February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
It was a ballad, not earth-shattering in form or content, but tender and poignantly introspective. On her new, fourth solo CD for Shanachie, “Chasing the Sun,” Casey raises the songwriting ante by penning six of the 13 songs she sings.
Hyphenating “singer” with “songwriter” can be risky. Good songs are more than a chain of end rhymes for perspectives on life’s profundities. They have the poetry of felt conversation, eliciting a thoughtful, emotional, whole-psyche response from listeners. Rank sentimentality, hackneyed phrasing, and shopworn imagery only smother that oxygenating experience, and contemplating one’s navel is an annoying substitute for purposeful self-questioning.
For the most part, Karan Casey avoids those songwriting pitfalls. Her lyrics frequently rely on the imagery of nature or weather. The challenge, then, is to make something fresh out of something familiar.
Only in the album’s opening song, “Chasing the Sun,” does Casey stumble. A rotely strummed rhythm line and vaporous lyrics (“While outside the snows they fall away / Slowly saying goodbye, goodbye to you”) almost bring the recording to a halt at the outset.
The CD’s second track, “When Will We All Be Free,” immediately stops the slide. This is songwriter Casey putting some teeth into lyrics exposing and opposing oppression and destitution. “Our politicians run to the altar of gold / To line their pockets with greed / Turning a blind eye to all around / Especially the ones in need,” she sings with blunt, stinging conviction. In a time when the poor are increasingly looked on as stupid and exploitable, not unlucky, her words ring out in condemnation of callous indifference and in an entreaty for compassion and change.
An ache for liberty also ripples through Casey’s “Freedom Song,” and in “The Yellow Furze” she skillfully crafts a lyric about what appears to be a victim of domestic injustice, abuse, or shame, her victimizer, and the consequences for them and, ultimately, us.
Casey additionally sings three songs written by Lurgan’s Barry Kerr: “Mother Earth’s Revenge,” teeming with environmental outrage; “The World Looks Away,” baring the anguish of refugees; and “Waiting for the Snow,” pulling no punches with these initial lines: “Feed us with your left hand / Starve us with your right.” Kerr’s songs of conscience complement Casey’s own, and together they constitute a powerful plea for recognizing the world’s ills and remedying them.
Besides these songs with a spiky sociopolitical edge are love songs etched in wistfulness and melancholy, such as “This Time Will Pass” and “Bright Winter’s Day,” both written by Casey.
Without any accompaniment Casey sings two traditional songs, “The Brown and the Yellow Ale” and “Jimmy Whelan.” Her uniquely expressive voice and interpretive ability make each of them sound brand new.
Casey’s singing of “Lady Mary Anne,” a song by Robert Burns, seems plucked out of the Kate Rusby school of winsome, husky folk-alization. Another slight misstep is Casey’s approach to “The Keg of Brandy.” By injecting a moderately upbeat, slightly bouncy tempo into this Robbie O’Connell song, she loses the dark, brooding, regret-swollen undercurrent that he memorably revealed on his “Love of the Land” album in 1989.
In many ways Karan Casey chases the sun of her own musical vision here, and what’s impressive is how often she catches up with it. This new CD is an admirable blend of strongly held beliefs, an open heart, a voice never less than striking, and a willingness to take risks. (Recall “Strange Fruit,” a jazz classic inextricably linked to Billie Holiday, which Casey bravely and effectively recorded on “The Winds Begin to Sing” four years ago.)
Karan Casey shows clear promise as a songwriter, especially in response to bigotry, cupidity, and apathy. As she gains confidence and seasoning in this compositional pursuit, her singing, already powerful, can only grow more so. Apart from the exceptions I noted, “Chasing the Sun” is a bright achievement fearlessly expanding Casey’s talents.
SHANNON CANON ON COMPASS
As it did with the post-1980 solo albums recorded by Tyrone native Paul Brady, Nashville’s Compass Records seems bent on reissuing all of Clare-born Sharon Shannon’s recordings, from her self-titled solo debut in 1991 through this year’s “Tunes.” CDs by the button accordion and fiddle player were previously released in the United States by Philo, an imprint of Rounder, and by Green Linnet.
Adorned with the Compass logo so far are “Sharon Shannon” (reissued in 2001), “Out the Gap” (1994; reissued in 2005), “Each Little Thing” (1997; reissued in 2005), “The Diamond Mountain Sessions” (2000; reissued in 2001), “Libertango” (2004; reissued in 2004), and “Spellbound” (1999; reissued in 2005). Some of these Compass releases also contain a bonus track.
Right now it appears unlikely that Compass will reissue Sharon Shannon and the Woodchoppers’ “Live in Galway” (Daisy, 2001). Recorded in December 2000 at the Warwick, this initially limited-edition CD features Letterfrack fiddling sisters Liz and Yvonne Kane.
Compass does plan to reissue “Tunes” (Daisy) by Sharon Shannon on accordion, Frankie Gavin on fiddle, Michael McGoldrick on flute and whistle, and ex-Woodchopper Jim Murray on guitar. Additional backing on the CD, which came out in Ireland this past March, is supplied by Sharon’s sister Mary on banjo, Tony Molloy on bass, James Mackintosh on percussion, and Flook’s John Joe Kelly on bodhr_n. Look for this Compass CD later in the spring.
OTHER UPCOMING ALBUMS
Former Cherish the Ladies’ lead singer Cathie Ryan has a new Shanachie solo CD, “The Farthest Wave,” coming out on April 26. Produced by John McCusker, it includes Caherlistrane vocalist Se_n Keane, Dublin-born guitarist John Doyle, and Scotland’s Karine Polwart as guests.
John Doyle not only plays guitar on five-string banjoist Alison Brown’s new solo album, “Stolen Moments” (Compass), but has also written a tune, “The Magnificent Seven,” with her on it. Doyle appears on eight of the album’s 11 tracks, including “(I’m Naked and I’m) Going to Glasgow.” It’s a cheeky title for “The Grey Goose/Ray Harvey’s/The Malinky/Going to Glasgow” medley that Brown dedicates to Colin Hynd, director of the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. Brown describes her new CD as “a true hybrid sound that suggests its influences — bluegrass, jazz, Celtic music.” It will be released on May 10.
In the past I’ve spoken about jazz singers of Irish-American lineage who are on the rise, such as Rebecca Martin and Kate McGarry. Add Julie Hardy to the list. Born in Amesbury, Mass., and raised in Fremont, N.H., Hardy has an Irish mother and a great-great-grandmother from County Cork. She earned a bachelor’s degree in classical voice and composition from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in jazz performance from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Julie Hardy’s solo debut CD, “A Moment’s Glance,” came out this month on Fresh Sound New Talent, a Barcelona-based indie jazz label that has also extended recording opportunities to talented Irish-Canadian saxophonist Seamus Blake. Her album repertoire ranges from Rodgers-and-Hart’s “My Romance,” to Lennon-and-McCartney’s “And I Love Him,” to two Hardy originals without words, “No Turning Back” and “Real Lies.” In those last two tracks she scats while the quartet of tenor saxophonist Rob Stillman, pianist Randy Ingram, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Adam Cruz play.
EVENTS, CONCERTS
Fiddler Liz Carroll and guitarist-singer John Doyle will give a free concert on April 21 from noon to 1 p.m. in Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, 10 First St., S.E., Washington, D.C. The duo’s performance is part of the 2005 Homegrown series there.
New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House and NYU’s Music Department will hold “Close to the Floor: A Conference on Percussive Dance” during April 29-30. Those scheduled to participate include Mick Moloney, M