Na Píobairí Uilleann

Chairman, NPU

An Píobaire

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8 2 27 20120411 27 tom of the pastoral chanter. Whatever the historic progression to our instrument was, it was fascinat- ing to hear and see a pastoral set being played. During Joe’s in-class demonstration of his ‘beta’ model for pastoral pipes, someone in the room re- marked how odd it was that we were all talking as though listening to and playing quasi-extinct eigh- teenth century pipes was an unremarkable thing to do. Hearing that, I couldn’t resist saying, “You mean it’s normal for a bunch of guys to sit around playing uilleann pipes on a cold January day in Canada?” A wonderful bunch! On the Saturday evening, a concert was staged at the Tranzac Club. Students of Chris Langan and regular Toronto session musicians started off the evening, leading to stellar performances by Mr. Maguire and the O’Hare-Knowles team. Kieran O’Hare was a real treat to hear. He played his Andreas Rogge three-quarter B set. The weather pre- sented its challenges to Kieran’s reeds, but he played through Toronto’s January with aplomb and finesse. As a piper, I do not feel qualified to assess Kieran’s wife’s fiddle playing, but I found Liz’s bowing tech- nique particularly subtle and unique and I was amazed at her ability to complement the piper’s repertoire and seamlessly join Kieran, creating a mu- sical product far greater than the sum of the parts. Matters reconvened the next morning for the now famous Langan Weekend breakfast, after which Peter Maguire gave a lecture on the topic of the Dan Sullivan Shamrock Band and the many recordings and regular dance hall appearances made by the Band in the 1920s and 1930s. This was a fascinat- ing insight into Irish-American and popular music in the U.S. generally in the 1920s–1930s. Peter lives in Boston and, because of his presence in that city, has been able to research the Sullivan band and similar Irish musical groups and musicians by speaking with relatives in the Boston area. I really enjoyed Peter’s talk and would have been content to listen to his collection of anecdotes and recordings for the remainder of the day. As the Piper’s Chair beckoned, Peter wrapped up his talk and the various pipers in attendance took turns playing on the main stage. Pat O’Gorman kicked things off playing his Chris Langan set of pipes. Pat is a multi-instrumentalist – a first class piob mhór player, a flute-player and an uilleann piper. He claims to be a learner and amateur at uil- leann pipes, but methinks he dost protest too much. His version of “The Virginia” launched the Piper’s Chair session in fine form. This writer then had a crack at three reels and a jig. I’m afraid I muffed the jig when I looked up at the listeners in the room and became belatedly self conscious. Ray Cald- well followed with, among other tunes, a lovely playing of “Port na Púcaí”. Ray played his Chris Langan-made chanter with his Kennedy drones and regulators. Joe Kennedy then took the stage to again showcase his pastoral set. The non-pipers in the room weren’t sure what was going on, but I think all pipers pres- ent were listening and watching reverentially. Bob Gardiner, the great Belfast-born, Toronto-based piper and Committee member behind the organi- zation and staging of the Langan Weekend, then took the stage for a lovely set of tunes. Bob was then joined by Peter Maguire for a set of John McKenna polkas. Another Belfast man, Steafan Hannigan, then followed with a wildly ornamented and embellished set of jigs, including what I always refer to as his Jimi Hendrix version of “Banish Mis- fortune”. Steafan was also kind enough to handle the sound system during the Piper’s Chair. Next up was Toronto’s latest uilleann pipes star, Ross Grif- fith. Ross started his piping life on the big pipes, but has moved to the dark side with wondrous results. Playing a Seth Gallagher full set, Ross absolutely nailed “The Wounded Hussar”, in a version he said he had learned from Ennis’ recording. Great play- ing! Peter Maguire was next up with some stunning tunes on the flute. Kieran and his wife Liz then “topped it off” with a set of rollicking numbers on flat pipes and fiddle. A fabulous end to a lovely weekend! Greg Graham

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2012-04-21T00:00:00

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