Slightly OT: Some Suggestions for Sean Nos Recordings?

[travhicks]

I second all the suggestions listed. In addition to these recordings, there's a recording I quite enjoy called Ireland: Art of Sean Nos, by Roisin Elsafty and Treasa Ni Cheannabain. It's a French import.

I think that my personal favorite sean nos record is Darach O Cathain's Traditional Irish Unaccompanied Singing.

If you do a search on Ossian's website for "Connemara," you'll find a number of good sean nos recordings, including the "Grand Airs" recordings and the aforementioned SEOLTAI SEIDTE album.

[leremarkable]

[quote="Kevin L. Rietmann"]I was going to say much the same thing, about the slow airs popular with instrumentalists not being readily available in their sung versions on record. I've only private recordings of Sliabh na mBan or Casadh an tSúgáin, for instance. Maybe your boss at Claddagh could rectify this, Dave? Seems to me such a record would be a big seller, and very informative at the same time.

Kevin,
The RTE Recording has Labhras O Cadhla singing 'Sliabh na mBan' with a nice and simplified variant in the second part, which is less dramatic than the more common version,
Dara Ban's CIC recording called 'An Meall Mor' has him singing 'Casadh an tSugain' , with melodic variation like you couldn't believe.

David

[bensdad]

David, do you know whether there's a recording available of Colm Ó Caoidheáin singing what became The Dusty Miller (the 9/8 one in D with all the crans)? Ennis collected it from him, though I've never heard it sung.

[Cynth]

Thanks eric for your response. It is very helpful to know about what others might think, even if one doesn't go along with it---I don't mean you, but those who require more grittiness. There are songs sung by Joe Heany on that CD set and they are wonderful too. It seems to me that they simply have different sorts of voices and both use their voices in a remarkably expressive and skillful way just based on the songs on this particular set of CD's. I don't have the songs you mentioned on this set of CD's, but I look forward to hearing them sometime.

[smithand]

emusic.com have Roisin Elsafty and Treasa Ni Cheannabain, Joe Murphy and Darach O Cathain available for download. They have a sign up offer with which you can download 50 tracks for free.

Andrew

[billh]

Please do not forget Clo Iar-Chonnachta: www.cic.ie

I might have more CDs from them, than from any other single publisher.

Yeah, much like Ceirnini Claddagh, almost CIC's whole catalog is magic.

Bill

[leremarkable]

David, do you know whether there's a recording available of Colm Ó Caoidheáin singing what became The Dusty Miller (the 9/8 one in D with all the crans)? Ennis collected it from him, though I've never heard it sung.

The only Colm O Caoidheain singing that I ever heard was on a compilation album, maybe the Alan Lomax World History of Folk and Primitive Music one, I have it somewhere, can't seem to lay my hands on it, he sang a song in English that went; "soldier soldier, will you marry me now, with the hey with the ho with the sound of a gun"

To my ear, it was singing which was not as sophisticated as some of the others mentioned, un-self-conscious, and his pitch raised gradually as he went on in the song, to the extent that towards the end he could scarcely reach the high G note, it contained however the unmistakable adjustments to scale in ornaments and in other places, characteristic of Conemara Sean Nos, which gives it a quality like something you'd expect to hear in Morocco or somewhere.

The other thing you'll notice in that song by Colm Keane is his English is sketchy in places.

David

[eric]

> helpful to know about what others might think

There are enough different approaches to this music that all I know is that I don't know what others might think!

> but those who require more grittiness.

I'm being very sloppy, and didn't mean to give quite that impression.

> he sang a song in English that went; "soldier soldier"

Yeah, I love his presentation. There's something so solid and appealing in the way he sings that song. "She brought him the shirt of the very, very best, and here my small man, put this on!" What a great tune and rhythm.

It's actually available through iTunes (Colm Keane), if people want to hear a 30 second clip.

[leremarkable]

Eric,
did you notice at one point, he goes;

"She went to the shop, as quick as she could run,
with the hey with the ho with the sound of a gun,
and she bought him a shop (shirt) of the very very best,
Saying 'here my small man, put this on' "

[eric]

Yeah, he hesitates right there and something combining the two words comes out: sha-rp'. Considering how I'm regrettably "unhindered" by any second language, and how often I do things like that when singing (heck no, not in public!), it may be a brain f*rt more than anything

http://www.prism.net/buile/colmkeane.mp3

[leremarkable]

Shucks, I imagined it was an archeological insight into the mans uncomfortableness with the Queens tongue.

I was in the field by the house where Colm O Caoidhean lived, doing a tour during one of the Feile Comortha Joe Einiu a few years ago, and two men we met in the field said, in an apologetic sort of way;

"Tis only the Irish we speak mostly around here, we don't have much of the english"

David

[bensdad]

Ok, so nobody seems to have heard it. Does anyone know what the song is about, have the words been published anywhere? Or was it perhaps just a piece of lilting?
More recently I've heard an adaptation of the "steak and kiddley pie" joke set to this tune, so the second (cranning) part goes:

Steak and kiddley diddle I, steak and kiddley pie
Steak and kiddley diddle I, steak and kiddley pie

[Patrick D'Arcy]

http://www.prism.net/buile/colmkeane.mp3

We can only wish we had as much music in us as Colm has in just this one line of a song.

Patrick.

[eric]

> We can only wish we had as much music in us as Colm has in just this one line...

You are *not* kidding, Patrick. I listened to that line at least 15 times before posting it, and I've just listened to it another half dozen-- it just doesn't get old. It really gives you a respect for the instrument of the voice (not to mention Colm)-- there's just so many things going on that cannot be equalled on anything else. I think we play the pipes because it's closest, though

> Shucks, I imagined it was an archeological insight

Despair ye not! Using "the" as in "brought him the shirt" is idiomatic to me as a speaker of American English, as are the phrases "of the very, very best" and "for to put on." He also adds in an extra syllable before "for" (ostensibly to carry the rhythm)... a for to put on. That strikes me as something that seems to happen a lot when singing in Irish (for example, and understand my knowledge of Irish is small, Sorcha Ni Ghuairim).

Calling someone "my small man" is so reminiscent of the sprinklings of "my sweet man" in Tomas O Criomhthain's writings, that I imagine it's a carry over from Irish.

Altogether they may not speak of an uncomfortableness with English, but certainly are little flavorings you don't expect to hear in "normal" English.

[MikeyLikesIt]

[quote="eric] It really gives you a respect for the instrument of the voice (not to mention Colm)-- there's just so many things going on that cannot be equalled on anything else. I think we play the pipes because it's closest, though [/quote]

You know, Mickey Dunne said that the pipes were the closest thing to the human voice on the interview that Pat had linked to hisw site a wee bit back. It's really something what one can do with his or her's voice, and what Colm does there is breathtaking. I had to listen to it sevral times myself! For me, the sound of the Sean-nos is just as magical as the sound of the pipes.

Eric, what is the source of that recording? Is it a CD readily available? Thanks.

-Micko