 |
 |
Sleeve Notes
Brendan Mulvihill was born in Northampton, England, on July 12, 1954. His father, Martin, had emigrated to the area from his native County Limerick in 1951. There he met and married Olive McEvoy, originally from County Offaly, and over the next several years Brendan, Brian, Gail and Dawn were born. Martin had learned to play fiddle as a youth and carried a great store of traditional music with him to England. While there he took lessons on the button and piano accordions and played regularly at Irish dance halls and clubs around Northampton.
Brendan remembers hearing a great deal of music around the house while growing up, but didn't take an active interest until the Mulvihills emigrated to America in 1965. On his first night in the States, he went to a session and heard his father playing along with four other fine musicians — John McAuliffe (Martin's brother-in-law) from Moyvane, County Kerry, Patrick Murphy from County Limerick, John Clancy from Roscommon, and Joe Lamont from Belfast. From that moment on, Brendan wanted to play. He took his first fiddle lessons from his father and from Pete Kelly, a friend. He continued to learn on his own and from Martin until he visited Ireland in 1969. There he was greatly inspired by the emerging generation of young fiddle players all over the country. "This is what gave me the lift," he says.
In 1971 Brendan returned to England and lived in the Midlands for four years. This period was perhaps the most significant in his musical development. He played extensively with the local Irish musicians — both formally with the Birmingham Ceili Band and informally at sessions and parties. It was at this time that he built the nucleus of his formidable — indeed, prodigious — repertoire of tunes.
It was also during this period that Brendan won his first major competition — the All-Ireland Junior fiddle championship in 1972. Later he would win the All-England Senior fiddle title in 1974, gain runner-up honours in the Senior All-Ireland in the same year, win the Senior All-Ireland Duet title along with Billy McComiskey in 1977, and win the Denis Murphy Perpetual Shield in the same year.
In January, 1975, Brendan returned to New York. Within a few weeks, he had teamed up with Billy McComiskey (accordion) from Brooklyn and Andy O'Brien (vocals, guitar) from County Kerry. The trio, now known as The Irish Tradition, hit off for a couple of gigs in Washington, D.C., and found the Nation's Capital so alluring musically and financially that they have been based there ever since. They have been directly responsible for solidly establishing Irish traditional music as an integral part of the city's cultural life; at the time of this writing, there are no fewer than five bars in and around the city that feature top quality Irish music on a regular basis.
Inspired by this trio, a host of talented neophyte musicians have turned their attention to Irish music, and a highly sophisticated and discerning audience for the music has developed hand-in-hand with this cultural renaissance.
Brendan's playing is particularly fascinating to enthusiasts of American old-timey fiddling, and he has become somewhat of a celebrity in these circles in the Washington area. Indeed, Brendan seems to acquire this status wherever he goes — not only because of his outstanding musical prowess, but because of the sheer force of his presence. He is a complex, multifaceted man, whose personality encompasses a myriad constantly shifting shades of ebullience and introversion, finely drawn against a keen and subtle sense of humor and an unrelenting good natured generosity of spirit, unmarred by pettiness or rancour. Rarely have I come across a traditional musician whose music is so organically linked to his personality. "Ninety per cent of me is musical," he says. "If I didn't have music, life would be barren."
This record is a good example of Brendan's complex involvement with his music. "I like lively, very spirited playing," he says. And there is more than a touch of flamboyance in his interpretation of reels such as THE MULLINGAR RACES, MISS THORNTON'S, THE PIGEON ON THE GATE and MISS MONAHAN'S. In the latter two, particularly, he explores every melodic nuance in the reels and, with consummate virtuosity, weaves an extraordinary improvisational web around the skeletal framework of the tunes.
Brendan's penchant for improvisation is nowhere more in evidence than in his treatment of THE FLOGGING REEL, a tune he describes as "a paradise reel for fiddlers because there are so many things that can be done with it." In this reel one of Brendan's favorite embellishments can be heard in great profusion — a "stutter roll" which he invented himself and is very proud of despite the mixed reception it receives among afficionados. "It consists of two rolls — one broken roll and one ordinary roll." This roll is technically very hard to execute, and whether it will ever become an accepted ornamentation device in Irish traditional fiddling remains to be seen. In the meantime, it stands out as one of the very distinctive hallmarks of Brendan's style.
Another side of Brendan altogether comes out in his interpretation of tunes such as THE HOME RULER and THE BRIGADE, THE CONCERTINA and CIRCUS HORNPIPES, and the jig, CRABS IN THE SKILLET. These are played with fitting delicacy and restraint, as is his sensitive interpretation of Denis Murphy's setting of LAMENT FOR O'DONNELL, a tour de force in slow air playing, and an aspect of Brendan's skills which he displays all too rarely.
Technically, Brendan seems to be able to do pretty well whatever he wishes, as is demonstrated in his duet playing with his father of the two reels, FERMOY LASSIES and BUNKER HILL. These are played in the old style, with the bounce and swing which characterized the music played for country set dances back in Ireland until very recently. Brendan likes playing with his father, even though their styles differ vastly. They play together in a manner that is "more relaxed and laid back. It's got lift in a different way," he says.
Any artist with a talent as mercurial as Brendan's is unlikely to remain in the same musical groove for too long. Who knows where Brendan's technical virtuosity and liking for innovation will carry him musically in years to come?
I feel absolutely sure, however, that his respect and open admiration for the older traditional styles and musicians will continue to exert a powerful influence on the core of his playing. This tension between the old and the new, which is at the heart of any healthy, vital cultural tradition, permeates this record, Brendan's first, and contributes immensely to the shaping of a well-rounded profile of a truly outstanding young musician.
Mick Moloney
Reels: The Flax in Bloom & The Honeymoon — I learned these reels from two very fine fiddle players — John Clancy from Roscommon and Paddy Murphy from Limerick. They played in New York some years ago. Pat Murphy is dead now, and John Clancy I haven't seen in years.
Jig: Crabs in the Skillet — I learned this jig from O'Neill's Music of Ireland. I composed the fourth part myself to give the tune more body.
Hornpipes: The Concertina & The Circus — The first hornpipe I learned from Mrs. Rochford of Kilkelly, County Mayo, who lives in Red Bank, New Jersey now. She taught me the tune while on a visit to Washington in 1976. She has lots of music in the old style. The second came from Paddy Murphy, a Limerickman.
Reels: The Mullingar Races & Miss Thornton's — The first I learned from my father. It's an old favorite of ours. I got MISS THORNTON'S from Gus Collins, a flute player from Glenamaddy, County Galway, who lived and played in New York for years until his recent death. Gus learned it from Joe Coleman, a fiddle player from Sligo who also lived in New York.
Air: Lament for O'Donnell — I don't usually learn tunes from records, but when I heard Denis Murphy's playing of this slow air it grabbed me. I just had to learn it. Denis was one of the all time great musicians in the Kerry style.
Reels: John Grady's Downfall & The Flogging Reel — I learned the first reel from John Cronin, a great Kerry fiddler now living in New York. John learned it from Johnny McGreevy, another great fiddler who lives in Chicago, who himself had learned it from Jimmy Neary. THE FLOGGING REEL I learned from my father, who learned it from his mother, a fine fiddle and concertina player.
Reels: The Pigeon on the Gate & Miss Monahan's — I've been playing THE PIGEON ON THE GATE for as long as I can remember. It's dedicated here to Hughie Gillespie, a good friend. I learned MISS MONA HAN'S from Joe Coleman.
Jig: Doctor O'Neill's — This tune can be found in O'Neill's Music of Ireland. I've known it for years. Mick and I played it in the studio, and it sounded so nice we decided to put it on the record.
Hornpipes: The Home Ruler & The Brigade — These very fine horn. pipes are compositions of Frank McCollum of Ballycastle, County Antrim, a great fiddler and composer who died a couple of years ago. Frank and my father wrote back and forth to each other for years and swapped many tunes. I first met him in County Offaly in 1970 in the house of the great fiddler Sean Ryan.
Reels: Fermoy Lassies & Bunker Hill — My father and I have played these tunes together for a long time. They can both be found in O'Neill's book.
Jigs: Hardiman's Fancy & Billy Rush's Own — The first tune I picked up from Nick Erwin and Larry Redican at a feis at Hunter College in the late 1960s. Nick's son Jimmy is one of New York's great Irish step dancing teachers. The late Larry Redican played fiddle and banjo and was a very accomplished musician. BILLY RUSH'S OWN I learned from the playing of Jerry O'Brien, a great player from Boston who used to play the C#D accordion. Billy Rush was a piano player who lived in Boston until his death a few years ago.
Reels: The First House in Connaught & The Dairy Maid — I learned the first tune from my father. It's a great favorite with pipers. THE DAIRY MAID I learned from a 78 record of Paddy Cronin, a Kerry fiddler now living in Boston.
Brendan Mulvihill
Mick Moloney, born in County Limerick, began playing tenor banjo at 16, and learned most of his music from players in nearby County Clare. A member of The Johnstons in the 1960s, he toured widely and recorded several LPs. He spent some time in Norway, lecturing and performing in high schools, universities and youth clubs. He worked with homeless families in London for a year as a housing social worker, while continuing to perform evenings and weekends at folk clubs around Britain. During this time he recorded a solo album for Transatlantic Records.
Mick came to the United States in 1973 to begin work toward a Ph. D. in Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania. About to complete his dissertation on Traditional Irish Music in America, Mick is recognized as one of the leading authorities on that subject. He headed the Irish portion of the Smithsonian Festival of American Folk-life in 1976 and has directed a series of ethnic festivals under the aegis of International House of Philadelphia. Mick is a gifted producer of concerts, festivals and records of Irish traditional music. He is one of Ireland's finest tenor banjo and mandolin players, as well as an excellent singer and guitarist. Mick, his wife Phil, and their son Fintan live in Philadelphia.