Is Seamus Egan the best flutist of all time?

seizurebot · Post by **seizurebot** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:29 am

He barely plays flute anymore. anyway, Michael McGoldrick is god.

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:29 am

Nope

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:31 am

Nah. Rama is.

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:53 am

One of the best for sure. He seems to do everything right. He has the power and honking when he wants, he has the beautiful subtleness when he needs and he has ornamentations like no other players I've heard. It's really amazing that he is so extremely good on so many other instruments as well. If not the best flutist he's got to be the best multi-instrumentalist at least.

RudallRose · Post by **RudallRose** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:14 pm

you mean Shameless Ego?

hmmm

I dunno.

With Matt, Michael, Sylvan, Michael, Deirdre, and, and and....

I don't think there is such as thing as "best" in the class.
A favorite, yes....but not best.

Who would judge them to see who wins?

Henke · Post by **Henke** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:46 pm

David Migoya wrote:I don't think there is such as thing as "best" in the class.
A favorite, yes....but not best.

Who would judge them to see who wins?

Of course it has to be best for me, not best as a universal fact. My favorite is the best for me. So there!

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:07 pm

Short answer is "no". There is no such thing as "best" at that level of musicianship - it comes down to personal taste. I will say though, that I can think of very few other traditional Irish musicians who are so accomplished on so many instruments.

glinjack · Post by **glinjack** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:26 pm

i think it is a little in the foolish side to make a statement such as "'Best flutist of all time", there are so many different style's of flute playing, especially in celtic music,,also in my travels through the music world over the years, i have listened to some fine flute players who have never done commercial recordings,
Seems to me this poor misinformed AiglosCelt is relatively new (maybe a few years) to the world of real traditional irish music, and should get quite a lot more exposure to the world of fine traditional flute players.

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:49 pm

Back in 1989, the late author David Blum wrote a wonderful profile of Yo-Yo Ma for The New Yorker. It's available in his book "Quintet: Five Journeys Toward Musical Fulfillment" (Cornell University Press) and it's a great read for any musician, even if you have zero interest in classical music.

Anyway, there's a relevant passage in his profile of Yo-Yo Ma:

One sometimes reads that So-and-So is the "greatest" performer in a given field. But when it comes to artistic excellence there is no greatest performer, only a great performance, and that can occur unexpectedly. I've seen an English secondary-school production of Farquhar's "The Beaux' Strategem" that ran rings around the National Theatre for sheer acting skill and Restoration high spirits. A "great" violinist may possess genuine sensibility and enchanting beauty of tone, but does the enchantment cut through to the essense of the composer? Some of the truest performances...distinctly lack the typical superstar's sense of ease and protective sheen.

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:16 pm

Amen to that. It's definitely a matter of context as well.

AiglosCelt · Post by **AiglosCelt** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:23 pm

Heh, I understand that it's a rash generalization to say someone is the best, Mr. Egan just happens to be me personal favorite...the god of honkin, sez I!

radcliff · Post by **radcliff** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:25 pm

emhh..emhh...

please....

you have forget Me!

eilam · Post by **eilam** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:40 pm

it's true - Rich (rama) is one of them for sure, I can't even say who is my favorite, I know there are things that I try to pick up for various flute players, sometimes it's even in the simplicity of there play, or the tone. I would not say that Grey Larsen is at the top, yet there is so much that I pick up from his way of playing, and even tune selection. Conal is great but I don't know that I picked anything from his playing?

chas · Post by **chas** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 4:12 pm

If I had to pick a best, my vote would go to Chris Norman, because he does so many different things and does them all well.

That said, I'm with Eilam, Dave M et al. The three whom I've listened to constantly the last year or so are Deirdre Havlin, Jack Coen, and Garry Shannon. Totally disparate styles, same end result: music that I love and hope to be able to play one of these days. I love Seamus's playing, but between the last two times I saw him (five years apart), I think he picked up a flute twice.