CD REVIEWS FOR MAY 2008
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
CAPERCAILLIE Roses and Tears
Capercaillie are without a doubt one of the most popular of Scottish traditional groups and they have just released their newest CD, entitled Roses and Tears. Co-founder, Karen Matheson's singing has been widely acclaimed, both for traditional songs and some of their more pop-influenced work. Matheson's voice has been described by Sean Connery as having "a throat that is surely touched by God," high praise indeed and well-deserved.
The band has been around since the early Eighties and throughout their career their great strength has been the dexterity of the various fiddle, whistle, flute and pipe musicians who have performed with them over the years.
The group continues to be led by the accordion and keyboards of band founder Donald Shaw. Universally recognized as one of the finest Gaelic singers alive today, Karen's exquisite voice has been at the centre of the band's music.
Many comparisons have been made between Capercaillie and Clannad both for their overall style and their venture from traditional to more modern sounds.
There are 12 tracks on Roses and Tears. Many of the tracks are sung in Gaelic by Matheson and what is beautiful about her singing is that you don't have to understand the words to appreciate her peerless voice. Also on the CD are some slow traditional music tracks, a waltz and some reels ... it's a great mix of traditional music at its best.
Two very timely songs about the horror of war are Soldier Boy and Don't You Go, which is a mother's lament to her son as she pleads with him not to go to war, and tells him that all the men and boys are gone from my country. Seems that it doesn't matter in what year a song was penned about war... sadly, it's all relevant again today.
PAT CHESSELL Live and Lusty
Live and Lusty was recorded live in front of a packed house at the popular Dublin Crossing Irish Pub in Surrey. Pat Chessell is a local Vancouver boy who started his singing career at the age of seven, when he did a guest spot in an Irish pub with the late Danny Burns Ballad Band.
That was where I first heard Chessell singing and playing guitar. Over the years I have watched his growth as a musician as he has played at various events and pubs throughout the Lower Mainland.
Now in his mid-twenties, Pat Chessell is a force to be reckoned with and as the liner notes on his CD recommends...check-out his live show so you can say you knew him when....or put on Live and Lusty and I can guarantee that your feet will be tapping.
The cover of Live and Lusty shows Chessell leaning up against the door of a Shebeen, which is the Irish word for an illegal whiskey house. It's also a house where a lot of singing and dancing would take place and, of course, plenty of the auld uisge baugh would be consummed (uisge baugh is the Irish word for whiskey...literal translation is water of life).
Live and Lusty is well-named since the fast-paced tracks on the CD are the kind of music you would probably find in a Shebeen. You'd be hard pressed to be depressed listening to this CD since the energy and action is fast-paced and furious from start to finish.
Heavily influenced by such acts as The Clancy Brothers, The Pogues and Johnny Cash, Pat Chessell has gained a strong, loyal fanbase due to his exceptional acoustic guitar playing, warm passionate vocals and stage humour. His voice has been compared as a mix between Johnny Cash and Liam Clancy, and that combination holds true on this eclectic CD.
The CD starts off with Johnson's Motor Car, an old Clancy Brother's favourite, moves on to Paddy Kelly's Brew; Irish Soldier Laddie; Black Velvet Band; On The One Road; Charlie on the M.T.A; Big Joe Mufferaw (an Ottawa Valley favourite); and Stompin Tom's Hockey Song. The only slow down in the pace is when Pat Chessell invites the audience/listeners to partake in an Irish toast.
For more information about Pat Chessell and to order Live and Lusty visit:
www.patchessell.com.
TONY DeMARCO: New York Irish Fiddler The Sligo Indians
Tony DeMarco: Irish fiddler. If that sounds a bit off, you have only to listen to the music on this recording to be cured of any preconceptions about the importance of ethnic purity in traditional music.
There may have been a time when Irish music in New York City was played exclusively by Irish immigrants and their offspring, while their Italian neighbours strummed mandolins and sang opera.
Before the Second World War, it really wasn't very common for Italian and Irish Americans to marry each other. By the 1950s, however, this kind of ethnic mixing was fairly normal in Tony's native Brooklyn where the Italians and Irish lived side-by-side and attended the same parish churches.
The Sligo Indians is a long-awaited solo debut for one of America's finest folk fiddlers. A Brooklyn native of mixed Irish and Italian descent, New Yorker Tony DeMarco is a master of intricate ornamentation, swinging rhythm and adventurous melodic improvisation that mark the famed County Sligo fiddle-style. Mentored by the late Sligo master fiddler Paddy Reynolds, Tony has for decades been a pillar of the Irish session scene in New York City.
There are 15 tracks on The Sligo Indians CD, ranging from reels, hornpipes, jigs, slow airs to polkas and one song: The Best Years Of My Life sung by Seamie O'Dowd and accompanied on fiddle by Tony DeMarco. The song is about growing up in Sligo.
If you love fiddle music, then this CD is an absolute must for your collection. The CD is accompanied by a booklet that not only gives a lot of background on Tony DeMarco but also on the Sligo-style of fiddling and on each fiddle piece.
There are some other well-known guest fiddlers on DeMarco's CD, one such is the well-known Kevin Burke who said a question that he once heard asked about fiddle players was: "Is there anything better than a fiddle player?" And the reply was "two fiddle players."
The Sligo Indians is a Smithsonian Folkways recording and is available in record stores. To purchase online, or for more information go to: www.folkways.si.edu.
|
