Sparks

BothyBand_FarewellToErin

This is a collaboration between myself, Robbie Harris and Étáin & Máire Ní Churraoin, collectively known as “An Chéad Ghlúin Eile”. A new slant on a Golden Oldie. The rhythmic engine firmly laid down by Robbie, stressing the oddness of the changing time signatures while maintaining a cool groove. The girls nailed the vocals and rose to the challenge of verse 4….an idea of mine as part of a new, more modern slant to the piece!


Stór a Stór a Ghrá

We close out 2015 with a mix from long time pal Paddy O'Haplin featuring some of the years best moments in our opinion.
Tracklist:
Bastien Keb  - Beat Without a Heart
Calimex Mental Implant Corp. - Paracruise Waffles
Jam City - Crisis 
Kendrick Lamar - The Blacker the Berry
Coco Bryce - Pinger 
Onra feat Daz Dillinger and Olivier Daysoul - We Ridin' 
NxWorries - Droogs
Mick Jenkins - Your Love 
Vince Staples - Norf Norf
Memetic - Workitout
Henry Wu - Yellow Brick
Moods - Forward
Fatima Yamaha - Only of the Universe
Zackey Force Funk - Firefly
Abra - Roses
Kornel Kovacs - Pantalon
The Maghreban - Not Good
Minos -  Money in the D U B
Isolee - Favouride
KK and MA - Are In Rio
House of Doors - Burmstar (Twin Mix)
Glenn Astro - A Bit Warmer
Al Zanders - Don't Want You To Judge
Jack J - Thirstin'
Africaine Eight 'O' Eight - Revanche
Omar S feat. James Garcia -  I Wanna Know
Fort Romeau - Cloche (Tuff City Kids Disco Mix)
Slowburn - Gritty 
Tuff Sherm & Patch Free - Dern Werk
Martyn - Falling For You
Myke Bogan - Metal Explosions
DJ Taye feat Tripletrain & DJ Manny - That Love
Druguse - Hood Rich Life
Joni - Running
Seven Davis Jr - Try Me (I'll Funk You) (Mono/Poly Remix)


All City End Of Year Mix by Handsome Paddy (ACMEOY15)

Skellig

At an open-air concert in front of the GPO in 1988, tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets to celebrate the Dublin Millennium. On the bill was the great Sean Maguire, Van Morrison and an 'orchestra' of 61 musicians, singers and dancers under the banner of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the Guinness Seisiún. The legendary Dublin singer, Liam Weldon was to sing a rendition of "Where Oh Where is James Connolly" a song born from the words of the Cork Poet Patrick Galvin. Liam had asked me, still a kid, to accompany him on the accordion. When he started to sing, an amazing silence fell over the crowd who stood there at dusk in the rain. It was a moment..... 
A week or two before, I'd been asked to go to the Comhaltas Studios in Monkstown, Co. Dublin to play on a studio recording of the same song with Liam. I remember Seamus Mac Mathuna becoming intensely concerned for Liam as he had just days before been released from hospital recovering from a triple heart by-pass operation. Liam was really going for it each time he sang the song, being so obviously unable to contain the passion and emotion that this song stirred within him. After a take, Mac Mathúna would say "That's great Liam! Sit down there and rest yourself; we don't want you ending up back in the feckin' hospital" And Liam would say: "Give me one more go at it in a minute - I know i can sing it better." And the hairs would stand up on end even more the next pass.
For some reason, (bus strike?) I wasn't able to get home to Kilkenny that afternoon on the usual bus/trains so Liam had offered to bring me on home  with him until such time as I could be lifted later that night. I got to spend the day with him, walking around the roads of Ballyfermot, down and around the local community centre and back to his home and family for the dinner. He told me of the importance of community. And community centres. "With so many people out of work," he said, "places like this give people somwhere to go, to meet and talk and maintain some sense of dignity." Everywhere we went that day, everyone knew him. He was like the Mayor.
And so, when he walked out in front of all those people a couple of weeks later in front of the GPO, they knew him there too..........

Thanks to the folks in the Comhaltas Archive who helped me find this. Copyright Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

Liam Weldon (15 October 1933- 28 November 1995) Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Image: "Weldon's Connolly" by Mick McAuley Copyright 2016

Where Oh! Where Is James Connolly?

Why 17th century Irish harp music maybe sounds better on the guitar, with genre busting musician, Steve Cooney

Culture File: Steve Cooney's harp sounds

https://bredamayock.com
https://twitter.com/BredaMayock
https://youtube.com/c/bredamayock

Learning Place written by Breda Mayock

Vocals Breda Mayock
Piano, fender rhodes, keyboards Sam Jackson
Percussion Robbie Harris 

Produced by Sam Jackson
Mixed by Fionán DeBarra and Sam Jackson
Recorded at Frequency Studio Dublin and Cloonagh, Co. Mayo 
Mastered by Fergal Davis at Sonochord Studios.

Photo by John Mee

Singer and songwriter Breda Mayock will release a new album January 2017. A collection of ten new songs written by Breda, it features pianist/composer Sam Jackson, percussionist Robbie Harris, violinist Kenneth Rice and bassist Dave Mooney. The album was recorded between Mayo and Dublin, Ireland.
 
In March 2015 breda released a solo album - ten self penned songs, recorded with guitarist Steve Cooney and percussionist Robbie Harris. The album was made in County Mayo as was the video of the first track Pine, filmed at The National Museum of Country Life, Turlough Park.
 
Breda’s previous recordings include Lights In the Dark, an album recorded by French producer Hector Zazou in Real World Studios where she recorded with Peter Gabriel. Her singing also features on Hughes De Courson’s O'Stravaganza, Breton harpist Alan Stivell’s album 1 Douar. Breda has also released two previous solo projects.

Learning Place

Dying of the Light (Radio Edit)

From forthcoming album Blue Sphere Motifs.

Riptide

Serengeti Sunrise

Percussionist Robbie Harris has collaborated with a diverse range of artists including Bobby McFerrin, Afro Celt Sound System, Clannad, Bob Geldof, Kodaline, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Jimmy Webb, Celtic Woman, Secret Garden, Brian Kennedy, Sharon Corr, Finbar Furey, Moya Brennan, Stockton's Wing, The High Kings, Luka Bloom, Mundy, Ryan Sheridan, Steve Cooney, and Dónal Lunny. He has also worked with world music artists like Hector Zazou, Nitin Sawhney, Theodosii Spassov, Mamady Keïta, Savina Yannatou, Francesco Turrisi, and the Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan.

He toured extensively with Riverdance: The Show before joining its Broadway production at the Gershwin Theatre in New York, where he was also featured on the new cast recording. While in New York, he served as a guest lecturer at The Juilliard School and The New School, NYC. Harris has performed with various orchestras, including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Galician Philharmonic Orchestra, and Il Giardino Armonico.

As the Musical Director of The Rhythm Corporation, he led a thirty-member drum corps at cultural and international sports events in Dublin’s Croke Park and Aviva Stadium. He also served as the Musical Director for St Patrick’s Festival’s production City Fusion, a massive piece of street theatre with 250 performers from 30 different countries, which won the Best Pageant Award consecutively from 2007 to 2009. Harris co-directed the Big Bang Festival of Rhythm from 2006 to 2020, celebrating diverse drumming styles and the influence of rhythm on dance, voice, and the visual arts.

In 2000, he curated and released Pure Bodhrán, a double album featuring 19 leading exponents of the Irish drum, including the instrument's first recording from 1927. In 2016, Harris formed Jiggy, a band known for blending traditional music with world rhythms and dance grooves. Their video Silent Place went viral in September 2018, garnering over 65 million online views and propelling the band to international acclaim. Their albums Translate and Hypernova have reached the top of the world music charts on iTunes in several countries.

Additionally, Harris is a co-director of 360 Entertainment, a multi-award-winning company that provides cultural dance and music performances in Ireland and internationally, including Europe, the USA, and Asia.

Sparks

Robbie Bodhrán Harris

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