Simple question, really: What, in your opinion, is required reading and listening for an up-and-coming Uilleann piper?

For the pot, I've been on Amazon and have the following on order (though they'll probably take longer than a full set...):

The Pipering of Willie Clancy 1&2
The Best of Irish Pipering (Seumas Ennis)
Bonny Bunch of Roses (also Ennis)
Book:Dance Music of Willie Clancy
Drones and Chanters (can only find Vol 2)

And on a related note, is there somewhere in the UK better than Amazon for getting this stuff (ie, somewhere that actually generally has it in stock and OK prices)?

Cheers,
Calum

Here's my "required listening" list:

Liam O'Flynn - any of his CDs... something about his style and flow of tunes that is ear-catching for me.


Gay McKeon - Another outstanding piper with a classic style all his own;

Sean Og Potts - hearing his CD reminds me of seeing him play live in San Francisco at the Tionol in '01 - the way that guy hits those rolls on the hard D - it puts a real mark on any tune he plays - fantastic.

Eoin O'Riabhaigh - his Tiomnacht CD is a very, very good listen, and he has a collection of tunes there , some tunes that are classics, and others that are not heard very frequently.

There's my $0.02.

Stay tuned,
Brian

Hi Calum,
you might want to try NPU. or Mad for Trad. NPU can be a little slow which doesn't bother me, it's better to be aware of it though. I think they don't have full time staff, only volunteers which is fair enough. Good service from Mad for Trad, better than some retailers.

Cheers, Mac

I've always found the Glasgow based, online Scotish-Irish musicstore to be very good. Their prices are keen,and service is very quick-I usually have stuff within three-four days.They have a very comprehensive stock of trad. Irish music (inc. 45 albums of U. Piping listed).
Check them out at http://www.scottish-irish.com/asp/

Calum,

To add to your list I would heartily recommend "The Return From Fingal" ( RTE label) it being a collection of recordings of Seamus Ennis dating back to some breathtaking stuff from 1940 (when he was only 21!) up until material from the 70's, many consider the early recordings therein as his finest.

Also, NPU have released Ennis' pipe tutor book under the title "The Master's Touch", you can get it directly from them.

Regards, Harry.

P.s. Look hard for Drones and Chanters Vol.1(Claddagh Records).... it's well worth it.

This is a pretty big topic. There are hundreds of CDs available on uilleann pipes. The artists you have listed are considered among the best representatives of their time, but these are only some of what is available. It might help if you specified whether you are looking for old-time artists, or modern players.

Old-time players - In addition to Willy Clancy and Seamus Ennis, must-haves are Johnny Doran and Leo Rowsome. NPU has more, but these are recognized as the best at what they did, and give you a better idea of the various styles.

Current players - Liam O'Flynn has been mentioned (agree) but you should also check out Robbie Hannon for speed and Ronan Browne for musical perfection.

Hope that helps,

djm

Mick O'Brien's playing is highly instructive, too. Check out his first album, "May Morning Dew".

Celtic Grooves should still have few copies around. He's about to release a new duet album with a young fiddler named O Raghaillaigh (spelling?). It's supposed to be top quality stuff.

Hi Pat,

So you heard that too eh? The "official" launch is at Willie Week... less than a fortnight away!!! Big WOO HOO to all this years attendees

This should be a really excellent CD. A couple of photos from the CD were sent to me by Peter Laban and are up on my site at http://www.concentric.net/~pdarcy/page5/page5e.shtml

CD recommendations:

Patsy Touhey
Kevin Rowsome
Brian McNamara

are three names to add to the list. I have a list of sugestions on my site at http://www.concentric.net/~pdarcy/page1/store.shtml some very nice stuff in there, books and other various items of interest also included.

Patrick.

Yes, perhaps I should have been clearer...

What I'm after are the "must-have-studied" classics. If you're a blues guitarist, sooner or later you end up playing Robert Johnston. In the same way, though we all want to play like Ronan Browne and Paddy Keenan (for example), the best approach is still from the ground up; so what are the Robert Johnstons of Uilleann piping?

Cheers,
Calum

Patsy Touhy

Seamus Ennis

Tommy Reck

Willie Clancy

Leo Rowsome

Liam Walsh

Johnny Doran

Felix Doran

Don't forget Tommy Kearney.