Focus
An Appeal to Musicians to Rise Up Against the Neo-Liberal Order
Five companies have taken over vertical and horizontal control of almost every aspect of the music industry, controlling virtually every known label, most of the major distribution companies and much of copyrighted music. The dominant forms of music are repetitive and prosaic. Radio stations, seeking secure, safe and continuous profits, filter out anything that might upset. It doesn’t have to be this way, says sociologist Kieran Allen.
In The Ranelagh Gardens
Poet Macdara Woods writes about his collaboration with composer Benjamin Dwyer on their new CD In the Ranelagh Gardens.
Jazz Musicians are from Mars, Traditional Musicians are from Venus
Throughout the world – from Brazil to Scandinavia – jazz and traditional musicians are collaborating with exhilarating results.Irish musicians, however, have been slow to grasp the nettle. Concert producer and broadcaster Gerry Godley surveys the common ground these genres share – and imagines the brilliant jewel waiting to be discovered...
Sa gCuinne Dána ag Lucht an tSean-nóis
Tarraingíodh raic agus rúcam ar Raidió na Gaeltachta le gairid i ngeall ar alt a scríobh mé san eagrán deireanach den JMI ag rá go raibh ‘nósanna nua de dhíth ar an sean-nós’....
Measuring the Inches
On U2, Kíla and publicity stunts.
Music and Poetry
On the meeting of music and words in In the Ranelagh Gardens, the collaborative project of poet Macdara Woods and composer Benjamin Dwyer.
Turtles All the Way Down: The Axial Role of Improvisation in Music
Is there a connection between improvisation in music-making and the exploratory babbling of an infant? Why is improvisation more often than not group-based rather than solo? Why are improvisational musical therapies so successful? Organist Andrew Cyprian Love explores improvisation as a ‘musical universal’.
Redefining 'Irish Music' in America: Making the Case for Irish Classical Music
Fed up with the international notion of ‘Irish Music’ as simply ‘Irish traditional music’, musicologist Axel Klein travelled from Bonn to the USA last October to try and change some American minds. He tells JMI readers how he fared.