February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
He spoke with utmost admiration, and I realized his compliment conveyed a powerful, positive message: Irish America’s best traditional music no longer suffers from invidious comparisons with the best traditional music coming out of Ireland.
The virtuosic, highly influential music of Boston button accordionist Joe Derrane (born in 1930), Chicago fiddler Johnny McGreevy (1919-90), and New York fiddler Andy McGann (1928-2004), to name just three, not only pioneered a “born in the USA” brand of Irish traditional music but also brought legitimacy and cachet to it. Even the pugnaciously opinionated flutist Seamus Tansey in his books “The Bardic Apostles of Innisfree” (1999) and “The Bardic Apostles of Innisfree Continued” (2008) praised Andy McGann and placed him among “that great Sligo crop of musicians of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s who set America and then Ireland ablaze with their resurgence of Irish traditional music.”
Through recordings, firsthand mentoring, or indirect influence, McGann and his generation of venerated players have inspired a younger generation of gifted musicians now occupying the loftiest level of skill and respect in the global community of Irish traditional performers. Four of the most prominent are flute and whistle player Joanie Madden, fiddler Brian Conway, button accordionist Billy McComiskey, and pianist Brendan Dolan. Their formal album debut as a quartet, “Pride of New York,” is an absolute stunner and the strongest proof of my point here. Their name is an abridgement of the “Pride of New York Ceili Band” coined in 2005 by Catskills Irish Arts Week artistic director Paul Keating, who wrote the impressive lead essay for their CD, and I can think of no better moniker for these musicians and their music.
They have convened at the top of their seasoned individual talents. Joanie Madden is nearing a quarter-century as the leader of Cherish the Ladies. Brian Conway has issued two solo albums and one trio CD over the past seven years. Billy McComiskey released his second solo recording last year and has already appeared on “The Green Fields of America” this year. And Brendan Dolan has guested on the latest Conway and McComiskey solo albums as well as on “The Green Fields of America.” Factor in the familiarity and ease with which the four perform together, drawing on their Big Apple-to-the-core exposure to tunes and techniques, and the result is an album fulfilling the promise of its title — and then some.
The track descriptions expertly researched and written by Myron Bretholz, a well-known bodhran and bones player, mirror the meticulous care with which Joanie, Brian, Billy, and Brendan have approached the project. (Their nickname is Joanie and the Killer B’s.) They chose tunes composed by or linked to such established masters as Martin Mulhaire, Larry Redican, Paddy O’Brien, Martin Wynne, Sean McGlynn, Martin Mulvihill, Jack and Charlie Coen, James “Lad” O’Beirne, Andy McGann, Tom Doherty, and Joe Madden, Joanie’s late father. Apart from the fiddle riding slightly low in the sound mix for the ensemble tracks, what is uncanny about each tune recorded by PONY is their ability to freshen the familiar and invigorate the ingrained, blending the essence of the past with the trad-and-true potency of the present.
The jigs “Happy Days / The Boys of Lough Gowna / The Knights of Saint Patrick” and the reels “Maud Millar / The Morning Mist / Lady Gordon” typify the album’s brilliance. Flute, fiddle, accordion, and piano propel those tunes with exemplary lift and life, the kind that dancers pine for, and above the hypnotic melody and rhythm is a saccharine-free frosting of elegance and grace making every tune distinctive and delectable.
Other medleys of reels played with comparable fervor and finesse by the quartet are “Redican’s / The Gatehouse Maid / The Road to Garrison,” “King of the Clans / Dan Breen’s / The Steeplechase,” and “Considine’s Grove / Trip to Durrow / Martin Wynne’s / Bere Island.”
Still another medley of reels comprises “Mulhaire’s #9 / Grandpa Tommy’s Ceili Band,” composed by Eyrecourt, Galway-born and Pearl River, N.Y., resident button accordionist Martin Mulhaire and performed as a superb solo here by Billy.
On the hornpipes, “The Stage / The Fiddler’s Contest / The High Level,” Brian’s fiddle solo sparkles in its detail, tempo, and nimble ornamentation.
The sole air, “Slan Le Maigh,” is played on whistle by Joanie, and it’s impossible to hear her spellbinding rendition without thinking of her late father. It is haunting, beautiful, and emotionally shattering.
“Sean McGlynn’s Waltz” likewise keeps the memory bright of Billy’s beloved mentor from Tynagh, Sean McGlynn, through its lighthearted swing and joyful embellishments, especially by Billy.
Further variety surfaces in the marches “The Old Cross / The Clans,” while the slip jigs “Redican’s Mother / The Bridal / The Humors of Whiskey” and the hornpipe medleys of “Taylor’s / Chief O’Neill’s Favorite / The First Light of Day” and “Sliabh na mBan / The Liverpool / The Quilty” brim with elan.
In harmony with the music is the album’s package, encompassing Paul Keating’s essay, Myron Bretholz’s tune notes, Peter Brice’s note about funding, Robert Hakalski’s exquisite design, the photos of the quartet taken in 155-year-old McSorley’s Ale House in lower Manhattan, and the snapshots of several musical heroes from preceding generations in and around New York. (I have an essay inside as well.)
But it is the music that towers above everything else. “The Pride of New York is really all of these people who contributed all of this music in New York,” Billy explained to me last May. “That’s what we’re so proud about.”
Hold tight to the reins of this PONY express. It moves with the pulse of memory and the passion of mastery on a 13-track album destined for the rare status of classic.
“Pride of New York” (cat. no. 745222) is available from Compass Records, 916 19th Ave. So., Nashville, TN 37212. Call 615-320-7672 or visit www.compassrecords.com.