Coach House Dublin Castle
GEOGRAPHY, BOTH shared and contrasting, defined the opening concert in the first Music Network tour of the year. Roscommon flute player John Wynne and fiddle player John McEvoy had already forged a heady reputation on the back of their robust and rhythmically exciting playing, and their 2007 album,
Pride Of The West
, clearly signposted a rich seam of tunes mined from the hills of north Connacht.
Making their acquaintance with the west-Kerry singer and flute player with Danú, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, has proven a gift for listeners with ears curious for the cross-currents that feed musicians from the west. The Shannon informed the theme of this tour, with a cool eye on the ebb and flow of the tradition back and forth across the river, its movement often fuelled by waves of emigration, and much of the emphasis of the evening’s repertoire was rooted in the tunes of Roscommon and north Connacht, with a single set of tunes from west Kerry sidling their way into the mix. Guitarist and flute player John Blake (like John McEvoy, a second-generation musician who has returned from England to be closer to the music) was the fourth and final cornerstone in this imaginative ensemble.
From the opening strains of O'Carolan's Planxty Henry McDermottroe, Wynne and McEvoy stitched their highly patterned repertoire with designs so finely wrought as to lure the listener into their conspiracy, all the better not to miss a note. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh's voice was a show-stopper, its deep, earthy tone relishing the lyrical richness of The Leaving of Limerickand Slán Le Máigh. Her flute-playing glistened in the heat of The Highest Hill in Sligo, as her flute and that of John Wynne found ever-deeper purchase.
John Blake’s accompaniment was characteristically low key and at times too restrained. He joined Wynne and Nic Amhlaoibh on flute and whistle on two occasions, but the instruments raced towards the finish line, as if in competition rather than in concert. A well-researched collaboration that promises to rise to a gallop as the tour progresses.
