Focus
Live Reviews: Mike Nielsen and Louis Winsberg
Alliance Française, Dublin, 3 February 2006 As part of a drive to promote leading figures in Irish jazz, 2006 sees the Improvised Music Company running a series of concerts that feature an Irish musician performing in a complimentary international setting....
Live Reviews: Horizons – Kevin Volans
NCH, Dublin, 31 January 2006 / Andrew Hamilton – Map; Volans – Cello Concerto; Stravinsky – Four Études for Orchestra; Volans – Strip-weave / RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra / Gavriel Lipkind, cello; Robert Houlihan, conductor
Traditional Singer and Songmaker Eddie Butcher (1900–80)
TRADITIONAL SINGER AND SONGMAKER EDDIE BUTCHER (1900-80) FROM MAGILLIGAN, NORTH CO. DERRY, SINGING AT FÉILE NA BÓINNE, DROGHEDA, 1977
Beyond the Obvious
There is a new and very large advertisement for alcohol on the main street in my town, and the image is of a stylish and very contemporary-looking Irishman, dreadlocked and in his twenties, moodily playing a harp which has been painted Irish green and gold....
Minimalism Schminimalism
In February 2006, Steve Reich came to Ireland for the fourth RTÉ Living Music Festival of which he was the featured composer. In this article, published at the time, Bob Gilmore discusses Reich's work and the ideas around it. 
A Job with No Clock: Séamus Ennis and the Irish Folklore Commission
At just twenty-three years of age, Séamus Ennis went on his first collecting field-trip to Conamara on behalf of the Irish Folklore Commission. Here, Ríonach uí Ógáin, currently working on an edition of Ennis’ diaries during his time with the Commission (1942-1946), provides a fascinating glimpse into his collecting work – his exceptional talent as linguist, collector and transcriber, his deep love of music and song, and his warm rapport with many of the great tradition bearers.
Cead Cainte
Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin’s new CD Áilleacht and the enabling power of tradition.
The Irish Harp: Centre Stage
Our national instrument for a thousand years, the Irish harp has undergone an extraordinary renaissance over the last four decades, reaching new heights with Ireland’s hosting of the World Harp Congress in 2005. Harpist Aibhlín McCrann charts the accomplishments so far, and also sets down a vision for the future. 
E-debate: Music and Society – Raymond Deane and Ronan Guilfoyle
If pulse-based music is the norm in our society, are most contemporary composers hopelessly out of touch? Does choosing to create pulse-based music mean one is succumbing to American cultural imperialism? Following on from Ronan Guilfoyle’s article in the Nov-Dec JMI on the relationship of jazz and contemporary music to society today, composer Raymond Deane and jazz bassist Guilfoyle tease out the issue more in this email debate.
E-debate: Music and Society – Raymond Deane and Ronan Guilfoyle
If pulse-based music is the norm in our society, are most contemporary composers hopelessly out of touch? Does choosing to create pulse-based music mean one is succumbing to American cultural imperialism? Following on from Ronan Guilfoyle’s article in the Nov-Dec JMI on the relationship of jazz and contemporary music to society today, composer Raymond Deane and jazz bassist Guilfoyle tease out the issue more in this email debate.