Note concerts and projects, the Irish contemporary music scene and worldwide music that excites the Note team.
 |
|
|
|
CDs I've been listening to recently Steve Reich - Phases (Nonesuch) This is a great box set of 5 CDs covering recordings of Reich's music on the Nonesuch label - very good value too. Tejedor - Musica na Maleta This is a new album by a brilliant band from Asturias in Northern Spain. I've also been listening a lot to their previous album, 'Llunaticos' as I had to learn some tunes to play at some gigs with them recently. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Shahbaaz (Realworld) I'd forgotten how much I loved this 1991 album was until I played it again recently. Mairtin O Connor - The Connachtman's Rambles ( Mulligan) This is one of my all-time favourite traditional albums. It's never far from the stereo. Bill Frisell - East/West and Further East/Further West We met Bill Frisell at a couple of festivals in Canada the summer before last and I became totally hooked on his music. These live albums are brilliant. Cathal Hayden - Live In Belfast Just bought this. A live recording of one my favourite fiddle and banjo players with a load of great guests such as Arty McGlynn, Mairtin O Connor and Matt Molloy. I've also involuntarily been listening to too much of my daughter's 'Now that's I call music 65'! Niall Vallely, Armagh, 18 January 2007 As wikipedia continues to change the way we all do things... Eye of the Beholder is something quite interesting... Eye of the Beholder is an interactive archive of jazz and creative music recorded between 1970 and 1989. Who says jazz died in the seventies? This is a database for documenting and discussing one of the richest—most overlooked and underrated—eras. It's in its infancy so go post... G Brad Mehdlau and Pat Metheny talk to Kurt Anderson about their collaboration and album on Studio 360. Worth a listen as is the rather fine album. G Our colleagues the piano suppliers and tuners Alex Jeffers, Paul Wade and Ciaran Ryan have come together to get involved with a rather lovely project: Send a Piana To Havana. The project aims to fund piano tuners to help with piano supplies and the cost of fitting out a decent workshop in Havana. In their words: Despite the phenomenal worldwide record sales and an equally successful film,the piano players and students of Cuba do not enjoy a 'Buena Vista'. Heat humidity and hungry termites are just some of the problems that face an average Cuban piano. But add to that a shortage of repair materials and a lack of expertise to tune and repair the instruments, and the problems are severely compounded. There are two fund raising concerts coming up this weekend that we reckon are well worth supporting. And you can win a piano on the raffle. Not bad. Send A Piana To Havana featuring Barry Douglas Joanna McGregor Micheal O Suilleabhain and Mel Mercier Cuban Jazz virtuoso Vladimir Karell with the Conor Guilfoyle Trio (Dublin only) Vicar Street, Dublin, December 10th The Black Box, Galway, December 13th. Tickets from usual outlets. G
Over the last number of months our friends at RTE lyric fm have increased their playback service online. While not poscasting it is an enhanced online service... We recommend JK Ensemble (most recent Monday – Friday available individually) The Blue of the Night (daily) Artszone The Third Wave Jazz Alley (x 3 – Saturday’s, Sunday’s and Wednesday’s programmes) Nova You will find the playback's on the relevant programme page... G Cathal Coughlan's interview on RTE Radio One's The Eleventh Hour can be heard at the link below. Just click on Thursdays show. The Eleventh Hour Cathal Coughlan talks about his latest work Flannery's Mounted Head > Foburg as well as the rise and fall of rock music on RTE Radio One's The Eleventh Hour programme on Thursday 23 November... G From Cathal Coughlan East End London October 2006 Current Listening: James Yorkston: Steady As She Goes (from Year Of The Leopard) Grizzly Bear: On A Neck, On A Spit (from The Yellow House) Íarla Ó Lionáird: Táimse Im’ Chodladh (from Invisible Fields) Alain Bashung: La Nuit Je Mens (from Fantasie Militaire) Scott Walker: Jolson and Jones (from The Drift) Its been quite a while so... current office listening is looking like this at the moment... Giya Kancheli - In L'istesso tempo (ECM) Gianinto Scelsi - Natura Renovatur (ECM) Brad Mehldau & Renee Fleming - A Love Sublime (Nonesuch) Bill Carrothers - Armistice 1918 (Sketch) Cathal Coughlan - Foburg (Beneath Music) Fred Neil - Bleecher & MacDougal (Warners) Alva Noto - Transrapid (Raster-Noton) We continue to indulge in the recordings of tunes by Reid Anderson played by both his trio The Bad Plus and other ensembles on a regular basis. G |