1.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
2.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
3.
Folk music
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Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century, but is applied to music older than that. Some types of music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways, as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers and it has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. Starting in the century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times and this type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two, a consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions and they are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes. Traditional folk music also includes most indigenous music, however, despite the assembly of an enormous body of work over some two centuries, there is still no certain definition of what folk music is. Some do not even agree that the term Folk Music should be used, Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers, the fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character. Such definitions depend upon processes rather than abstract musical types, one widely used definition is simply Folk music is what the people sing. For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, Folk music was already. seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear, particularly in a community uninfluenced by art music and by commercial and printed song. In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a schema comprising four types, primitive or tribal, elite or art, folk. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre
4.
Irish traditional music
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The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland. In A History of Irish Music, W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the cruit and clairseach, the timpan, the feadan, the buinne, the guthbuinne, the bennbuabhal and corn, the cuislenna, the stoc and sturgan, there is also evidence of the fiddle being used in the 8th century. There are several collections of Irish folk music from the 18th century, important collectors include Colm Ó Lochlainn, George Petrie, Edward Bunting, Francis ONeill, James Goodman and many others. Irish traditional music has survived more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and this was possibly because the country was not a geographical battleground in either of the two world wars. Another potential factor was that the economy was agricultural, where oral tradition usually thrives. From the end of the world war until the late fifties folk music was held in low regard. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the popularity of the Fleadh Cheoil helped lead the revival of the music, the English Folk music scene also encouraged and gave self-confidence to many Irish musicians. Following the success of The Clancy Brothers in the USA in 1959, the lush sentimental style of singers such as Delia Murphy was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such as The Dubliners. Irish showbands presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, the international success of The Chieftains and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand. Historically much old-time music of the USA grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, by the 1970s Irish traditional music was again influencing music in the USA and further afield in Australia and Europe. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll, punk rock, like all traditional music, Irish folk music has changed slowly. Most folk songs are less than two hundred years old, one measure of its age is the language used. Modern Irish songs are written in English and Irish, most of the oldest songs and tunes are rural in origin and come from the older Irish language tradition. Modern songs and tunes often come from cities and towns, Irish songs went from the Irish language to the English language, unaccompanied vocals are called sean nós and are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing. Sean-nós singing is highly ornamented and the voice is placed towards the top of the range, a true sean-nós singer will vary the melody of every verse, but not to the point of interfering with the words, which are considered to have as much importance as the melody. To the first-time listener, accustomed to pop and classical singers, sean-nós often sounds more Arabic, non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived from sean-nós singing, and, generally, a similar voice placement. Caoineadh /kˠi, nʲɪ/ is Irish for a lament, a song which is typified by lyrics which stress sorrow, traditionally, the Caoineadh song contained lyrics in which the singer lamented for Ireland after having been forced to emigrate due to political or financial reasons
5.
Fiddle
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Fiddle is another name for the bowed string musical instrument more often called a violin. It is also a term for the instrument used by players in all genres. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, refers to various styles of music, Fiddle is also a common term among musicians who play folk music on the violin. The fiddle is part of traditional styles of music which are aural traditions. There are few distinctions between violins and fiddles, though more primitively constructed and smaller violins are more likely to be considered fiddles. In order to produce a tone, compared to the deeper tones of gut or synthetic core strings. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to produce rhythms focused on dancing, with associated quick note changes, whereas classical music tends to contain more vibrato and it is less common for a classically trained violinist to play folk music, but today, many fiddlers have classical training. The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the Byzantine lira, lira spread widely westward to Europe, in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lira interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments. During the Renaissance the gambas were important and elegant instruments, they eventually lost ground to the viola da braccio family. The etymology of fiddle is uncertain, the Germanic fiddle may derive from the same early Romance word as does violin, the name seems however to be related to Icelandic Fiðla and also Old English fiðele. A native Germanic ancestor of fiddle may even be the ancestor of the early Romance form of violin, historically, fiddle also referred to a predecessor of todays violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, another family of instruments that contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the viols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards. Violins, on the hand, are commonly grouped in sections. The difference was likely compounded by the different sounds expected of violin music, historically, the majority of fiddle music was dance music, while violin music had either grown out of dance music or was something else entirely. Violin music came to value a smoothness that fiddling, with its dance-driven clear beat, in situations that required greater volume, a fiddler could push their instrument harder than could a violinist. In the very late 20th century, a few artists have attempted a reconstruction of the Scottish tradition of violin and big fiddle. Notable recorded examples include Iain Fraser and Christine Hanson, Amelia Kaminski and Christine Hansons Bonnie Lasses and Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas Fire and Grace. In Hungary, a three stringed viola variant with a bridge, called the kontra or háromhúros brácsa makes up part of a traditional rhythm section in Hungarian folk music
6.
The Chieftains
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The Chieftains are a traditional Irish band formed in Dublin in November 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy. The band had their first rehearsals at Moloneys house, with Tubridy, Martin Fay, Paddy Moloney came out of Ceoltóirí Chualann, a group of musicians who specialised in instrumentals, and sought to form a new band. The group remained only semi-professional up until the 1970s and by then had achieved success in Ireland. In 1973, their popularity began to spread to the United States when their previous albums were released there by Island Records. They received further acclaim when they worked on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to Stanley Kubricks 1975 film Barry Lyndon, the group continued to release successful records throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and their work with Van Morrison in 1988 resulted in the critically acclaimed album Irish Heartbeat. They went on to collaborate with many other musicians and singers, among them Luciano Pavarotti. The band have won six Grammys during their career and they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, in 2012, they celebrated their 50th anniversary with the release of their most recent record Voice of Ages. The bands name came from the book Death of a Chieftain by Irish author John Montague, assisted early on by Garech Browne, they signed with his company Claddagh Records. They needed financial success abroad, and succeeded in this, as within a few years their third albums sleeve note section was printed in three languages, in 2012, they celebrated their 50th anniversary with an ambitious album and tour. The album, Voice of Ages, was produced by T-Bone Burnett and featured the Chieftains collaborating with musicians including Bon Iver, Paolo Nutini. It also included a collaboration with NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman playing the flute aboard the International Space Station as it orbited the earth, on 17 March, The Chieftains played in Carnegie Hall. The band have known for their vast work of collaborations with popular musicians of many genres, including Country music, Galician traditional music, Newfoundland music. In May 1986, they performed at Self Aid, a concert held in Dublin that focused on the problem of chronic unemployment which was widespread in Ireland at that time. In 1994, they appeared in Roger Daltreys production, album and video of A Celebration, The Music of Pete Townshend and they also performed with Canadian astronaut Cmdr. Chris Hadfield in Houston, TX on 15 February 2013, Hadfield sang and played guitar on Moondance from aboard the International Space Station. The band has won six Grammy Awards and been nominated eighteen times, in 2002 they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the UKs BBC Radio 2. Two of their singles have been hits in the UK Singles Chart. Have I Told You Lately reached No.71 in 1995, I Know My Love reached No.37 in 1999
7.
Uilleann pipes
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The uilleann pipes are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as union pipes, their current name is a translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann. There is no record of the name or use of the term uilleann pipes before the twentieth century. It was an invention of Grattan Flood and the name stuck, people mistook the term union to refer to the 1800 Act of Union, this is incorrect as Breandán Breathnach points out that a poem published in 1796 uses the term union. The bag of the pipes is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist. Some pipers can converse or sing while playing, the regulators are equipped with closed keys that can be opened by the pipers wrist action enabling the piper to play simple chords, giving a rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment as needed. There are also many ornaments based on multiple or single grace notes, the chanter can also be played staccato by resting the bottom of the chanter on the pipers thigh to close off the bottom hole and then open and close only the tone holes required. If one tone hole is closed before the one is opened. The uilleann pipes have a different harmonic structure, sounding sweeter and quieter than many other bagpipes, such as the Great Irish Warpipes, the uilleann pipes are often played indoors, and are almost always played sitting down. Uilleann is the genitive of the Irish word uillinn, meaning elbow, the Irish word for uilleann pipes is píobaí uilleann which literally means pipes of the elbow. However, the first attested written form is Union pipes, at the end of the 18th century, perhaps to denote the union of the chanter, drones, another theory is that it was played throughout a prototypical full union of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. This was only realised, however, in 1800, with the Act of Union, the term uilleann pipes is first attested at the beginning of the 20th century. William Henry Grattan Flood, an Irish music scholar, proposed the theory that the name came from the Irish word for elbow. He cited to this effect William Shakespeares play The Merchant of Venice published in 1600 where the expression woollen pipes appears and this theory originated in correspondence between two earlier antiquarians, and was adopted as gospel by the Gaelic League. The use of uilleann was perhaps also a rebellion against the union with its connotations of English rule. The first bagpipes to be well-attested to for Ireland were similar, if not identical and these are known as the Great Irish Warpipes. In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, this instrument was called the píob mhór, while the warpipe was alive and well upon the battlefields of France, the warpipe had almost disappeared in Ireland. The union or uilleann pipe required the joining of a bellows under the right arm, the uilleann or union pipes developed around the beginning of the 18th century
8.
Matt Molloy
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Matt Molloy is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at nineteen, considered as one of the most brilliant Irish musicians, his style that adapts piping techniques to the flute has influenced many contemporary Irish flute players. During the 1970s, Molloy was a member of The Bothy Band and its successor and he joined The Chieftains in 1979, replacing Michael Tubridy. Over the course of his career, Molloy has worked with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples, Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, Molloy owns a pub on Bridge Street in Westport, County Mayo where there are regular Irish music sessions
9.
Liam O'Flynn
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Liam OFlynn is an Irish uilleann piper and Irish traditional musician. OFlynn is acknowledged as Irelands foremost exponent of the pipes and has brought the music of the instrument to a worldwide audience. In 2007, OFlynn was named Musician of the Year at the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards, Liam Ó Floinn was born 15 April 1945 in Kill, County Kildare to musical parents. His father was a teacher and fiddle player and his mother, who came from a family of musicians from Clare, played and taught piano. From an early age, OFlynn showed musical talent, and was encouraged to pursue his interest in the pipes by the piper Tom Armstrong. At the age of 11, he began taking classes with Leo Rowsome and he was also influenced by Willie Clancy and Séamus Ennis. In the 1960s, he began to receive recognition of his talent, winning prizes at the Oireachtas Festival, during his early years, he was sometimes billed as Liam Óg Ó Floinn. In 1972, OFlynn co-founded the Irish traditional music group Planxty, while Seán Ó Riada and The Chieftains had reinvigorated Irish traditional instrumental music in an ensemble format during the 1960s, Planxty built on that foundation and took it one step further. They brought a punch and vitality to acoustic music that drew heavily on OFlynns piping virtuosity. As OFlynn grew in his skill as a musician and as he began to meet pipers like Willie Clancy and Seamus Ennis and his subsequent close friendship with Seamus Ennis taught him that there was much more to being a piper than playing tunes. Liam noted, Seamus Ennis gave me more than a bag of notes. When Im playing, Im certainly lost within it, the only way to describe it, is that its like looking inwards. I think when a performer engages with the audience, and vice versa, its like a spell is cast and he also worked on film scores, including Kidnapped and A River Runs Through It. He was adventurous enough to work with avant-garde composer John Cage and he also worked on projects with Seamus Heaney, mixing poetry with music. His name is mentioned in the song Lisdoonvarna by Christy Moore
10.
Paddy Moloney
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Paddy Moloney is an Irish musician, composer and producer who is the founder and leader of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums. Paddy Moloney was born in Donnycarney, Dublin, Ireland and his mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and he started to learn the Uilleann pipes at the age of eight. In addition to the tin whistle and the Uilleann pipes, Paddy Moloney also plays button accordion, in the late 1950s he met Seán Ó Riada and joined his group Ceoltóirí Chualann in the early 1960s. Along with Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy, Paddy Moloney formed the traditional Irish band The Chieftains in Dublin in November 1962. As the band leader, he is the composer and arranger of much of the Chieftains music, and has composed for films including Treasure Island, The Grey Fox, Braveheart. He has done work for Mike Oldfield, The Muppets, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Sting. Together with Garech de Brun of Luggala, he founded Claddagh Records in 1959, in 1968 he became a producer for the label and supervised the recording of 45 albums. He is married to artist Rita OReilly and has three children, Aonghus Moloney, Padraig Moloney and actress producer Aedin Moloney, video Interview 2011 Naples Daily News Paddy Moloney Interviewed on Chiff & Fipple Paddy Moloney discography at MusicBrainz A Word with Paddy Moloney
11.
The Chieftains 2
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Chieftains 2 is the second album released by the Irish musical group The Chieftains in 1969. It was Peadar Merciers album debut on bodhran, when Seán Ó Riada disbanded Ceoltoiri Chualann in 1969, several of the players wanted to continue the sound they had pioneered. The result was the reformation of The Chieftains, the Foxhunt had previously been known as a pipers tune, but here it was given a full band treatment, and was widely played, as a direct result of this recording. Banish Misfortune / Gillians Apples –3,35 Seóirse Brabston –3,30 Bean an Fhir Rua –2,51 Pis Fhliuch –3,35 An Páistín Fionn / Mrs. web. archive. org, archived from the original on 27 June 2006
12.
The Chieftains 3
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The Chieftains 3 is the third album released by the Irish musical group The Chieftains in 1971. The tight formula of the first two albums loosened up on the third album, for the first time there was a mazurka. There is still no singing, but Pat Kilduff added lilting, archived from the original on 19 November 2006
13.
The Chieftains 4
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The Chieftains 4 is an album by The Chieftains. It is the first album to feature Derek Bell on the harp and this album is where The Chieftains modern sound began. The slow air Mná na hÉireann, composed by Seán Ó Riada, was used in Stanley Kubricks 1975 film Barry Lyndon, in 1996 Mike Oldfield recorded it on his album Voyager but credited it to Traditional. The Chieftains 4 at AllMusic A more complete and correct track listing at irishtune. info
14.
The Chieftains 9: Boil the Breakfast Early
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The Chieftains 9, Boil the Breakfast Early is an Irish folk album by The Chieftains. This album featured a big change in The Chieftains sound, because two of the members, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy, left the group. The replacement for Michael Tubridy was Matt Molloy, who had just been a member for both The Bothy Band and Planxty and this album also featured a song where Kevin Conneff for the first time sings a cappella. Jolyon Jackson also played cello on three tracks, Boil the Breakfast Early –3,51 Boil the Breakfast Early Scotch Mary The Chicago Reel Mrs
15.
The Chieftains in China
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The Chieftains in China is an album released by the Irish musical group The Chieftains in 1985. In 1983 the Chieftains were the first Irish musicians to visit China, the album was the end result of this trip and was recorded in China and Hong Kong by Brian Masterson of Windmill Lane Studios. In 1980, diplomats from the Chinese Embassy in London attended Royal Albert Hall for The Sense of Ireland festival, the diplomats had enjoyed the performance so much that they invited the band to visit China on a musical tour. As China had no embassy in Ireland at the time this was problematic, when full diplomatic relations between Ireland and China were established in 1981, Moloney planned the trip with Chinese ambassadors and sent copies of Irish music to various Chinese orchestras. The Chieftains were one of the first groups from the West to visit China, while in China the group performed with various Chinese folk orchestras, as well as more impromptu performances with local musicians. The Chieftains in China is a compilation of the songs played while the Chieftains visited China and it was released two years after the tour. Leading Chinese politicians attended the performance and chieftains biographer John Glatt wrote that the tour cemented diplomatic relations between Ireland and China. Sun Sheng, the chairman of the Musicians Association of China said of the visit. Music knows no boundaries for it is a unique and comprehensive language, the Chieftains returned to Ireland with a large collection of Chinese instruments that they planned to learn and incorporate into their music. Moloney told RTÉ Radio that he planned to use some of the Chinese music in scores that he was composing
16.
Celtic Wedding
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Celtic Wedding is an album of traditional Breton music performed by the Irish band The Chieftains. The album features guest performances by the Breton artists, Nolwenn Monjarrret, Bernard Pichard, Alain Guerton, nolwen Monjarret later appeared on the Chieftains album, The Bells of Dublin, performing A Breton Carol with the band. The original albums cover features a painting by the Scottish painter Alexander Goudie, celtic Wedding was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1986. The making of the album was sponsored by Brittany Ferries, descriptions from the albums liner notes. archive. org/web/20110723095602/http, //www. thechieftains. com/discography/disc_celticwedding. asp
17.
Irish Heartbeat
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Irish Heartbeat is the eighteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and is a collaboration with the traditional Irish musical group the Chieftains, released in 1988. It was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland, the album was recorded on dates from September to December 1987 and in January 1988. The Chieftains and Van Morrison had met years before at the Edinburgh rock festival and they joined up in Belfast during Morrisons No Guru tour and afterwards, Morrison and Paddy Moloney discussed recording an album together during a walk. They each had a list of songs and reached a consensus to cover two of Morrisons previously released tracks and the rest from traditional Irish songs, recalled Moloney, I think at that time Van was searching for his Irish roots. It was this man of blues, of rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and more importantly soul, coming home to his Irishness with The Chieftains, musically we were going to meet each other half way. In October 1987 they performed together at Balmoral Studio in Belfast, the concert was broadcast on St. Patricks Day in 1988. The album consists of eight traditional Irish songs, plus re-workings of the Morrison songs Celtic Ray, carrickfergus is described as a melancholic air worthy of Otis Redding by critic Denis Campbell. On Raglan Road was adapted from a poem by Patrick Kavanagh and is the story of a man ensnared by a beautiful revenant whom he had mistaken for a made of clay. In 1994, Billy Connolly recorded a cover of the song Irish Heartbeat during his World Tour of Scotland. The performance was used as the theme to the BBC series. Irish Heartbeat received positive reviews from most critics, one of called it some of the most haunting, rousing. Rolling Stone magazines David Browne said it has splendor and intense beauty, while John Wilde from Melody Maker hailed it as a bloody considerable marvel, having awakened roisterous spirit. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau was more critical and believed that Morrison, in the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll, Irish Heartbeat was voted the 29th best album of 1988. The NME named it the second greatest album of the year, in The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Rob Sheffield said it showed Morrison in a livelier, more enthusiastic state than on his previous records during the 1980s. All songs traditional, arranged by Van Morrison and Paddy Moloney, the Chieftains, The Authorized Biography, Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-31216-605-2 Heylin, Clinton. Van Morrison, A New Biography, Chicago Review Press, ISBN 1-55652-542-7 Hinton, Brian Celtic Crossroads, The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, ISBN 1-86074-169-X Irish Heartbeat at AllMusic
18.
Van Morrison
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Sir George Ivan Morrison, OBE, known as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and producer. In 2016, Morrison was knighted for his achievements and his services to tourism. He rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the singer of the Northern Irish R&B band Them. His solo career began under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single Brown Eyed Girl in 1967, after Berns death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him three sessions to record Astral Weeks. Much of Morrisons music is structured around the conventions of music and R&B, such as the popular singles Brown Eyed Girl, Jackie Wilson Said, Domino. The two strains together are referred to as Celtic soul. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, Morrisons family roots descend from the Ulster Scots population that settled in Belfast. From 1950 to 1956, Morrison, who began to be known as Van during this time and those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasnt for that kind of music, I couldnt do what Im doing now, Morrisons father bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was eleven, and he learned to play rudimentary chords from the song book The Carter Family Style, edited by Alan Lomax. A year later, when he was years old, Morrison formed his first band. In 1958, the played at some of the local cinemas. Other short-lived groups followed – at fourteen, he formed Midnight Special, another modified skiffle band and played at a school concert. Then, when he heard Jimmy Giuffre playing saxophone on The Train and The River, he talked his father buying him a saxophone. Now playing the saxophone, Morrison joined with local bands, including one called Deanie Sands. The line-up of the band was lead vocalist Deanie Sands, guitarist George Jones and drummer, later the four main musicians of the Javelins, with the addition of Wesley Black as pianist, became known as the Monarchs. Morrison attended Orangefield Boys Secondary School, leaving in July 1960 with no qualifications, however, he had been developing his musical interests from an early age and continued playing with the Monarchs part-time. Young Morrison also played with the Harry Mack Showband, the Great Eight, with his older friend, Geordie Sproule. At age 17, Morrison toured Europe for the first time with the Monarchs, while in Germany, the band recorded a single, Boozoo Hully Gully/Twingy Baby, under the name Georgie and the Monarchs
19.
The Long Black Veil (album)
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The Long Black Veil is an album by the traditional Irish folk band The Chieftains. Released in 1995, it is one of the most popular and it reached number 17 in the album charts. The band teamed up with musicians such as Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. The album went gold in the U. S. and Australia, one of the tracks, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. Sung and written by Van Morrison, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 1996. Credited collaborators include Marianne Faithfull, Mark Knopfler, Mick Jagger, Ry Cooder, Sinéad OConnor, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, the Tennessee Waltz/Mazurka was recorded at Frank Zappas studio not long before he died. There is video evidence that additional material was recorded during this session, mo Ghile Mear –3,22 The Long Black Veil –3,38 The Foggy Dew –5,20 Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. The Long Black Veil at AllMusic U2Wanderer. org
20.
Ry Cooder
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Ryland Peter Ry Cooder is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, and record producer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States. Cooders solo work has been eclectic, encompassing many genres and he briefly formed a band named Little Village. He produced the Buena Vista Social Club album, which became a worldwide hit, Wim Wenders directed the documentary film of the same name, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. Cooder was ranked eighth on Rolling Stone magazines 2003 list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, a 2010 ranking by Gibson placed him at number 32. Cooder was born in Los Angeles, California, to father Bill Cooder and he grew up in Santa Monica, California, and graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1964. During the 1960s, he briefly attended Reed College in Portland and he began playing the guitar when he was three years old. He has had an eye since he was four, when he accidentally stuck a knife in his left eye. As a young man Cooder performed as part of a trio with Bill Monroe and Doc Watson. The trio was not a success, but Cooder applied banjo tunings, at a vital warm-up performance at the Mt. He later claimed he had seen a girl in the turn into a fish. This aborted any opportunity of success at Monterey, as Cooder immediately decided he could no longer work with Van Vliet. Cooder also played with Randy Newman, including on 12 Songs, Van Dyke Parks worked with Newman and Cooder during the 1960s. Parks arranged Cooders One Meatball according to Parks 1984 interview by Bob Claster, during this period, Cooder joined with Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and longtime Rolling Stones sideman Nicky Hopkins to record Jamming with Edward. Cooder also played guitar for the 1970 film soundtrack Performance. The 1975 compilation album Metamorphosis features an uncredited Cooder contribution on Bill Wymans Downtown Suzie, Ry Cooder also collaborated with Lowell George of Little Feat, playing slide guitar on the original version of Willin. Throughout the 1970s, Cooder released a series of Warner Bros, Cooder explored bygone musical genres and found old-time recordings which he then personalized and updated. Thus, on his album, Into the Purple Valley, he chose unusual instrumentations and arrangements of blues, gospel, calypso
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Live from Dublin: A Tribute to Derek Bell
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Live From Dublin, A Tribute To Derek Bell is an album by The Chieftains. The album is a recording of a concert dedicated to Derek Bell. The band invited on stage friends of Derek Bell, such as Ronnie Drew, Carlos Núñez, Anúna and it was nominated for the Grammy Awards in 2006 as the Best Traditional Folk Album. The original release of the CD contained SunnComms MediaMax content protection system