The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) is committed to providing free, universal access to the rich cultural tradition of Irish music, song and dance. If you’re able, we’d love for you to consider a donation. Any level of support will help us preserve and grow this tradition for future generations.
This month we continue to explore the unique Redican, Davis and MacMahon collections donated to ITMA, and on this occasion the emphasis is on flute and fiddle from both sides of the Atlantic.
Sligo is renowned as a centre for flute and fiddle players. This month we include major figures Séamus Tansey, Fred Finn, Peter Horan and the McDonagh brothers (Larry and Michael Joe) playing lively selections dating from the 1960s to 1980s. Also from the collections, there is an opportunity to hear a historic recording of the Gardiner Trio, featuring brother and sister John Joe Gardiner and Kathleen Harrington and Moya Acheson on piano.
Vincent Broderick was a well known flute player and composer from Galway and the recording in the Pipers’ Club in 1957 captures Vincent in great form.
Across the Atlantic, in a recording from Larry Redican’s collection made in the 1960s, Larry is joined by another Galway man, Jack Coen, who was the outstanding flute player among the Irish musicians in New York at that time.
Kyle Macaulay and I will have a podcast to chat about this month’s playlist, which hopefully will be entertaining and give some more background to these recordings from the ITMA. Hope to see many of you in Miltown for Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy next week.
-Pádraic Mac Mathúna