irish fiddle music - reviews
His new CD [...] contains a series of jewel-like expressions that
combine his sensibilities in the field of Irish traditional music
with his own explorations in composition, recording, and art.
Although it is brief (less than 30 minutes long), this CD is a
marvelous synthesis of traditional and contemporary (or even
modernist) sensibilities, and a thing of beauty to listen to.
Brooke Alberts, FolkWorks, 2007
"Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is not your typical Irish fiddler
nor does he have a standard vision for his instrument. Removing the
fiddle from its traditional role as a folk vessel and letting it speak
purely in texture, atmosphere and timeless, motivic layers, conversing
as a quality and as a color in a way that beautifully throws off its
ancestry and stereotype, it is clear that Caoimhín hears a world
unexplored and awaiting, somewhere between the lines of traditional music and sound collage. "
Tamara Turner, CD Baby review, June 2007
"The masterful fingering and bowing technique presenting what sounds
like an orchestration of fiddles, reedy, an older feel, pin dropping silence..."
Irish Music Magazine, Vol.13, No.9 June 2007
"It wasn't long before Ó Raghallaigh (himself a traditional music
scholar of Confucian proportions) and Cronin were swapping musical
molecules midstream, trading licks on everything from Colonel
Frazer's to An Buachaill Caol Dubh, the very embodiment of
Flann O'Brien's infamous guardian of the peace who became
one with his beloved bicycle in The Third Policeman."
Back to school for a mighty session, Siobhán Long,
The Irish Times, Monday, March 5, 2007
"...but there's much more than that: the particular bowing style of
Ó Raghallaigh is key, bringing to their music a now characteristic
swing, and they also regularly teeter intriguingly on the edge of the
melody, allowing it almost disappear... before satisfyingly reclaiming
the ground."
Toner Quinn, JMI, Vol.6 No.4 July-August 2006
"Ó Raghallaigh carried the rhythm and harmony duties, hinting at the mainline,
and gliding towards a clever landing. His performance of 'The Foxchase' -
proved the remarkable capabilities of both player and instrument".
Pat Ahern, The Examiner, March 2006
"[Iarla] Ó Lionáird still hears genius lurking in the undergrowth, however. 'I had
the great pleasure recently of hearing [fiddler] Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
playing', he says. 'He's the most creative player I've heard. It's like
you give him a little penknife and a stick, and you say: 'now cut a tune out
of that for me.' He hears the shape of things properly. I can't predict what
he's going to play in the next phrase, let alone the next tune, even though
the tune is familiar to me.' He continues: 'this is regarded as normal in
sean-nós. A certain unpredictability was part of its code, but that's not
very prevalent any more: always being able to find new pathways inside the
old language. The interior language of the tune is given a slight bump here
and there, utterly in keeping with the lexicon but totally unexpected. It
takes an enormous amount of talent to do that successfully.'"
Siobhán Long, The Irish Times, Wednesday, July 5, 2006
"There's a spirit and high kick to this music that's not too often captured
in the studio...A niftier mood enhancer than any drug therapy"
Siobhán Long, The Irish Times, Thursday 14.08.2003
"The technique is effortless; the tempo is steady and unhurried.
They understand the importance of a sense of joy and magic."
Pat Ahern, Irish Examiner, Thursday 21.08.2003
"There's another welcome addition to this album: the subtle "nyah" or
note bending that was a common feature of Irish music in the past, before
furious ensemble playing reduced the music to a torrent of blurred water. "
Sean Laffey, Irish Music Magazine October 2003
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