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Sleeve Notes
In assimilating and proposing Irish music to the public, our group has chosen a line of action that stems from the current discussion on "folk music".
If on the one hand it is the actual tendency to "remake" a traditional piece "as it was", on the other hand the folk melodies are adapted to the type of music in vogue to make them into consumistic successes. Both tendencies seem to us musically sterile.
The context in which traditional folk music was born no longer exists and the style in which it was performed at the time cannot be repeated. When this is attempted the result is often an arbitrary concept of "folk" which leads to a conciliatory and thus distorted view of its nature. Why then should we propose "folk music"?
In this historical moment, when the "liscio" (1) is being relaunched as a "consumer good" and the word "folk" is being bandied about in such a way that a great deal of confusion has been created around its meaning, there is the need of study and historical research that will establish a continuity between the problems of the "folk" of yesterday and the social problems of today. In this way it becomes possible to create a synthesis between the values of "folk"
culture and the values that are arising from the contemporary world, giving life to new expressive means which are not dependant upon consumistic cliches.
We find in Irish music a perfect field for creativity and for understanding musical and rythmic values. It is largely through Irish music and the forced emigration to America of its people that the white component of Jazz came to develop; its rhythms and melodies are accessible today to the greater mass of people.
We hope there will be a re-evaluation of the dance as a free and creative form, and as an important part of social intercourse, rather than the stereotyped schemes of ballroom and night-club dancing now in vogue and so void of anything but passive participation.
The intention of our group is, therefore, to break away from music that is only to be "listened to" or seen as a recapturing of the past. Our attempt is to express the vital needs of our time in their completeness and actuality. Whisky Trail