John Doonan - Flute for the Feis (Leader - LEA 2043 - 1972)
A lovely album from piccolo player John Doonan, accompanied by Henry Eglington (accordion), Phil Murray (acoustic bass), and Dave Price (piano). You can have a listen to one of Doonan's sets over on the Folk Archive Resource North East (FARNE) website. Doonan, from Hebburn (which is definitely NOT in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne), was All-Ireland and world piccolo champion, and played at Fiesanna and festivals the world over, competing and providing music for dance competitions, a fact that accounts for the preponderance of Set Dance tunes on this recording, and for the lovely Sean Nós dance steps that can be heard on track 10. Track 14 is an interesting example of Murray's lively bass playing, and pretty funky stuff considering how traditional is Doonan's North Connaught-influenced style of playing. All in all this album is a surprising little gem.
1. Seán Maguire's/The Banshee [Reels]
2. The Hunt [Set Dance]
3. Smash the Windows/Off She Goes [Single Jigs]
4. Bonaparte's Retreat [Set Dance]
5. The Sport of the Chase [Slip Jig]
6. The Flowers of Antrim/The Quarrelsome Piper [Hornpipes]
7. The Coolin [Air]
8. The Fermoy Lasses/Sporting Paddy/The Dawn [Reels]
9. The Ace and Deuce of Piping [Set Dance]
10. Saddle the Pony/Shandon Bells [Jigs]
11. The Little Heathy Hill [Set Dance]
12. The King of the Fairies [Set Dance]
13. Eileen Aroon [Air]
14. Bonnie Kate/Jenny's Chickens [Reels]
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I think The Fermoy Lasses/Sporting Paddy/The Dawn [Reels] is missing - it seems to go from the air to the Ace and Deuce, with Bonny Kate repeated at the end - or it is just my download?
ReplyDeleteI'll look into it soon - I'm away at the moment. Sorry about that...
ReplyDeleteHi, there is still a problem with this set of recordings. I'll explain.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened is that the track 8 recording of Fermoy Lasses and others isn't there. What happened is that tracks 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 were 'pushed up', with the the ace and deuce of piping in track 9 filling in track 8, but the track names remained intact.
For an easier to understand example, at this moment although track 8 says The Fermoy Lasses/Sporting Paddy/The Dawn, if you play track 8 it plays The Ace and Deuce of Piping instead; although track 12 says The King of the Fairies it please Eileen Aroon instead. Play track 13, it says Eileen Aroon but you get Bonnie Kate.
Bonnie Kate is then 'repeated' in track 14.
To summarize, I think track 8 was accidentally skipped while ripping the record. Since there has to be a total of 14 'tracks' the last one, Bonnie Kate was doubled to fill in the missing track. While all these happened, the original names of the tracks remained unchanged.
I'll look into it when I get back...
ReplyDeleteOk, I've fixed the problem now. Let me know if there are any further issues...
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteEverything is okay, except for the last problem is a small track number issue:
Track number 8 was given to The Ace and Deuce and Fermoy Lasses. Number 9 should go to Fermoy. This also messed up the rest of the track numbers, but other than this, everything else is all right.
Very good playing of Fermoy Lasses by John Doonan there. Of the two records, this one is my favourite.
You're absolutely right. I've sorted it out, just for the sake of clarity.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, this is also the recording I favour of the two.
This blog is amazing, I must to say that I love the flute, i think this instrument is very notable, i usually feel very relaxed when i listen a flute. Is absolutely wonderful. Actually I want to learn about how to play this instrument.
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