Big Kerryman & Kid from Dublin to play Coatesville! SATURDAY, OCT. 16, 8pm. Admission $15
The soaring music of Breanndán Begley has lifted many hearts at home in Ireland and around the world. His family background is steeped in the rich heritage of music, song, dance and storytelling of the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) region in the west of County Kerry. In performance, swerving from infectious jigs and 'slides' to slow airs, from sean-nos songs in Gaelic to driving reels and passionate polkas, Begley unleashes the raw power and beauty of Irish music. A big man from the rugged Dingle peninsula, he is widely known and respected as a consummate master of the two-row button-accordion and the single-row melodeon, touring in Ireland and England as well as in the United States, France, Sweden, Finland and Estonia. He is a member of the internationally renowned ensemble 'Boys of the Lough', first touring with the band as a guest in the 1980s in the USA, and a full-time member since 1997. His exciting dance music, sensitive emotional playing of slow airs, and his singing in his native Irish have made him a great favorite in the traditional Irish music community. An agile dancer and a dedicated teller of stories, Breanndán is acclaimed in Ireland for his TV presentations on the Irish language channel, TG4. Don't miss a rare opportunity to hear this remarkable musician at close range on Saturday, Oct. 16, at 8pm. As for now, give your two ears a treat by listening to this rousing bit of 'kitchen music' from your man himself.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh(Kwee-veen O Rye-allah) skilled on the fiddle, uilleann pipes and tinwhistle, is one of the most creative and thoughtful young musicians in traditional music. The notion of playing set after set of tunes, interspersed with tales of the source musicians who gave them to him, bores him rigid. This is a musician who sees the need to shake up our preconceptions about what traditional music is, and what it can be. He has been extremely blessed in musical partners: piper Mick O'Brien and more recently, Breanndán Begley. Playing together, Caoimhín and Breanndán respect the classic model of Irish traditional music for fiddle and button-accordion, but their individual styles and approaches can combine for delightfully unexpected results. Ó Raghallaigh uses high-low dynamics unlike any other Irish fiddler you may have heard. (At times his playing can grow softer to the point of a barely breathed whisper.) Among musicians and audiences alike there has been much discussion of his ability to fashion captivating, almost otherworldly music through the use of low tuning, cross-tuning and droning. His playing is driving yet delicate, fascinating, heartfelt, and always fun! Here's Caoimhín playing one of the shop fiddles at Custy's in Ennis, County Clare.
“A moment of madness is better than a life of logic...might as well FollowYourHeart." This according to Mr. Breanndán Begley, and Mr. Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh concurs - its right there in their playing. Mad moments ensue here in plenty - some more obviously, like the tune they’re calling a Slippery Jig. Slip-jigs are in 9/8, but this one, learned from the playing of Paddy Cronin, has an extra beat. There’s a rendition of O’Sullivan’s March after which they roam about, still playing, snatches of the tune wafting back into the recording device’s earshot like a poignant draught of nostalgia. Furthermore, Ó Raghallaigh introduces the Hardanger fiddle (a traditional Norwegian instrument with four played strings and five sympathetically resonating strings) for a set of polkas. He takes these common polkas and, by his intensely musical playing, presents them as intriguing and delightful new creatures.
The entire CD is filled with wonderfully creative explorations, starting off with the infectious P & O Polka(a tune that could take over the world) - the fiddle low and the two instruments’ timbres inextricably intertwined. Next comes a spiraling 3-part jig, Tonn Cliodhna (Cliodhna's Wave), composed by Begley for his daughter. And who better than the fine sean nos singer that he is to play a pair of lovely slow airs on his 'breathing box'? A sparkly live set of polkas (The Green Cottage, The Glin Cottage and Julia’s Norwegian Polka) gives a good indication of how they sound in concert, with the pulse and percussive bowing, the weaving of the fiddle around the accordion, and the notes between the notes that makes them so inspiring to hear. They end with a reprise of the P & O Polka (fading away) underscoring the infinite nature of the permutations of this music. The tunes themselves are wonderful, but it’s what these musicians do with those tunes that is so entrancing. The dynamics, varying pace, percussive bowing and fiddle drones, the breathing bellows…it all calls attention to the music in a way that makes for very rich listening.
Soundclips of Breanndán: use back button to return
This is old-style button box and pure traditional song from Kerry's Dingle peninsula. There's plenty of energy and plenty of good music here, from a legendary musician and seasoned showman. Breanndán Begley’s third solo recording, It Could Be a Good Night Yet, includes five songs, evenly divided between English and Irish Gaelic, plus eight virtuosic sets of tunes with the emphasis on Munster forms: there's only the one set of reels to be found here, but plenty of jigs, polkas and slides, and a hornpipe or two. You can't judge a Kerry box-player without hearing a set of polkas, and the one which ends this recording is as good as any. There is some accompaniment on most tracks, but you wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking, it's that tasteful and unobtrusive. Breanndán is already well established as a fine box player in the Munster/Connaught style, and with this CD he upholds his well-deserved reputation with apparent ease.
Here we have a treat from the adventuresome young fiddle player and "sonic explorer" Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and the veteran piper Mick O’Brien. There’s something unique and utterly exhilarating about the sound of the fiddle and pipes together and on Kitty Lie Over, these two Dublin lads create emphatic, uplifting, sometimes breathtaking music. In so doing, they tip their caps to many a fine musician from the past, drawing inspiration from sources as varied as Séamus Ennis, County Clare fiddler Patrick Kelly, the great uilleann piper and tinwhistle player Willie Clancy and Donegal fiddler Neillidh Boyle. This is a sumptuous collection of traditional Irish music in all respects, a recording which is already coming to be regarded as a masterpiece!
Purchase tickets online ~ further down on this page
A slideshow of outstanding performances from the COATESVILLE TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC SERIES
143 E. Lincoln Highway / Coatesville, PA Admission: $15 / (610) 486-2220
Series History & Timeline
BESIDES the big urban centers like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, there are also plenty of smaller communities around the country where you can find passionate supporters of Irish traditional music. The old steel-mill town of Coatesville, about an hour west of Philadelphia, is a good case in point. It's here that the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series presents live concerts and workshops with the cream of the crop of Irish musicians, in a historic building on the town's main street. That intimate, cozy venue is also home to the Coatesville Cultural Society. In 2004 we approached the artistic director there with a plan to present an evening of jigs, reels and hornpipes by a group of area musicians. And so local band ‘The Morrigan’ played driving Irish dance music on fiddle, flute, accordion and guitar for about 50 appreciative community members. Encouraged by the turnout, we contacted an elder statesman of Irish music in America, MIKE RAFFERTY, the revered 82 year old Galway flute player who emigrated to the United States in 1949. We set up another concert, this time featuring Mike on flute and uilleann pipes, daughter Mary on button-accordion, and son-in-law Donal Clancy on guitar. It was a grand night of tunes and stories of growing up playing music in Galway. Soon after that gratifying event, with confidence bolstered, plans were boldly drawn up and our concert series was born!
2004
Mike & Mary Rafferty, w. Dónal Clancy - Oct. 2
Billy McComiskey & Friends - Dec. 11
2005
Brian Conway & Darin Kelly - Jan. 9
Paddy O’Brien & Chulrua - Mar. 12
John Carty & Ged Foley - Apr. 2
Gráinne Hambley & William Jackson - Apr. 9
John Flanagan (sean nós singer) - May 20
Kane Sisters - Aug. 19
Téada - Sept. 18
Randal Bays & Roger Landes - Oct. 8
Paddy O’Brien & Chulrua - Oct. 30
Colm Gannon & John Blake - Nov. 21
Brian Conway & Brendan Dolan - Dec. 3
2006
Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill - Mar. 8
Joanie Madden & Mary Coogan - Apr. 22
Brian McNamara - June 17
Fanai - Sept. 16
James Keane - Oct. 14
Claire Keville & Pat O’Connor - Oct. 28
2007
Maeve Donnelly & Tony McManus - Mar. 31
Jerry O’Sullivan - May 12
Rosie Shipley & Gerry O’Beirne - June 16
Angelina Carberry & Martin Quinn - July 7
Mike Rafferty, Felix Dolan & Willie Kelly - Oct. 13
Hedge Band, from Baltimore - Dec. 14
2008
Dana Lyn, Tina Lech & Donna Long - Apr. 19
Micheal O Raghallaigh & Ivan Goff - June 7
Angelina Carberry & Martin Quinn - July 26
Kevin Crawford & Cillian Vallely - Sept. 5
John Carty & Donal Clancy - Oct. 26
Brian Conway & Brendan Dolan - Nov. 22
2009
Michael Cooney & Pat Egan - Feb. 22
Pat O'Connor & Eoghan O'Sullivan - Apr. 5
Tony DeMarco & Anna Colliton - Sept 26
2010
McComiskey, Byrne & Egan - Jan. 17
Kevin Crawford & Cillian Vallely - Mar. 7
Kevin Burke & Cal Scott - May 23
Breanndán Begley & Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh - Sat., Oct. 16
For tickets to the Begley & Ó Raghallaigh concert, click below. We'll hold them for pick up on the evening of the performance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CTIMS is a labor-of-love. If you'd care to assist us in keeping the music going, any donation you're able to make, no matter the amount, will be appreciated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The PHILADELPHIA CEILI GROUP's annual Festival of Traditional Irish Music & Dance is coming soon ... Sept. 9, 10, 11! CLICK HERE. This year's FEST features Grammy nominated fiddler Liz Carroll!
