Round Up 24 - 31st March

There was a buzz on the Irish opera scene around the opening on Sunday of Madame Butterfly from Irish National Opera. Not everything was happening in Dublin though and I was delighted to be at Cork Opera House for the first of their season of concert performances. I'll be looking out to hear  more of  countertenor Viktor Priebe. He has a voice that will bring you to then edge of your seat..

@CorkOperaHouse #MarriageofFigaro My report for @irishexaminer here. Looking forward to more G&S and Verdi later https://t.co/DyyytHsJyl

— Fidleir (@fidleir) March 27, 2019

Whinge!.  met a pal in the audience who was annoyed that the Cork Opera House  booking system would not allow her book a single seat if it had a vacant seat next to it reducing her choice of seating. I rarely book tickets preferring to take my chances as a walk up but  I had a similar conversation with a punter at the Theatre Royal in Waterford . who was similar baffled and annoyed when she couldn't book her seat of choice. Is it unfair to single attendees or prudent marketing strategy? What do you think?

I enjoyed talking to Patrick Rafter ahead of some Irish engagements for this article in the Irish Examiner  The young Kilkenny virtuoso was in the NCH on Friday performing with his mentor, the wonderful Russian violinist,  Maxim Vengerov.  I was in the Large Room for the Piano Day Waterford event and I caught up with his performance later. You can watch the video stream on this link here. https://www.rte.ie/culture/2019/0329/1039470-lyric-concert-live-violinist-maxim-vengerov-plays-bach-dvorak/.

Piano Day Waterford.
We were blessed with beautiful weather on Friday and I couldn't drag myself away from the seaside for the daytime piano events in town. It all looked very jolly and I enjoyed catching Killian Browne's  plein air performance on line. See the tweet  below for a link . I did make it in for the evening concert and it was good to hear locally based performers enjoy the wonderful performing space .where Waterford Music welcomes international performers at their monthly series.   Doug Lowe is an excellent  American pianist based in New Ross., I have much enjoyed playing  chamber music  with Doug. Here he was partnered by cellist Ian McHardy,  a stalwart of many ensembles in the South East in Beethoven's Sonata no 2.  Both performers were making their house debut and I hope it won't be too long before I hear them both again here. Marian Ingoldsby wowed the audience with an eclectic selection and her drole spoken introductions. Marian's programme mixed her own compositions with work by Chopin, Mompou, O Suilleabhain  and drew a standing ovation.  An homage to Clara Schumann used some interesting special effects.  A layer of dance from Jess Rowell and others added to my engagement with the experience.

Venue Notes: There were some aspects of the event that marred the event.  I like it when a visual aspect, images or video clip is added to a musical experience but only if it it adds something. Here a busy moving projection displaying the sponsors names was merely distracting. The presence of a perambulating photographer  throughout the entire evening was irritating and gave the impression that the audience outside the room was more important than the one contained within. I would have liked a programme note.

#KillianBrowne's jazz improv skill are extraordinary #pianoday #Waterford go to 37 mins for Here Comes the Sun  https://t.co/r4psEQ5Oyq

— Fidleir (@fidleir) March 30, 2019

High Plains Tradition.



Independent promoter, John Nyhan has brought so many terrific bluegrass and folk musicians to regional venues. On Saturday at Tramore, Coastguard Station, we heard High Plains Tradition all the way from Colorado. It was good to see the upstairs gallery full for the visitors. The five musicians had a collective senatorial air and apparently  all work in law enforcement when they are not on their annual tour. Nyhan himself lead the audience support from the front row and stepped up to sing a song himself- Freight Train. Check out the Bluegrass in Ireland blog for a comprehensive listing of gigs.

Pub Jam Croke's Bar

I had a lot of fun this week in at informal music evenings in my local pub. The Tramore Ukuklele Group met on Thursday for one of its twice monthly gatherings followed by a mellow song set from the house duo. On Sunday I joined a circle of terrific musicians who gather here usually on the last Sunday of the month for a lively jam that mixed trad, pop and jazz

Superior Scottish Ensemble at Christchurch

Southern Tenant Union Folk are  back in Ireland for  a hectic week long tour.  Above is the Scottish ensemble's appearance on the Late Late Show, that made me sit up and pay attention. I saw them last night at Christchurch Cathedral, Waterford.

The six gentlemen dressed smartly  in suits made an impressive tableau gathered around a retro style microphone. The sound was an inventive  blend of  bluegrass with other styles.  20th century film music is cited as an influence and there is a strong seam of Cuban roots music in there too. The playing is highly accomplished and the vocal blend is satisfying. The songs are intelligent, thoughtful, tending to the dark side,  many with a  political edge.  'If we only sing songs about whiskey and riding box-cars, we're finished said chef d'équipe , Pat McGarvey. You can hear his interview on the Andrew Marr show below.

At the close  the band abandoned their altar position and moved to stand and sing among the pews. It was thrilling somehow to hear musicians without the veneer of amplification however subtle. Given that audiences for live music in Waterford are sometimes less than 50, maybe we could have a little more wireless performance practice.

I am not sure whether it was the acoustic or the Scottish accents, or the amplification, but I struggled to catch the spoken introductions.   But I am very glad to have seen them. It cannot be easy travelling the length and breadth of Ireland on the darkest days of Winter.  If they were disheartened by the paucity of the attendance scattered in the pews, they didn't show it. They are brave to undertake it and worthy of our support. Tour dates are below.


Venue Notes : Christchurch is a very  elegant 18th century ecclesiastical space. With the organ pipes gleaming under the bright lights of crystal chandeliers, it didn't seem quite an appropriate setting for the style of performance, even when as well executed as it was last night. PR seemed minimal . I couldn't find a reference in local press and I learned of the gig from a poster  in a local café. 

Thur 7th Nov Bangor Town Hall, Bangor, Co Down
Fri 8th Nov Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford City
Sat 9th Nov Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre, Naul, Co Dublin
Sun 10th Nov Murphy’s Bar, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny
Mon 11th Nov Crane Lane Theatre, Cork City
Tues 12th Nov St John’s Theatre, Listowel, Co Kerry
Wed 13th Nov Allihies Copper Mine Museum, Beara, West Cork
Thur 14th Nov De Barras, Clonakilty, West Cork
Fri 15th Nov Carnegie Arts Centre, Kenmare, Co Kerry
Sat 16th Nov Upstairs At Dolan’s, Limerick City

Happy Blues at the Mill Bar with Ottley and Friends

There was  kind of hush as we stepped into The Mill Bar in Sixmilebridge, as if the audience didn't want to miss one note of the opening Gillian Welch song  from a quartet featuring  the 2012 Tennessee fiddle champion. Ivor Ottley was joined by Galway based musicians Tom Portman on dobro guitar, Paddy Jordan on double bass and Pete Lamb guitar and vocals. This was not a fast paced hard, driving traditional bluegrass set  but rather a mellow mélange of styles with elements of country, swing , jazz  and trad. There was plenty of  toe tapping stuff with Fisher's Hornpipe a highlight near the close. But it was the  languid waltzes that were most winning with Lamb's simply delivered vocals allowing dobro and fiddle to weave some melodic magic in the spaces.

Ottley is extraordinary -a very clean and elegant  fiddle style with a varied arsenal of left hand and bowing techniques that adds a depth and colour to his playing . While quite the virtuoso and  adept at improvising,  his variations are never indulgent and thankfully never stray too far from the original melody. His version of  Ashokan Farewell was rather more interesting than Ungar's relatively straight version.  His versatility was perhaps best demonstrated by his  rendition of a solo air delivered in a simple style, with vibrato reigned in for more haunting effect

An  ambiance  of collegiality radiated from the stage and the audience responded less with whoops and hollers but  more with concentrated listening ears .  The venue, a  large square timbered room with nice high ceiling and a huge stove with a welcoming real fire was very comfortable.

I spoke to Ottley following the gig and he told me something of his fascinating journey and his admiration for the playing of Grapelli,  Oistrakh and Milstein and the tale of serendipity that led an Englishman to be the Tennessee Champion.  The story is covered in this post from the  Bluegrass  Ireland  blog (link  here)  I was surprised to learn that he was a frequent visitor to Feakle sessions and was in fact resident in Ireland for many years. (Fiddle players should check out his website for some great tips).  Ottley is now happily ensconced in the Swedish jazz scene and opportunities to hear him on these shores are rare .

 **The trio Gone to Grass with members Paddy Jordan, Tom Portman and Pete Lamb will play at Green's Pub, Kinvara as part of the Turkey Fleadh on December 30th  4.30pm

** Please note this is a correction on the information originally posted .


Set List
Tear My Stillhouse Down  Gillian Welch
Bill Munroe/Kenny Baker tune 
Swing number Six Pack to Go
Steve Miller Dance Dance Dance / Arkansas Traveller
Ashokan Farewell Ungar
Good Ole Mountain Dew
Old Time Waltz
Til The Day I Die Steve Earle

It Wasn't God Who Made Honkytonk Angels
Tennessee Waltz
Come On Girl Pete Lamb
Mama Don't want 
Red Clay Halo Gillian Welch
Rolling in my Sweet Babies Arms
Rising Tide Tom Portman
Jump the Happy Train Blues 
Fishers Hornpipe
Solo Air Fiddle 
What in the World John Prine