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Theme Of The Month, Jan. 2015: Hornpipes And Other Swingy Things


Jim Besser

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Here are some more swingy things. I recorded and uploaded them a couple weeks back, but neglected to post a link here and subsequently forgot about them.

"The Dapper's Delight" and "The Maid of the Mist" are hornpipes composed by the late Paddy O'Brien of Co. Tipperary (as opposed to Paddy O'Brien of Co. Offaly, also a fantastic tunesmith, and happily still with us). There's a brief introduction to his life and work at http://irishtunecomposers.weebly.com/paddy-obrien.html. I hadn't been aware of his close connection with Seamus Connolly, who ran the epic Monday night sessions at the Village Coach House in Brookline, Mass. where I first immersed myself in Irish tunes in the late '70s and early '80s.

I've never heard a Paddy O'Brien tune I didn't like. And one can never have too many hornpipes.

Bob Michel

Near Philly

Beautiful playing Bob! You make it look so easy.

Love the tunes too.

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Here's a little hornpipe called Harp and Shamrock played on my 30 button Stagi anglo

 

 

 

Never heard that one before, and I like it! Very nicely played, too.

 

Thanks Jim. I should add this quote from Session.org: .".....It’s starting to become quite a hit around Ireland and rightly so. Pat Crowley composed the tune and recorded it with Johnny McCarthy. He named it after his parents’ pub in Kinsale, Co. Cork."

The mustard board also has dots and ABC's.

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I don't normally post in this section but the topic of Hornpipes caught my eye. Here's The Drunken Sailor, an old Hornpipe I learned from Noel Hill's CD "The Irish Concertina." It is admittedly played faster than the typical Hornpipe pace. I don't know that it qualifies as "swingy" but this is how I usually play it. An A/E concertina made by Frank Edgley was used for this kitchen recording and my apologies for any noise in the background.

 

http://soundcloud.com/bwm-1/drunken-sailor-hornpipe/s-PUNcP

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I don't normally post in this section but the topic of Hornpipes caught my eye. Here's The Drunken Sailor, an old Hornpipe I learned from Noel Hill's CD "The Irish Concertina." It is admittedly played faster than the typical Hornpipe pace. I don't know that it qualifies as "swingy" but this is how I usually play it. An A/E concertina made by Frank Edgley was used for this kitchen recording and my apologies for any noise in the background.

 

http://soundcloud.com/bwm-1/drunken-sailor-hornpipe/s-PUNcP

 

 

Very 'sober' playing if you ask me, Bruce. Lovely. :)

 

Chris

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It is admittedly played faster than the typical Hornpipe pace. I don't know that it qualifies as "swingy" but this is how I usually play it.http://soundcloud.com/bwm-1/drunken-sailor-hornpipe/s-PUNcP

In my experience, both listening and playing, hornpipe performances can vary widely in both pace and swing. Dancers' preferences vary too, for that matter. What hornpipes can't dispense with is *pulse*, and your version has plenty of that. I can hear Noel Hill's setting in there, but you've put your own spin on it. Great stuff.

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

Edited by Bob Michel
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One more hornpipe before the month's over - another John Kirkpatrick tune, The Tun Dish. I can't get enough of his tunes - every time I listen to one of his CDs, I find more I want to learn. But I learned this one this past weekend, when it was played for a longsword dance by a local group. If anybody's interested, the dots are in JK's fine tunebook Jump at the Sun.

 

Played on a 30 button Jeffries G/D Anglo.

Edited by Jim Besser
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Enjoyed that Jim. The sort of tune that invites endless improvised variations around the basic theme I would suggest.

 

Yes it does, and I will.

 

I'm think JK plays it on a C/G, in D (on his CD Sheepskins). I tried that, but he must have more than 30 buttons because I couldn't replicate his bass lines!

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