Mick O’Brien
& Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh - Kitty Lie Over
ACM Records ACM CD 102; 54 minutes; 2003
Michael Hynes
And Denis Liddy - Waifs and Strays
Tíg na Coille TNC001; 46 minutes; 2003
Barefield Céilí Band - Between The
Sets
Tíg na Coille TNC002; 36 minutes; 2003
Méabh O’Hare & Conor Byrne - Bavan
Own label MOHCBCD001; 41 minutes; 2003
Donall Donnelly
& Brian Hanlon - Driven
Own label BHDD 4181; 49 minutes; 2003
Mick Mulvey - Within A Mile
O’ Jamestown
Coolathuma 001; 65 minutes; 2003
Tommy O’Sullivan
- Legacy
Own label – no catalogue number; 40 minutes; 1993/2003
2003 might be remembered as Irish traditional music’s year
of the duo. True, there have been some great pairings in the past – Sligo’s
Peter Horan and Fred Flynn and Clare’s Noel Hill and Tony Linnane spring
immediately to mind – and more recent times have seen the princely duos of both
Begley and Cooney and Hayes and Cahill.
One such combination destined to be regarded with similar affection consists of two Dubliners, the uilleann piper Mick O’Brien and the young fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. Mick has been active musically for the last couple of decades or so and might be known to some through his own solo album, May Morning Dew, and an earlier recording with the fiddler Paddy Glackin, The Flags of Dublin. However, apart from appearing on the Cló Iar-Chonnachta compilation Cumar, Caoimhín’s only previous recording was his very limited-edition unaccompanied Turas go Tír na nÓg, an album paying homage to the great fiddlers of Sliabh Luachra, such as Pádraig O’Keeffe. There’s something utterly unique and exhilarating about the sound of fiddle and pipes together and, on Kitty Lie Over, Mick and Caoimhín combine to produce emphatic, uplifting, sometimes breathtaking music. In so doing, they doff their caps to many a fine musician from the past, drawing inspiration from sources as varied as Séamus Ennis, the Clare fiddler Patrick Kelly, Willie Clancy and the Donegal fiddler Neillidh Boyle (a flabbergasting version of Biddy from Sligo). A sumptuous album in all respects, Kitty Lie Over has already come to be regarded as a masterpiece!
Fortunate enough to catch Denis Liddy and Michael Hynes
playing recently in Ennis, this reviewer was enthralled by the 
gently
rolling music emanating from their respective fiddle and flute. Waifs and
Strays is a more than estimable release, providing a captivating series of
tunes reflecting both musicians’ involvement in the music of their native
County Clare. Backed only by Rob Sharer’s almost inconspicuous guitar, the pair
mount numerous peaks and rarely hit a trough. Their version of a set of the
reels Tinker’s Daughter, Anderson’s and John Carty’s is
benchmark standard and, fittingly for two musicians who enjoy accompaniment,
the album concludes with part of the Caledonian Set, complete with the
sound of the set-dancers feet.
The full Caledonian
appears on the third album by the Barefield Céilí Band, Between the Sets,
a band which originated when Dennis Liddy began teaching his pupils the whistle
for a Christmas concert at Barefield National School in the 
late 1990s and which has progressed so dramatically
that it won the Senior All-Ireland title in 2002. All still in their mid-teens,
their obvious enthusiasm has been thoroughly channelled into the overall feel
of Between the Sets and the tunes possess an infectious ebb and flow.
It’s back to the duos,
however, and another fiddle-flute combo in the form of Meabh O’Hare (once of
Providence) and Christy Moore’s nephew, Conor Byrne. Bavan takes its
name from the place where it was recorded, near Omeath on the Carlingford Peninsula
in County Louth, and employs a bevy of accompanists (including Calico’s Donncha
Moynihan on guitar and North Cregg’s pianist, Caoimhín Vallely). Overall, it’s
an intoxicating brew and there’s a clear symbiosis operating here between Meabh
and Conor, but there’s also something slightly mannered about some of the
arrangements, though Conor’s own tune, Farewell to Drogheda is up with
the best.
Fiddler Donnall Donnelly hails from near Pomeroy in
County Tyrone, an area long associated with fine fiddlers, such as the late
John Loughran and the very much alive Cathal Hayden. The handsomely-packaged Driven
features tasteful guitar and bodhrán accompaniment from Brian Hanlon, but it’s
Donnall who steals the show. Inspired both by Hayden and the Donegal fiddler
Stephen Campbell (especially on the set of tunes Hoody Bugs), Donnelly’s
fiddle packs both drive (as the album title suggests) and a gloriously plangent
tone, matched by deft bowing and dextrous fingering. Driven certainly
suggests that here’s a young fiddler who’ll become prominent in the limelight.
In contrast, flute-player
Mick Mulvey offers more relaxing fare. A London session stalwart, Mick draws on
his familial roots to provide an engrossing collection of tunes on his debut
release, focussing on his 
father’s home county of Leitrim, but also deriving
much from his metropolitan musical companions. Much of the playing here seems
almost effortless, especially a lively rendition of the title track itself and
a duet with The London Lasses’ Karen Ryan on The Coachman’s Whip.
However, just occasionally he seems to lose the rhythm of the tune and
potential purchasers should be aware that the album concludes with one of the
most diabolical hidden tracks ever released, a live pub recording where flute
and a somewhat out-of-tune guitar struggle to survive against the conversation
of the intoxicated customers.
Lastly, erstwhile London sessioneer Tommy O’Sullivan
has finally bowed to audience demand and reissued his 1993 solo cassette, Legacy,
in digitally-remastered CD format. Well-regarded for his work with Sliabh Notes
and uilleann piper Paddy Keenan, Tommy’s guitar whirls through a splendid
selection of jigs and reels, picking its way adroitly through numerous twists
and turns to the accompaniment of Martin O’Hare’s bodhrán on several tracks.
There’s several fine songs too, including Tommy’s trademark The Maids of
Culmore, but best of all is the closing set of polkas, The Lispole and Jessica’s where’s he’s joined by
fellow guitarist Steve Cooney and fiddler Matt Cranitch for a rousing finale.
These reviews were originally written by Geoff Wallis for fRoots magazine – www.frootsmag.com.
For more information about Mick O’Brien and Caoimín Ó Raghallaigh contact acmrecords@eircom.net.
The websites for Michael Hynes & Denis Liddy and Barefield Céilí Band are respectively www.liddy-hynes.com and www.barefieldceiliband.com.
More information about Meabh O’Hare and Conor Byrne can be found at www.ceolbavan.com.
Mick Mulvey’s website is www.mickmulvey.co.uk.
Legacy is available directly from www.tommyosullivan.net.