Masters of the Irish Guitar
Shanachie 78064; 53 minutes; 2006
The guitar, once
rarely heard in Irish music, is now firmly established as a sophisticated solo vehicle
for traditional airs and dance tunes. This compilation showcases the virtuosity
and widely diverse styles of nine of today’s leading Irish guitarists. From
elegant finger-style settings of ancient harp tunes to hot flatpicking solos,
Masters of the Irish Guitar offers music to please every guitar lover. [From the CD’s tray liner]
If there’s one thing guaranteed to get this reviewer’s goat (a
geriatric Puck Fair rejection by the name of Jimmy) it’s claims such as the
above whose opening sentence provokes the simple response “says who?” Whatever
the Shanachie label and the co-ordinator of this album, Dónal Clancy, might
believe, the guitar’s role in Irish music remains exceptionally limited. True,
there might be a solo spot during a Danú concert for Clancy to showcase his
skills, but I’ve seen Altan and Lúnasa several times and never seen the
limelight suddenly descend upon Dáithí Sproule or Donogh Hennessy (who has, of
course, now left Lúnasa). Realistically, the only guitarists who regularly
enter the spotlight are Dennis Cahill, during his shows with Martin Hayes, and
Arty McGlynn, in similar fashion with Nollaig Casey. Then there’s the reference to ‘Irish guitarists’
which must sadly exclude one of the nine participants on this album, Randal
Bays.
More to the point, this album’s title is also deeply
questionable. What is an ‘Irish guitar’. We all know how the bouzouki became
adapted to the needs of Irish accompanists once the instrument arrived in the
country via Johnny Moynihan, but the guitar’s integral shape has not been
similarly revised by its protagonists. True, the DADGAD tuning has become the
norm, but even that was an import from the UK folk club scene (and it’s sad to
see that the very male ‘masters’ does not include one of the finest players of
the instrument using that setting – Sarah McQuaid, author of Ossian’s The
DADGAD Guitar Book). Indeed, and in contrast, Dennis Cahill continues to
utilise the old standard EADGBE tuning.
Additionally, ‘masters’ is a highly loaded description and one, at
least in Irish music terms, usually associated with important players from the
past.
As for the music itself, well that familiar Samuel Johnson comment
about dogs standing on their hind legs springs to mind. There’s no questioning
the ability of any of the musicians on this album (Bays, Cahill, Clancy, John
Doyle, Hennessy. McGlynn, Garry O’Briain, Séamie O’Dowd and Sproule), but
there’s plenty of reasons for questioning its existence.
Overall, listening to this CD feels like a dumbing-down experience and
makes one wish for a sudden incursion by a fiddler or piper or anyone who can
take control of a tune and drag it from the guitarist’s hands into a more
meaningful world.
Geoff Wallis
13h April, 2006
Check www.shanachie.com for more information about this album.