Celtic Club: Music and Culture at UWM

CCMC Tune Swap February 2, 2008: The Edenderry (Reel)

Here's a lovely single reel I got from flute player Harry Bradley in December. It's called the Edenderry, and Harry mentioned the origins for the tune may be Co. Roscommon. The do have a version up a the session.org, but the B section is different from Mr. Bradley's.

CCMC Tune Swap November 3, 2007: Tell Her I Am

This three part jig (a tune swap first, I believe) is probably most well known through fiddler Michael Coleman's rendition recorded in 1927. (You can find an online version of Coleman's 1936 recording here). I first learned the tune from local flute player Asher Gray. "Tell Her I Am" has been recorded often, but two versions that stick out in my mind (other than Coleman's) is Martin Hayes' and Dennis Cahill's version on The Lonesome Touch and Shannon Heaton's flute setting from her and her husband Matt's duo album, Dearga.
As for origins of the tune title, according to the Fiddler's Companion's entry: "Charlie Piggott, in his book Blooming Meadows (1998, written with Fintan Vallely), relates the story regarding a remark by the famous County Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman, then living in New York. Coleman was performing when a female admirer asked her companion to find out from the fiddler whether or not he was married. "Tell her I am," he replied."
I tend to vary the melody quite a bit on this one, so if the recording isn't matching settings you find online, it's just me playing with the tune :)

CCMC Tune Swap: October 6, 2007: The Banks of Lough Gowna

According to The Fiddler's Companion, "Banks of Lough Gowna" is known by a number of names: "The Clare Jig," "One More Bottle," and "The Rambler from Clare" to name but a few. The Irish name is "Bruaca Loca Gamna" (although I don't know if that spelling is right--looks wrong to me at least!). It's a fairly common session tune that's disappeared a bit from the Milwaukee sessions, although you'll hear it a lot in Chicago and other areas. I'm familiar with the tune from a number of sources, most recently from fluter Marcas O'Murchu's Turas Ceoil album.

CCMC Tune Swap: September 8th, 2007 #1: The Lonesome

Today’s swap was the first session for the 2007/2008 school year. We started out the year by learning a great jig called “The Lonesome” which is also known as “The Rolling Waves” in some parts.
Cassie also brought in a great march called “The Wren” that we learned as well! You can find a clip of it in part #2.

CCMC Tune Swap: September 8th, 2007 #2: The Wren

As I mentioned in the previous post, Cassie brought in this march called “The Wren” for the club this month. It’s a brilliant tune! I thought it sounded a bit like an An Dro recorded by Chicago based whistler/flutist Larry Nugent on his album Two for Two.
In case you don’t know, an An Dro is a Breton folk dance in 2/4 time. According to the wikipedia article: “An Dros often have songs associated with them, and these are usually sung as a verse/chorus or call/response, with the leader singing the verses or calls. The musicians will sometimes play from the middle of the dance floor, and the dancers will then often form a spiral around them. You will occasionally run into quite vigorous versions of the dance with large, sharp movements (typically in Breton contexts); be sure you’re comfortable with the basic rhythm before you join in…”
To see one being danced, check out this video on Youtube. Notice that the bombarde player is standing in the middle of the dance circle!
According to thesession.org, “The Wren” and the tune Larry recorded may be variations of the same tune, just in different keys. Not being an expert in Breton music, I can’t confirm or deny this (they could possibly be different melodies to different songs). Either way, “The Wren” is a fantastic Breton tune that sounds great in B minor. Thanks again to Cassie for sharing it with us today!