Mary MacNamara has a unique and wonderful way of playing. It is initially unassuming, but rich and full of subtle texture. She does not use the usual piping-style ornaments that most of the recent recorded concertina players use. Instead, her style seems to be a simultaneous development on the old press-draw melodeon style of playing that the very old concertina players used. Most of her ornamentation is done with articulation of air pressure in the bellows and a left hand rhythmic chording reminiscent of pipers' use of the regulators and melodeon players use of the basses, but much more subtle.

Her playing is slower in pace which allows all of the rhythmic subtleties of the Irish swing and the effects of her bellows work to develop fully. In addition, she has a wonderful baritone concertina (low C-sharp/G-sharp tuning) that really suits her playing style. The selections played on it allow the growly attack of those low reeds to work their full magic. Along with the low pitched concertina, many tunes are played in the lower "dark" keys associated with East Clare music.

Martin Hayes and his father P. J. Hayes show up for some wonderful fiddle collaboration on a few tracks. Very fitting since they all come from roughly the same part of Clare.

I just wish they hadn't put that piano accompaniment on there (authentic though it may be, given the Ceili band tradition of these musicians). You know how I feel about pianos. Fortunately most tracks are unaccompanied.

Buy direct from http://www.marymacnamara.com, or it's also available at the usual places. Also, you can read more about her music and philosophy on that web site.

I think Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin is one of the best old style West Clare concertina players around. His style is rooted in the old traditions, eschewing the modern penchant for fancy technique and opting for a sweeter, more lyrical approach to the tunes. Though he learned West Clare style music, from Seán Reid, Paddy Murphy, and others, I think he is also influenced by the sweet melancholy of East Clare, as demonstrated by the company he keeps on this recording: Paddy Canny, Peter Ó Loughlin, and Martin Hayes.

But Gearóid isn't simply a great player of Irish music. Though he plays in a Clare style, he has put his own personal stamp on the music (as surely as Tommy McCarthy, though very different in the details, of course). For example, his rendition of the hornpipes Boys of Bluehill and Stack of Barley on track 6 is nothing short of brilliant, taking oft-trite-sounding tunes and restoring the luster of the original idea buried under the tarnish built up from decades of session-playing.

Also, it is my opinion that Gearóid is the best interpreter of the slow air on concertina. I had no interest in learning any myself until I listened to this recording, after which I promptly learned all of them. Now, it is commonly (but by no means universally!) agreed that the pipes are the best interpreters of the slow air. They have a range of expressiveness that the concertina can't hope to match. But Gearóid manages to take this seeming weakness of the concertina and turn it into the advantage. He does so by playing the airs sweetly and simply, allowing the plaintive sound of the concertina to convey the sense of austerity and sadness of sean-nos singing. While others use heavy chords and twiddles, and I include both concertina players and pipers here, the stark simplicity cuts far deeper.

I only wish that there wasn't so much accompaniment (excepting Janet Harbison's harp) and that I could hear the individual playing of Paddy Canny and Peter Ó Loughlin better.

Buy direct from the record label, at http://www.celticcrossings.com, or it's also available at Custy's Music.

Séamus Ennis - Best of Irish Piping (The Pure Drop and The Fox Chase)
Séamus Ennis - The Bonny Bunch of Roses (also called Two Centuries of Celtic Music)
Séamus Ennis - The Wandering Minstrel
Séamus Ennis - Forty Years Of Irish Piping
Séamus Ennis - The Return From Fingal

Séamus Ennis lived from 1919 to 1982 and during that time traveled over Ireland collecting and disseminating tunes, songs, stories, styles, anything having to do with traditional Irish music. For much of that time he worked for RTE, the BBC, collectors and publishers, but he probably would have done it anyway. The extent of his memory, insight, ability to find people with tunes was legendary. He always made the music his own, playing it in a way nobody had heard before. Many of his settings and variations are unique and clever. He came from North Dublin County, but it is said that he always maintained the integrity of the source of the music he collected, that he literally became of the place that produced the tune. He was one of the important guardians who kept piping alive during a time when Irish traditional music was far from fashionable and in real danger of dying out. Many people have made important contributions to Irish music, but in terms of the totality of Ennis's contribution throughout his lifetime it can be argued that there has been no single person with more impact on the course of Irish traditional music.

On these recordings, he plays pipes, whistles, sings, and tells stories, unaccompanied.  Anything from Séamus Ennis is considered definitive.

Forty Years Of Irish Piping is available from Green Linnet. The Return From Fingal was just reissued by RTÉ and is available at Ossian USA. Some may be available at this Amazon.com search.

UilleannObsession.com has some links to Séamus Ennis tribute radio programs. Visit http://www.uilleannobsession.com/links_radio.html and download from The Late Session 12/10/2002 (Liam O Flynn on "The Giant at My Shoulder"), and 5/10/2002 (Séamus Ennis Tribute - Part 1) and 12/10/2002 (Séamus Ennis Tribute - Part 2). Alas, some bits of Part 2 seem to be missing. When Séamus died he left his early 1800s Coyne set to Liam O Flynn.

Neil Mulligan - An Tobar Glé

Neil Mulligan is an interesting piper who combines both the Leitrim style and Séamus Ennis style of piping. From the former he draws the measured pace deliberate, precision-oriented style of ornamentation, stylistic elements, and interesting repertoire, he shares with the other Leitrim pipers like Brian McNamara. But there is an impish mischief in the playing that could only be Séamus Ennis. Those quacking hard bottom D's, those ultra-staccato rolls, the pleasing yet unexpected turn of melody... He says Séamus was a frequent visitor to the house when he was growing up.

This is actually his 3rd solo recording, after Barr Na Cúille and The Leitrim Thrush, which are both lovely as well. All three are completely unaccompanied, in the style of the Séamus Ennis recordings. There is a large selection of slow airs to be heard on all of them.

This record is available from Neil Mulligan's web site at http://www.neilmulligan.com.

Tommy Potts - The Liffey Banks

Tommy Potts was a maverick fiddler who played by his own rules. In the liner notes, Séamus Ennis describes his style as "individual". This music is definitely not dance music - the rhythm is not metered but swells and bursts almost like a classical soloist. And his playing enters the rhapsodic where the variations are so profound and abstract that by the end he might be playing a different tune entirely. It works well, though, and is fascinating to listen to.

This record is available from Claddagh Records and Ossian USA.