[Stephen Chambers]

I'm sorry to hear it, the old players are getting very thin on the ground these days - they're all gone in your photo now.

Last time I saw Sonny, he was playing at Bunratty Folk Park, and I think Dympna O'Sullivan was with him...

[Stephen Chambers]

Peter Laban, on 15 November 2009 - 07:33 PM, said:

I was supposed to come along at some point to take pictures but that never happened.

Life is full of regrets...

[bill_mchale]

Each generation leaves its mark. The playing of this generation will be echoed in the playing of the next just as our playing echoes the playing of the last. Thus when the old greats pass on, we can hope that part of them will remain with us... At least, I hope so.

--
Bill

[michael sam wild]

They gave us roots and wings. RIP

[JimLucas]

bill_mchale, on 16 November 2009 - 05:53 AM, said:

Each generation leaves its mark. The playing of this generation will be echoed in the playing of the next just as our playing echoes the playing of the last. Thus when the old greats pass on, we can hope that part of them will remain with us...

Soon enough, our own time will come to pass on...

so now it's our turn to pass it on.

[Lawrence Reeves]

Has there ever been a biography of any type associated with these great players? I personally enjoy learning about the player's life and influences. Who they may have listened to and learned from when they started out, what the in vogue tunes for dances would have been, or reflections on their perception of the current state of traditional music. I would imagine that Clare, or the archives in Dublin have folklorist / ethnomusicologists that capture interviews with these players( we have it here in Florida), and that it is a public record open for the reading/ listening of somewhere.

[Dan Worrall]

Lawrence Reeves, on 18 November 2009 - 08:39 AM, said:

Has there ever been a biography of any type associated with these great players? I personally enjoy learning about the player's life and influences. Who they may have listened to and learned from when they started out, what the in vogue tunes for dances would have been, or reflections on their perception of the current state of traditional music. I would imagine that Clare, or the archives in Dublin have folklorist / ethnomusicologists that capture interviews with these players( we have it here in Florida), and that it is a public record open for the reading/ listening of somewhere.

Lawrence,
The very best that there is out there at present is Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin's 1990 PhD thesis at Queens U Belfast. It is an amazing 2 volume work with interviews of perhaps a score of old players; if I am not mistaken, Sonny Murray is one of them. There is a copy of that work at the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin. I think there is also a copy at Brown U's library in the States, but they won't let it out on interlibrary loan. With Gearóid's blessing I have drawn some nice quotes out of his interviews there for my History of the Anglo, which is getting close to being out (looks now like January). I asked Gearóid recently whether he will ever publish his thesis--he definitely should--and he replied "someday." I doubt that will be soon! By the way, he has moved to Montreal.

Many thanks, Peter, for posting this notice. I met Sonny only once, about 25 years ago. He was a true gentleman and had a very nice touch on the concertina. There are so few of his generation left now.

Dan

This post has been edited by Dan Worrall: 18 November 2009 - 07:30 PM

[Michael Reid]

A remembrance of Sonny Murray is now up on the Comhaltas web site.