Lawrence Reeves Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Just wondering if there are any reports from the Willie Clancy Week coming in. With the loss of Kitty Hayes, and Paddy Canny in the same summer, I was wondering if any tributes would be planned to celebrate their presence in past summers. I know that Gearóid ÓhAllmhuráin will have another launch of the Paddy Murphy CD during the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Davies Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 If any concertina.net members are attending Willie Week and want to attend any sessions in the Ennistymon area contact me(Mobile telephone no:-07850475067 or Irish no 0657071955.)as myself,Shay Fogarty,Tom Driscoll and David Levine will be playing in and and around Ennistymon most evenings.I will be attending the classes and we may play in Milltown during the day,as well as playing golf and going fishing!There is a lovely session in Cooleys House on Friday night and we will be playing in either Marrinans or in Kilshanny(Kilshanny House)on Saturday 5th July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 If any concertina.net members are attending Willie Week and want to attend any sessions in the Ennistymon area contact me(Mobile telephone no:-07850475067 or Irish no 0657071955.)as myself,Shay Fogarty,Tom Driscoll and David Levine will be playing in and and around Ennistymon most evenings.I will be attending the classes and we may play in Milltown during the day,as well as playing golf and going fishing!There is a lovely session in Cooleys House on Friday night and we will be playing in either Marrinans or in Kilshanny(Kilshanny House)on Saturday 5th July. Ah Kilshanny House! David invited me to play there once, it's one great pub, and great patrons... Lucky you guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 (edited) It's early yet, it's on next week. Let's not forget we lost Joe Ryan as well a few months ago and I only just got the news Marty O'Malley left us last night. So the Willie week will be starting on saturday with a big funeral. Edited July 3, 2008 by Peter Laban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence Reeves Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 Martin O'Malley the engineer / guitar player from Milltown Malbay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 (edited) Martin O'Malley the engineer / guitar player from Milltown Malbay? No, his uncle: the dancer, singer, storyteller, raconteur and local historian among other things. Marty was a great character and was arguably best known outside Clare as the subject of Fintan Vallely's 'Song of the Teeth' which tells the story of how Marty's dentures got taken by a jackdaw when he left them on a wall while making the hay. Next spring his neighbour, named Crowe, found the teeth in an abandoned nest and returned them to Marty. Pleased at their return he said 'taken by a Jackdaw, returned by a Crowe' and according to Martin (who was present) put them straight back in his mouth. Edited July 3, 2008 by Peter Laban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 One good piece of news is that Cathal McConnell will be around for the week, which sounds very promising... I ran into him (not literally!) when I stopped to get petrol at the Maxol filling station in Clarecastle, and he got out of his brother's car beside me and said hello - a very pleasant surprise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 This is part of a post made elsewhere but relevant to this forum: Fridaynight is the night of the concertina concert, a bit of a family night out usually, we go out to dinner and so we did this time. For the past ten years or so we went along to support Kitty Hayes, she'd be nervous and knowing I was there with the pipes to help out meant a bit of support for her, she never needed really the help ofcourse. It was a poignant night so and weight of the loss was all the more felt. Kitty had meant to play this years recital with her daughter Angela, who started playing the concertina just over a year ago. It was not to be but it was great Angela went on anyhow, with the help of Lorraine O' Brien and Dympna O Sullivan in tribute to Kitty, they played a lovely paced set of The Stack of Oats and The Last House in Ballymakea, two of Junior's tunes. Here are a few of the players who appeared tonight: Aoife Kelly: Edel Fox: Hugh Healy: Katie O Sullivan: Claire Keville: Tom Carey: Lorraine O Brien: Noel Hill: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceemonster Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 thank you, peter! i envy your metering acumen....my attempts at recital-night shots in the old community hall were dismal. i guess i did not know enough to grasp that i needed to meter up at the stage. i have encountered a couple of other folks who lamented that their recital-night shots were awful as well.....lovely stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) Hmm, I don't know, the light on stage has been the same for ever but a spotmeter goes a long way in stage situations. I find avoiding microphones the bigger problem (I hate pics with microphones covering hands and instruments or sticking into faces) and there's the rocking up and down of musicians, in and out of focus or just creating motion unsharpness. And there's depth of field, these were all done and the largest aperture (2.8 in the case of the lens used for these, I did also take B&W ones on 35mm film using a f1.8/105mm, stopping it down one stop) so focussing on the face will almost inevitably mean the concertina is out of focus. Edited July 12, 2008 by Peter Laban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aogan Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Gas to see Lorraine O Brien all grown up. Surprised to see her with a 30 key Suttner, and not a 38. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceemonster Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) [surprised to see her playing a 30, not a 38] why? is the 38 considered de rigeur for serious players? i have a 38 on order but have been working on an evolving series of much-marked-up diagrams aimed at devoting the extra buttons (plus the never-used high buttons on the 30-key) to b-flats, e-flats, a-flats, & extra c's & F's, that would play in "flat keys" as well as e-flat & a-flat. i was thinking i could do fine in the regular irish keys with the buttons i already have on the 30-key. well, ok, one exception, the a/g on the bottom row, which i never use & am going to convert for the extra e & f one doesn't have on the 30. i also never use that super-low C on the middle row and that could become a low F or G# or something..... why do you guys prefer the 38-key for the regular irish keys? Edited July 12, 2008 by ceemonster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aogan Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) The 38 key is definitely a more versatile instrument. It couldn't not be. I've gotten used to one now and I would consider myself limited on a 30 key instrument -simply because I've become accustomed to utilising the extra notes and have amalgamated them into my everyday playing, so when they're taken away from me, it's a problem. Many people play 30 key Jeffries/Wheatstone's, but that's really more to do with the rarity of good Jeffries/Wheatstones IMO. If you come across a cracking Jeffries then you're not going to turn your nose up at it simply because it has "only" 30 keys, you'll grab it with both hands! But if you had a choice of a 30 key and a 38 key, I would see no reason for not choosing the 38 key instrument. It's especially surprising with regard to a Suttner however because of the relatively small additional cost involved in getting the extra keys. It's like ordering a brand new 80 grand BMW and penny pinching on the leather upholstery . If you're going to wait 5 years and pay 4 grand (or whatever) for a suttner, then I would always counsel upgrading the order to the 38key and pay the extra few quid. Even if you don't use the extra keys (and to be honest, you may well only use a couple of them) , it'll make it a more desirable instrument in terms of re-sale if nothing else, and you'll always have the options of exploring the extra keys as you learn. My 2 cents as they say. Edited July 12, 2008 by Aogan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 I can barely play 20 of my 30 buttons, I think I'll pass on the 38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Laban Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) I get your point but on the other hand: Paddy Murphy played some half decent stuff on a 26 button Wheatstone, didn't he? Edited July 13, 2008 by Peter Laban Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Levine Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I love Peter's pictures. Thank you Peter. Looking at them I ask who I'd most like to play with. Who would I most like to hang out with? Who looks like having the most fun? Looks can be deceiving but on the face of it, the only one with a big grin on..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombilly Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Great pictures Peter .. were you in the front row? I don't think you used flash? I always find problem with indoor shots using available light is blurring due to slower shutter speeds. I was at the concert and as usual it was great to hear so many good musicians at one sitting. I was a little surprised that there wasn't more variety in choice of material though - nearly all jigs & reels apart from the sert of hornpipes you mention, an air from Noel and I think Hugh Healy played some sort of waltzy tune near the start. It's nice to have a bit of variety. I haven't attended the concertina recital here before but I've been to the accordion one a few times. It is interesting to note that I've always perceived a good variety in style of playing at the box recital - the whole gamut from Sliabh Luachra to Christy MacNamara to Anders to Jackie Daly etc. Maybe my ear is not developed well enough yet, but I didn't hear the same differences from the concertina players? Maybe something to do with the concertina being more associated with one region? or the influence of certain key players? Any ideas? You didn't have a pic. of the 85/86 yr old, Mary Ellen was it? She was great and an inspiration given that she only took back up the instrument at 80 after a break of nearly 60 years!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Looking at them I ask who I'd most like to play with.... the only one with a big grin on..... You should come down to Kilrush on a Tuesday (Crotty's) or Thursday (Buggle's) night then. Tom is, as ever, a delight, in spite of his health. It's good to see him with some colour in his face though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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