Irish music roundup

by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 17, 2000)

- The craze for all things Irish continues, and it has its reflection in the wealth of new recordings featuring Irish music and, by extension, Celtic music groups. Some treat the style as a fossilized museum relic, approaching the folk form much as classical musicians approach their notated scores, attempting to submerge their own identities and use their technique to achieve an idealized representation of the music.

Others build upon the tradition, both in terms of form and content, opening up the formats of reels, jigs and hornpipes, and investing them with improvisational approaches borrowed from jazz, and borrowing rhythms, textures, instrumentation and arrangements from non-Irish traditions.

Kila is at the forefront of the latter movement, pushing traditional Irish music to the breaking point with its admixture of Irish and world-beat music. As heard on its upcoming CD, the exciting "Lemonade and Buns" (Green Linnet), which will be released here next month, Kila fuels its Gaelic songs and chants with rhythms and textures heavily indebted to African drumming and South African township jive, making the self-described "tribal-trad" band a favorite at jazz- and world-music festivals across the globe.

Much as the Klezmatics do with traditional klezmer, Kila builds its progressive fusion of contemporary Irish music atop a firm foundation of traditional music. The septet -- which has at its command a small orchestra of instruments, including fiddle, accordion, bodhran, pipes, whistles, guitar, bass, hammer dulcimer, flute, saxophone, bouzouki, mandolin, djembe and didgeridoo -- brings a freewheeling, jam-band sensibility to the music, which is as likely to feature a gypsy violin line, a klezmer-infused clarinet melody, or a reggae bass line, as anything more recognizably Irish. The group performs at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown next Saturday, March 25, at 8 (458-2303, ext. 324). Kila is also at the Iron Horse in Northampton (413-586-8686) on March 23 and the Van Dyck in Schenectady, N.Y., on March 24 (see below).

Old Blind Dogs, who have been around in one form or another since 1990, could well be Scotland's answer to Kila. As heard on its new album, aptly titled "The World's Room" (Green Linnet), the group brings a jazzy, cosmopolitan approach to traditional Scottish folk music.

As heard on its brand-new, innovative album "Spin" (1-800-PrimeCD), New York-based Whirligig is an all-star assemblage of talent. Among its better-known members are singer-songwriter Lisa Mosciatiello, reedman Matt Darriau (Klezmatics, Paradox Trio, Ballin' the Jack), Cillian Vallely (Lunasa) and Lisa Gutkin (Jane Siberry, John Cale, Christine Lavin).

The members of Whirligig (www.whirligig.org) apply their vast range of experience to a selection of traditional melodies and a few ringers, including a haunting rendition of Susan McKeown's "Through the Bitter Frost and Snow" and the B-52's "Revolution Earth." The album also features guest appearances by McKeown, Terre Roche of the Roches, Eilis Egan and Jerry O'Sullivan on uilleann pipes.

On "Favorite Sharks, the medley of traditional tunes that opens the album, Cillian Vallely's pipes are first heard droning and keening in a haunting style that suggests the pipes were the inspiration for the keyboard synthesizer. The medley then kicks into a rocking reel, pulsating with the vibrant energy and dynamics of Emerson, Lake and Palmer while staying firmly rooted in Irish tradition. Paul Kovit's composition, "Mood Vertigo," is a dazzling fusion of contemporary jazz, Balkan rhythms and Irish melody, featuring a poignant clarinet solo by Darriau, and saxophonist Yves Duboin shows the influence of his mentor, Steve Lacy, on his bluesy jazz version of medieval Church music, "Gregorian Chant." Whirligig is state-of-the-art Irish fusion music.

Perhaps not since the Pogues has a rock band blended traditional Celtic music and pop with as much authenticity and integrity as does Newfoundland's Great Big Sea. The group's new album, "Turn" (Sire), boasts big-production, original pop-rock tunes like "Consequence Free," a stab at the musicians' Catholic upbringing, next to half a dozen traditional tunes, like "Jack Hinks" and "I'm a Rover." On hand to lend the rockers their stamp of approval is the legendary Irish folk group the Chieftains. Los Lobos member Steve Berlin co-produced the album, which makes a lot of sense, as Great Big Sea is very much the Celtic answer to Mexican-rock fusioneers Los Lobos.

On "Seven" (Green Linnet), Scottish band Wolfstone fully plugs in, and plays a Celtic-tinged rock and smooth pop music. Here, the Celtic aspects are used more as tonal colors and gestures on top of the pop, rather than as a base from which to experiment. Something seems lost in the alchemical reaction, however; the baby, in this case, is thrown out with the bathwater.

On its eponymous debut album, also on Green Linnet, the Belgian-based Shantalla shows that the essence of the traditional music needn't be sacrificed to the dynamism of rock. The all-acoustic quintet tweaks a traditional instrumental lineup only slightly, setting up a shimmering drone of guitar chords and a throbbing bottom of bodhran, atop which the pulsating melodies are free to alight with organic dynamism.

Chicago-based Irish-American fiddler Liz Carroll doesn't let her own virtuosity, or that of producer Seamus Egan and his cohorts from Solas, who act here as a backup band, get in the way of a rousing good time on "Lost in the Loop" (Green Linnet). Carroll, an All-Ireland fiddle champion and member of the group Trian, composes most of her own material in a traditional style, but it speaks to a listener with her unique voice and sensibility.

For those who prefer their Irish music quaint and old-fashioned and bathed in the musical equivalent of shamrocks and shillelaghs, "Upon a Shamrock Shore: Songs of Ireland and the Irish" (Universal), a re-release of old favorites from the 1970s by the Irish Rovers, is the ticket.

Fans of traditional music played with shimmering simplicity and virtuosity will appreciate "Live in Seattle" (Green Linnet) which captures fiddler Martin Hayes and guitarist Dennis Cahill in an intimate duet concert setting. The concert includes a startling, 27-minute medley that takes the music to a whole other level, giving the lie to the term "folk music," and leaving a listener breathless. Remember to breathe!

New York's Black 47 (www.black47.com), led by Irish expatriate Larry Kirwan, plays a politically-charged, outspoken brand of Irish-fusion rock and reggae. On "Trouble in the Land" (Shanachie), Kirwan alternates treatises like the title track and "Bobby Kennedy" with class-conscious portraits of life in New York ("Delirious," "Susan Falls Apart") and humorous songs of sexual yearning and desperation ("Bodhrans on the Brain," "I Got Laid on James Joyce's Grave," "Desperate").

Over the last few years, Valley Entertainment has been re-releasing music from the BBC documentary about Irish music, "Bringing It All Back Home." Volume 3 has just come out, and it features a diverse array of influences, ranging from Davy Spillane's country-blues-inflected slow air, "Equinox," to ex-Pogue Philip Chevron's folk-rock emigration anthem, "Thousands Are Sailing." By its very nature, some of the juxtapositions on this compilation can be jarring, but it makes a good starting place for someone looking to sample the richness of progressive Irish music.

Other new samplers include "Kindred Spirit," whose selections by Loreena McKennitt, Capercaillie, Deanta and Altan emphasize the more new-agey trend in contemporary Irish music. "Gaelic Voices," a collection of 14 Irish and Scottish songs highlighting the great variety of vocal approaches in traditional and contemporary Gaelic music, includes numbers by Capercaillie, Altan, Kila, the Bothy Band, Cherish the Ladies and Niamh Parsons. Both are on Green Linnet.

In other live Irish music events, the Van Dyck in Schenectady, N.Y. is presenting a series of shows saluting the St. Patrick's holiday, beginning tonight at 7 and 9:30 with uilleann piper Paddy Keenan and vocalist/guitarist Tommy O'Sullivan. Kila will be at the Van Dyck next Friday, March 24, followed by the legendary Clancy Brothers on March 25. The Van Dyck is offering a special ticket package for all three shows; call (518) 381-1111 for more information.

[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on March 17, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Jan. 28, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]