Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
bradhurley wrote: There's a great interview on there that Peter Browne did with the late James Murray of Sligo
Ummm, Brad? Where did you hear about "late"? Does that mean if he agrees to record a track for WFO3, I should pass on it? Damien Stenson stopped in near Thanksgiving, and was going to chat with him later about this. I would otherwise have thought I would have heard such news in the last few months.
Kevin Krell
International Traditional Music Society, Inc.
A non-profit 501c3 charity/educational public benefit corporation
Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks) https://www.worldtrad.org
Well, I certainly hope Peter was wrong! He told me over a year ago, when I met him (Peter) in Toronto, that James Murray had passed away, but maybe he got him confused with someone else. He has interviewed a lot of musicians in his day, it's possible he could have gotten mixed up.
-Brad
kkrell wrote:
bradhurley wrote: There's a great interview on there that Peter Browne did with the late James Murray of Sligo
Ummm, Brad? Where did you hear about "late"? Does that mean if he agrees to record a track for WFO3, I should pass on it? Damien Stenson stopped in near Thanksgiving, and was going to chat with him later about this. I would otherwise have thought I would have heard such news in the last few months.
Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
bradhurley wrote:Well, I certainly hope Peter was wrong! He told me over a year ago, when I met him (Peter) in Toronto, that James Murray had passed away, but maybe he got him confused with someone else. He has interviewed a lot of musicians in his day, it's possible he could have gotten mixed up.
-Brad
kkrell wrote:
bradhurley wrote: There's a great interview on there that Peter Browne did with the late James Murray of Sligo
Ummm, Brad? Where did you hear about "late"? Does that mean if he agrees to record a track for WFO3, I should pass on it? Damien Stenson stopped in near Thanksgiving, and was going to chat with him later about this. I would otherwise have thought I would have heard such news in the last few months.
Kevin Krell
OK, definitely wrong then, as Damien has been to see him in Nov. 2004 at least. I spoke with him in Oct. 2003 at the time of the recording session for WFO2. There were a few reasons that James Murray (pronounced Mur-ray) did not record for WFO2 with the other Sligo players. 1) He had recent dental work, and wasn't yet adjusted to playing as he wished; and 2) he had to work the day of the recording session (as he's the local postman). Of course there's a 3) He may still not care to, as in the interview he has some strong opinions about traditional playing styles, although I hoped I made the case for having him act as a representative for his own preference.
Kevin Krell
International Traditional Music Society, Inc.
A non-profit 501c3 charity/educational public benefit corporation
Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks) https://www.worldtrad.org
Phew, that's good news! I knew he wasn't very old (late 50s by now, I believe) and I hope he keeps playing for another 50 years. I really enjoyed that interview and the bits of his playing I've heard on various recordings.
Yes, Kevin, I think you should put the track (from suki) on your cd where he talks about playing too fast and what he thinks about today's playing. I'm glad he's not dead, he's a terrific flute player.
Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
MurphyStout wrote:Yes, Kevin, I think you should put the track (from suki) on your cd where he talks about playing too fast and what he thinks about today's playing. I'm glad he's not dead, he's a terrific flute player.
I was just speaking with a few flute players today, about style and accompaniment. They seem to think that there should be the opportunity to listen to a variety of approaches and let people make their own decisions. This is exactly what I've been attempting to do with the "Wooden Flute Obsession" CDs. There are now considerable influences in every region on what flute players (and other musicians of course) hear, and what constitutes their individual expression. Everyone must decide for themselves what is "good" and "evil".
Kevin Krell
ps. Sorry, no vocals - instrumental only. Although I suppose we could transcribe the text and use it somewhere in the liner notes.
International Traditional Music Society, Inc.
A non-profit 501c3 charity/educational public benefit corporation
Wooden Flute Obsession CDs (3 volumes, 6 discs, 7 hours, 120 players/tracks) https://www.worldtrad.org
What a lot of decision making you have to go thru' Kevin. But I'm sure you will do the wise thing in the long run and repeat my praise for what you have done to date, immense amount of work. Both WFO1 & 2 get a lot of use in my place. I look forward to WFO3.
Incidentally I had mouth surgery yesterday, front teeth of all things. Of course I'm nervous about the effect on my playing and will need a couple of weeks find out. So we are both in recovering stage. Suppose I could always take up singing, my mother said I had a lovely voice in spite of what all the other people said.
Getting back to Mr. Murphy's original posting, I would say - as have a few others - that the problem about people only listening to a few recording virtuoso artists and imitating them is the unawareness of the sources.
If one wants to be a virtuoso, he/she must be aware of both the musical "sources" and "literature." I am comparing sources to the older flute traditions and literature to the recordings by these few virtuosos. It is analogical to writing a historical study. You cannot just read literature and imitate the scholars - you must go to the sources, research them and then in the light of the other literature published on the same topic write your own study. On the other hand, you must be aware of the contemporary research that has been written on your subject - just blind interpretation of the sources is not likely to result in a good study.
If a person starts off just trying to imitate what he/she hears from, say, Seamus Egan's playing, the result is likely to sound not like Seamus Egan but like crap. Just trying to pick up complicated ornamentation on a high speed will draw the attention away from the two most important things: rhythm and melody, ie. the tune itself! The music will not be played with ease and emotion but with difficulty.
On the other hand, listening to older players/contemporaries within the same lines of style as the golden oldies is likely direct a player to a "simpler"/more accessible style. The player will learn to _play the tune_ instead of using the tune to show off whatever skills he/she has. When these basics are in order, the virtuotic things can of course be pursued.
I know that there are people who do not like the representatives of the old style being called simple. But I must assure you that I am not saying it in a negative way, the thing is that the music when played by representatives of more traditional styles IS less complicated than what how these "virtuoso" players play it. However, in my humble opinion this is for the better.
In the end I would say that both awareness of the tradition and comtemporary interpretation of it are important in developing your own style as a traditional musician. The tradition is what inspiration is ought to be drawn from and contemporary recordings will direct the musician's style to/from certain directions.
biliii wrote:one thing i would say is that, the thread discusses only or mostly irish players. there's a whole wide wonderful world out there and there are alot of traditions with flute playing in it. while i can respect the desire to play in "one" style, whether it's Molloy, McGoldrick, or whoever i really like that with the net and such that ignorance is not so much the problem but time to consume all the material washing over us is
I think the reason that only Irish flute players are being discussed is that Jack is concerned about the tradition in irish flute playing.
Yes there are other styles, but that is not important to this discussion.
