Ochtapos
Three years ago, I began hosting a session at Lillie’s, an “Irish Victorian” bar on 17th Street in New York City, named after the legendary actress and socialite Lillie Langtry. It’s a fantastic place and savage for tunes – nice atmosphere, a superb staff and curious patrons who always seem to show up for the music. It also draws great players, including the people featured on these tracks. This music isn’t the work of a band; rather, I asked a few friends I really like having tunes with to do a “thing” with me in the studio, just for the craic. The project’s title – Ochtapos – began as an English language joke cracked at my friend Scott Spencer’s dissertation defense, but it evolved into a malevolent, Irish language foil that has appeared in many of the humorous emails I send out promoting the session. These tracks are free to download – please have a listen and enjoy.
Click here to go to the Ochtapos Project Page
- Augusta Irish/Celtic Week
If you’ve come here before, you may know that I am the new artistic director of the Augusta Irish/Celtic Week (July 22-27th in Elkins, West Virginia). It’s the oldest Irish cultural week in the United States and there’s a great staff this year – click here to go to Augusta’s official website to learn more about what we’re offering this year. It’s a great week and an awesome thing to be a part of. And fair warning? In the future, you’ll see me posting a bit about the week (especially once it’s past and I have pictures to share)!
Also, I recently wrote an article about Augusta’s 30th anniversary for the Irish Echo newspaper – click here to check it out!
My first column was published in the Irish Echo today. Click here to read it. In it, I mention a recording of Paddy Canny playing ‘Cielito Lindo’ – this is it:
canny-mariachi.mp3
I don’t remember where this came from – it’s just an excerpted bit from a longer track. I doubt I’ll be hosting much music relating to the column here, but a couple of people asked me what this sounded like so have a listen if you’re interested.
ps. “Free the Tarbolton Three” is a saying that I believe Boston’s own Teddy Davis and Tina Lech came up with.
UPDATE: Tom Madden wrote to me to let me know that the notation for “Blueberry Hill” (a fox trot) – in Morrison’s own hand – on appears on p. 68 of Veronica McNamara’s facsimile edition of the James Morrison notebooks (called “The Professor, James Morrison” – His Original Handwritten Music Manuscripts for Irish Fiddle – click on the link to buy a copy, whydon’tcha?).
UPDATE: Monsignor Charlie Coen tells me that he also plays ‘Cielito Lindo,’ as well as a few other tunes & songs as part of an “international” thing he likes to do.
“Neely to pen column”
You’re gonna want to keep an eye open in the Irish Echo, because I’m going to have a weekly column about traditional music there. Boom!
The other day I was corresponding with Jeff Ksiazek of the Ward Irish Music Archives and he mentioned the difficulty of finding photos of old Irish musicians and it reminded me of the report WNYC’s Soundcheck did last May in which they talked about the Flanagan Brothers. The best part of that report was probably the archival photo they dug out from December 9, 1926 taken at the WNYC studios. Not only is it probably the best photo of the Flanagans I’ve ever seen (that’s Mike and Joe, left to right), but it’s one of the finer photos of Irish music in that era I’ve come across.
Click here to go see the original article.
Tonight, the Blue Glaze Mento Band will be in Kingston to launch its latest album, We Will Wait. The group worked with New Orleans producer Bill Monstead on a really nice mix of mento, reggae and gospel. However, what I think mento fans will find most compelling is that this album not only features some original songs composed by band members, but it also includes some legendary guest artistes taking over the vocal duties. For example, Stranjah Cole sings over his own ska classic “Rough and Tough” played as a mento and Bunny Wailer is the featured singer on Blue Glaze lead singer Vernal Morgan’s composition “We Will Wait,” while Toots Hibbert is featured on my favorite track “Great Jehovah” (another Vernal Morgan composition). Just great stuff all around. The guy who wrote the liner notes did a pretty good job as well (if I may say so).
This album marks the last recording my friend and original Blue Glaze banjoist Nelson Chambers made before he died just a bit over a year ago, and he’s in fine form. I think he would have been proud to see this CD finally released to the world.
If you’re interested in buying We Will Wait, click here to head on over to CD Baby and check it out.
Last week, New York City’s Irish Arts Center launched a Christmas album called An Irish Christmas: A Musical Solstice Celebration. It is the first in IAC’s “Live From Irish Arts Center” series and recorded live during last year’s series of Christmas concerts. The album features Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis, Rhys Jones, Billy McComiskey, Liz Hanley and Brendan Dolan and it also includes a track from the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra! I mention it because I had a fair bit to do with it, not only with the WSHSO, but as production coordinator (being a second set of ears in mixing/mastering, organizing manufacturing, etc) and publicist (if you’ve heard it on the radio, I had something to do with it getting there).
It sets a very high musical standard for Christmas albums and has some great music on it – plus, it’s a worthwhile gift for the season! Click here to buy it/ check it out!
Today, I was at the National Library in Kingston, reading the June 1900 issue of Winkler’s Choir Leader. It’s a kind of boring Jamaica-based periodical about choir music (and mostly about religious choir music at that), but I came across an article about a “skull banjo” supposedly found in Paraguay that caught my eye. Here’s the exact text, it paints a chilling picture:
Grewsome Musical Instrument
Skull banjos are the product of the small country of Paraguay. The Indians of ancient times were constantly engaged in warfare and their primary aim when thus engaged was to capture the chief of the opposing side. When captured this personage was carried to their camp and there cruelly murdered and it was from his body that this grewsome curious musical instrument was made.
After the skull was thoroughly dried the top was cut entirely off. Over the opening thus made a piece of skin taken from the body was tightly stretched in the manner of a drum. In the back of the skull the two femors of the legs were inserted. These bones were so trimmed that they were of uniform thickness throughout the entire length. The ends of these bones were joined together by one of the ribs from the body.
Then from the forehead of the skull to the rib which connected the femors strings were tightly stretched. These strings were made from the skin of the victim, thoroughly dried and rubbed over with resin. The instrument was played in a similar manner to the mandolin.
The skull was left so that the jaws were movable. Therefore with each shake of the instrument the jaws wagged, and with any sharp jolt the teeth came together with a snap. So Rare a relic was this considered that a gentleman of England bid £125 for one at a recent auction In London.
Turns out, the verbatim article appears a few months earlier in the February, 1900 issue of the Hopkinsville Kentuckian. Then, a slightly amended version of this article (with a line suggesting the existence of this instrument is proof that Paraguayan Indians are a “barbarous, uncivilized race”) shows up in 1906 in Wisconsin’s Eau Claire Sunday Leader, in May 1907 in Springfield, Kentucky’s News-Leader (where the New York Herald is its cited source), in May 1907 in the Lodi Sentinel, and then in July 1907 in the Bryan Times. I’m sure this article showed up in other papers as well – I just haven’t looked in depth.
It’s fascinating to me that an article about a Paraguayan “skull banjo” was written in the first place. (Particularly because I don’t believe they ever existed.) But published in 1900 in Jamaica after the exact story ran in Hopkinsville Kentucky? I mean, what was the connection? How did that work? It’s also fascinating to me that a more blatantly racist (but clearly related) version began to appear in 1906-1907? What’s that all about? I mean, if I didn’t know any better I’d think this was just innocent fun…but I do know better, and it’s pretty clear that this isn’t what this is.
Funny article, though!
