorchaí

Seamus Ennis, Peadar Mercier, Dan O’Dowd & Proinnsias Ní Dhorchaí

Seamus Ennis, uilleann pipes (second from right), with Peadar Mercier, bodhrán; Dan O’Dowd, uilleann pipes; and (?) Proinnsias Ní Dhorchaí, flute; by river Liffey, c. late 1970s, photographer unknown.

Published on 1 November 2007

Notes

Notes

Notes

Harpists gather outside Dáil Eireann to protest the routing of the M3 though Tara (Photo: Lucy Clarke). JMI Seeks Marketing ExecutiveJMI welcomes letters of application for the new post of Marketing & Promotions Executive.

Published on 1 November 2007

Live Reviews: Piperlink

Live Reviews: Piperlink

Jimmy O’Brien-Moran, Emmet Gill, Seán Donnelly & Muireann Nic AmhlaoibhÁras na nGael, Galway29 September 2007Most followers of traditional music, and often the musicians themselves, are unaware of the history of the uilleann or ‘union’.

Published on 1 November 2007

Fred Johnston is a novelist, critic and musician. His novel set in Paris, The Neon Rose, has just been published.

Live Reviews: Masters of Tradition

Live Reviews: Masters of Tradition

John Flanagan, Kevin Crawford, Steve Cooney, Martin Hayes, Brian McNamara, Seán Smyth, Oisín MacDiarmada, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Dennis Cahill Bantry House, Bantry, Co Cork15-19 August 2007Now in its fifth year, the Masters...

Published on 1 November 2007

Pat Ahern is a musician and producer. He lectures in mathematics at Cork Institute of Technology.

Live Reviews: Concorde

Live Reviews: Concorde

Norman Villa Gallery, Salthill, Galway16 September 2007There comes a point where one must ask whether contemporary music is meant to be played or performed.

Published on 1 November 2007

Fred Johnston is a novelist, critic and musician. His novel set in Paris, The Neon Rose, has just been published.

CD Reviews: Eliot Grasso – Up Against the Flatirons

CD Reviews: Eliot Grasso – Up Against the Flatirons

Up Against the FlatironsNa Píobairí Uilleann NPUCD014It’s a measure of the strength and depth of Irish traditional music in America that the first in a new series of CDs issued by Na Píobairí Uilleann, entitled The Ace and...

Published on 1 November 2007

Adrian Scahill is a lecturer in traditional music at Maynooth University.

CD Reviews: ConTempo Quartet, Máirtín O’Connor, Garry O’Briain, Cathal Hayden – Spiccato Junction

CD Reviews: ConTempo Quartet, Máirtín O’Connor, Garry O’Briain, Cathal Hayden – Spiccato Junction

Spiccato JunctionGalway Ensemble in Residence GER-CD-002Máirtín O’Connor and Cathal Hayden have been two of the most dynamic performers of Irish traditional music over the past few years, and on this sparkling CD they collaborate with the..

Published on 1 November 2007

Adrian Scahill is a lecturer in traditional music at Maynooth University.

Editorial: Small Country, Think Big

Editorial: Small Country, Think Big

The third annual festival of the Institute of Ideas in London – The Battle of Ideas – took place in October.

Published on 1 November 2007

Toner Quinn is Editor of the Journal of Music. His new book, What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music, is available here. Toner will be giving a lecture exploring some of the ideas in the book on Saturday 11 May 2024 at 3pm at Farmleigh House in Dublin. For booking, visit https://bit.ly/3x2yCL8.

Live Reviews: Ryoji Ikeda

Live Reviews: Ryoji Ikeda

IMMA Great Hall5 October 2007Ours is an information age. A tsunami of data surrounds us, overwhelms us, governs us. Ikeda takes streams from this flood and interprets them musically and visually.

Published on 1 November 2007

Seán Ó Máille is a freelance critic, photographer and full-time secondary teacher in Dublin.