Belfast-born uilleann piper, cellist and composer Neil Martin has signed a three-album world-wide deal with Universal Classics & Jazz in London. His soon-to-be-released debut CD, A Celtic Heart, is an uilleann pipe-based project and consists of a mixture of his own compositions, some traditional airs and some film music. Engineered by Brian Masterson and recorded in Windmill Lane, Dublin, the album also features contributions from, amongst others, Dermot Byrne, Noel Eccles, Des Moore, Rod McVey, Seamus McGuire and the Irish Film Orchestra.
The deal came as a result of UCJ head Bill Holland’s enthusiasm for Neil’s work as a producer on singer Róisín O’Reilly’s album, Love So Kindly, for the same label. Spin-offs from that relationship have included Neil recording with the London Symphony Orchestra and appearing alongside world-renowned bass baritone Bryn Terfel at the Classical Brits and at the last night of the Proms in Hyde Park, to an audience of 40,000. Other projects currently on his plate include the West Ocean String Quartet’s debut album, Unwrapping Dreams, due for release on Wren Records in July.
Neil has also recently been commissioned to write a new piece for uilleann pipes and orchestra, to be performed by Liam O’Flynn and the Ulster Orchestra at the opening concert of the Belfast Festival At Queen’s this October.
Fiddler Gerry O’Connor (not to be confused with the Four Men & A Dog fiddler and banjo player of the same name) has nearly finished making a new album, which he’s planning to call Journeyman. On it, he’s accompanied by his son Donal on piano and fiddle, Paul McSherry on guitar, the above-mentioned Neil Martin on cello and Martin O’Hare on bodhrán. Like Gerry’s previous albums with the group Lá Lugh, the CD is being recorded at Homestead Studios in Randalstown, Co. Antrim, where engineer Mudd Wallace is back on form after a prolonged illness. The studio has been completely refurbished, and Mudd is installing a new 56-track Amex Galileo automatic mixing desk with a 48-track Radar recording system. When I spoke to Gerry, he was hoping that all would be ready in time to complete the recording of the album by mid-July, as a release date is planned for the middle of August, ahead of a September European ‘Pure Irish Drops’ tour in the company of Tony McMahon and Christy Barry.
Most definitely in the better-late-than-never category is the debut album by 77-year-old singer, musician and composer Martin Burke, Amhráin m’Athar / My Father’s Songs (see review elsewhere in this issue). Burke is the senior member of a well-known Limerick musical family: his sons Rónán and Torlogh, who also feature on the album, are mainstays of several long-standing local ballad/folk groups, and his daughters Fiona and Aideen are often heard singing at sessions around the area. Recently launched by TG4’s Dáithí O Sé, the recording started out as a song preservation exercise, but developed into an album proper thanks to the assistance of local businessmen John and Patsy Nicholas. Martin is currently recording for the TG4 series ‘Abair Amhrán’.
This year’s annual Dr. Douglas Hyde Conference in Roscommon carries the theme ‘The Artist And The State’ and features a couple of events of interest to traditional music enthusiasts. If you’ve picked up this magazine early, you might still have time to attend them. On Friday, July 16, there’s a concert by Joe and Antoinette McKenna (on pipes and harp/vocals, respectively); Joe will also be accompanying Belfast poet Gearóid Mac Lochlainn during his reading at the conference. On the afternoon of the 17th, programme director Mary O’Malley will be in conversation with TG4 Musician of the Year John Carty and concertina player Jacqueline McCarthy about their experiences growing up in London, where both were born into a vibrant immigrant musical tradition at a time when music was suffering from neglect here in Ireland. Carty and McCarthy will also play a gig later that evening. For more information, visit www.roscommonarts.com.
The third annual Common Ground Scotland Traditional Music & Arts Summer School and Festival takes place in Ayrshire, Scotland on August 1-8, offering classes on guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, accordion, hammered dulcimer, piano, harp, pipes, whistle, Scots and Gaelic song, gospel choir and orchestra, group and harmony singing, ballads, songwriting, stepdancing – plus workshops on subjects as diverse as watercolour painting, sketching, photography, sound recording techniques, woodcarving and non-violence. There will also be a dialogue session with the theme ‘Robert Burns meets Martin Luther King’. Workshops, all concerts and informal activities for the whole week are covered by an inclusive season costing £120 for adults or £45 for youth. You can book online at www.commongroundscotland.com.
The National Concert Hall hosts its fifth ESB Beo traditional music festival on August 18-22. This year’s lineup is particularly impressive, featuring The Chieftains, Altan, Eddi Reader, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with special guest singers Joan Merrigan and Damian Smith as well as fiddler Sebastien Petiet, and Galician piper Carlos Núñez(pictured above, back by popular demand after thrilling audiences in ESB Beo 2002). Also on offer is a lunchtime series with concerts by David Munnelly, The Border Collies and Maighréad and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill.
Yorkshire singer Kate Rusby has just released Live From Leeds, a DVD of an intimate concert recorded at the Leeds City Varieties Music Hall. Backed by Mike McGoldrick, Ian Carr, Andy Cutting, Ewen Vernal and her husband John McCusker, she performs traditional ballads like ‘The Fairest Of All Yarrow’ as well as her own compositions. Extra features include interviews, a video diary, biographies, acoustic sessions and behind-the-scenes footage. For more info, check out www.katerusby.com.
Coming up soon on the San Francisco-based Celtic Crossings label is a new compilation, provisionally entitled The Independence Suite: Traditional Music from Ireland, Scotland and Cape Breton and showcasing tracks drawn from releases by self-produced or micro-label musicians. Those featured include Tommy Peoples, Mick O’Brien with Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Randal Bays with Dáithí Sproule, Geraldine Cotter, Maeve Donnelly, Dougie MacDonald, Aidan MacMahon and Anthony Quigney, Barbara McDonald Magone, Áine Meenaghan, Navan, Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin with Patrick Ourceau, Mícheál Ó hAlmhain and Robbie O’Connell.
Producer Cecilia McDonnell believes that this may be the first-ever collaborative compilation of independently recorded Celtic musicians, reflecting the self-production wave of the last ten years or so. “Given that we are working with 18 (!) different touring and teaching musicians in the US, Ireland, and the coal mines of Western Canada, it’s really been a bit of a challenge,” she writes. “And as this is hopefully Volume One in the series, we tried to avoid unnecessary controversies!” Keep an eye on www.celticcrossings.com for further developments.

Musicians and singers with news to share can e-mail Sarah on [email protected]