Music from Two Different Generations

Rossinver Braes is the new album of traditional Irish music on fiddle and concertina from Ben Lennon and Tony O'Connell, released on the Cló Iar-Chonnachta label.

Ben Lennon is a legendary figure in traditional Irish music circles, a fiddler from Co. Leitrim who celebrates his eightieth birthday this year and who has been playing the fiddle for seventy of those years. Although almost fifty years separate Ben from his fellow musician on this album, Tony O'Connell from west Limerick, there is an undeniable musical connection between them. David Lennon, Ben's son, says in his introduction to the CD: 'Tony is probably the most empathetic musician I have heard my father play with. There is an understanding of phrasing, time and nuance that one finds only rarely in any musical form.' This is O'Connell's second album; his first album was recorded with another Leitrim fiddler, Andy Morrow, and was released to critical acclaim in 2005. The album came second in the top ten albums of 2005 of highly-respected traditional Irish music reviewer Earle Hitchner of the Irish Echo, second, interestingly, to the album Within a Mile of Kilty released on the Cló Iar-Chonnachta label that year and featuring Ben and Charlie Lennon, as well as four other superb Leitrim fiddlers.

Rossinver Braes features both traditional and newly-composed tunes. Several of Charlie Lennon's compositions are included, including the hornpipe that gives the album its title, named after the village where Ben now lives. Charlie also composed two barn dances in honour of the musicians while the album was being recorded at his Cuan Studios outside Spiddal, 'Lord Leitrim' and 'The Earl of Thomond', tunes which he feels reflect the spirit of both musicians and their dynamic playing together. The tune selection leans toward the Sligo—Leitrim area and includes many tunes associated with Michael Coleman and James Morrison. Accompaniment is provided by Charlie Lennon (piano), Alec Finn (bouzouki) and Jerry McNamara (guitar).

Ben Lennon is from Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim and has recorded many albums during a long and illustrious traditional music career. He is regarded as one of the very finest of Leitrim's fiddlers, no mean feat in a county renowned for its fiddling tradition.

Tony O'Connell is from Glin in west Co. Limerick and is currently living in Limerick city where he plays regularly and teaches at the Irish World Music Centre in the University of Limerick. He has won All-Ireland concertina titles at both underage and senior levels and has toured Asia, America and Europe with various shows and groups.

Also available from Copperplate and featuring Ben Lennon

CICD 139 The Natural Bridge

CICD 159 Within A Mile of Kilty

Press Reviews

"When my father mentioned that he thought it would be a good idea to make a CD with Tony, I sensed that something special was happening, and so it proved to be." That quote is taken from the CD notes of Rossinver and was written by David Lennon, one of Ben's sons. David also said that when his father first mentioned he had been playing music with a top-class concertina player called Tony O'Connell from Limerick, he realised that this man must be good. "My father is not in the habit of praising musicians without considerable merit..."

Ben is a great living exponent of the strong, regional style of fiddle playing from the north Leitrim, south-eastern Fermanagh area and the fact that he took up with a man from far-off Limerick and almost fifty years his junior was also a bit of a surprise. "It took a while for us to get it all together," Ben says, "because we have different styles of playing but he was able to adapt. He's very adaptable, very musical, and he has a great passion for the music. He's a younger man, but he really knows what it's all about."

That said, Ben is no stranger to playing with musicians from all over Ireland, having lived at various times in Cork, Limerick and Donegal. "When I was in Cork we had a group with Jackie Daly and Charlie Piggott and Gary Cronin. At that time there was great music in Cork and we had regular sessions, maybe twice a week. We formed this little group and called ourselves The Shaskeen, long before the well-known band of the same name came along. I enjoyed that very much. Then in Donegal we had a band called Dog Big Dog Little that featured himself, Seamus Quinn, Gabriel McArdle & Ciaran Curran. I liked playing with them very much. And then I played with my own family, my sons, Brian and Maurice, and my brother, Charlie."

David notes: "Tony is probably the most empathetic musician I have heard my father play with. There is an understanding of phrasing, time and nuance that one finds only rarely in any musical form." You can check it out for yourself in this delightful fifteen-track album of reels, jigs, hornpipes and barn dances that comes with the typical Clo lar-Chonnachta attention to detail in notes that are full and generously informative on the musicians and their music. Aidan O'Hara

LiveIreland.com

You can always, always count on Clo Iar Chonanachta to put out wonderful, traditional music. Now the label brings us Ben Lennon on fiddle and Tony O'Connell on concertina in a magical thing called, Rossinver Braes. Wonderful. Guest musicians include Charlie Lennon on piano, Alec Finn on bouzouki and guitarist, Jerry McNamara. A contender for Instrumental Album of the Year. If you love real Irish music, this one is for you. A wondrous and lively piece of work, altogether. Rating Four Harps Bill Margeson

The Folk Diary

The much-loved octogenarian fiddler from Co. Leitrim with the totally distinctive way of phrasing his tunes teams up with a much younger concertina player from west Limerick.

The instinctive way that their instruments phrase together belies the near half century that separates their ages. This is delightful inspiring music that produces a sense a

relaxed control in their playing, even when they are playing reels and the sense of space in The Cavan Reel/The Galway Rambler is delightful though the real beauty of their playing

is when they playing at a slower pace - barn dances and hornpipes and even a tune that is somewhat dubiously deemed to be a foxtrot.

The recording mix favours strongly the lead instruments so that the superb playing of the likes of Alex Finn of De Danann fame and Ben's brother Charlie on piano is very much in the background. As well as being Ireland's top accompanist of choice, Charlie Lennon is also one of his country's leading composers of dance tunes and here he contributes two barn dances,

each named for the lead musicians. Vic Smith