John McEvoy & John Wynne: The Dancer at the Fair
John McEvoy (fiddle)
John Wynne (flute)
Guest Musicians
John Doyle (Guitar)
Brian McGrath (Piano)
Mike McCague (Bouzouki)
Pádraic Keane (Bodrhan)
John Wynne comes from Roscommon and he started off on the tin whistle when he was eight years old, being taught by Paddy Ryan. He has a huge interest in the music of Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim, in particular. His flute-playing influences include Patsy Hanly, Matt Molloy, Seamus Tansey, Peter Horan and Catherine McEvoy. He equally loves fiddle music, and his favourite fiddlers include John Carty, Brian Rooney, Tommy Peoples and Kevin Burke. John was a member of the band Providence, with whom he toured extensively and with whom he recorded two albums, Providence and A Fig For a Kiss. He released a critically acclaimed solo CD, With Every Breath, in 2000. He has produced and played on The Flute Players of Roscommon, Volume 1, released in 2004. John regularly plays at sessions and concerts, as well as being much sought after as a teacher at workshops and summer schools all over Ireland.
John McEvoy was brought up in Birmingham, of Roscommon parents. His earliest influences were Kevin and Jack Cullen, and his teacher, fiddler Paddy Ryan - all of them were from County Roscommon. He developed a deep love for the music of north Connacht through his association with Paddy Ryan, who gave him the recordings of the Sligo fiddle masters and the MacDonagh brothers of Ballinafad to listen to.mAll of them were from County Roscommon. He developed a deep love for the music of north Connacht through his association with Paddy Ryan,
"I'm a great follower of flute and fiddle duets. Your won't get any better than John Wynne and John McEvoy. There is great flow and lift in their music. I've been playing this recording now for a few weeks and it's definitely on top of my CD pile. This recording offers a great insight into the music of these two top class musicians. Their integrity, respect and creativity is at the heart of their music. For those who love Irish Traditional flute and fiddle music, this recording is exciting, historic and of the utmost significance and quality. I would like to congratulate the two Johns on a brilliant recording". Bryan Rooney
"When two of Ireland's finest traditional musicians, who have complete mastery of every skill and technique, come together to record it is hard to know what to expect. Here, we are presented with a refreshing example of purely traditional fiddle and flute music. Virtuosity and subtlety, thoughtful selection and versions of tunes enhanced with sensitive accompaniment makes this one of the finest recordings I have ever heard". - Patsy Hanly
Audio
Track 1: McKenna's Judy Callaghan Set
Track 2: The Last Train From Loughrea
Track 3: The Maid in the Cherry Tree
Track Listing
- The Master's Return / The Dog Among the Bushes / Johnny McGreevy's No. 1 (Reels) 3.24
- The Last Train from Loughrea / Ned Coleman's (Jigs) 3.10
- Ask my Father / Boys of Mayo / Eddie Moloney's Favourite (Medley) 3.18
- The Dancer at the Fair / Smash the Windows (Hornpipes) 2.59
- McKenna's Judy Callahan Set (Jigs) 3.04
- The Pouca / The Hidden Ireland / The Monsignor's Blessing 4.26
- Bridget McRory / The Sligo Lasses / McDonagh's (Medley) 4.04
- The Battle of Cremona / Sonny Comer's Fling / Mrs O'Dwyer's Fancy (Medley) 5.16
- McPaddin's Favourite / A Visit to Ireland (Jigs) 2.57
- Sound of Sleat / Humours of Cappa / The Maid in the Cherry Tree (Medley) 4.23
- The Kilkenny Jig / Ballinafad Fancy / Mulhare's (Medley) 3.55
- Patsy Sean Nancy's / Rakes of Drumlish / Fire on Cleanrath (Reels) 4.13
Watch the lads in You Tube play The Dancer at the Fair -Patsy Sean Nancys
Also available from Copperplate:
John McEvoy & John Wynne: The Pride of the West
John McEvoy & Friends: Irish Traditional Fiddle
John Wynne: Like The Wind
Press Reviews
Irish Post 12.10.24
FIDDLE and flute make for a very pleasurable combination in Irish traditional music and outstanding duos have included such celebrated names as John McKenna and James Morrison, Peter Horan and Fred Finn, Seamus Tansey and Jim McKillop, Matt Molly and John Carty, and Mike McGoldrick and Dezi Donnelly. Roscommon flute player John Wynne and Birmingham bred of Roscommon parents fiddle player John McEvoy have been in that company since they made their highly regarded previous album, Pride of the West, in 2007. McEvoy has also recorded a very fine duet album with his flute playing sister Catherine. Both Wynne and McEvoy have recorded acclaimed solo albums and are members of the excellent band Gatehouse who have recorded two albums, the most recent, Heather Down The Moor, in 2019.
Their new album The Dancer At The Fair continues to draw on the very rich flute and fiddle tradition of the counties of north Connacht. Joining the distinguished duo are a top-class line-up of accompanists — John Doyle on guitar and mandola, Mike McCague, bouzouki and guitar, Brian McGrath, keyboards, and Padraic Keane on bodhran.
There is a brisk, energetic start to the album with a set of reels - The Master's Return/The Dog,Among the Bushes/Johnny McGreevy's No. I. The benefit of the two Johns playing together for many years is immediately evident in the way the fiddle and flute merge when played in unison, such that it's impossible to distinguish the sound of then from each other. Doyle anchors the tunes with typically consummate, discreet guitar, together with McCague on bouzouki. The title of the first tune was thought up by Seamus Ennis on the occasion of a home visit by legendary U.S resident Sligo fiddle player Paddy Killoran in 1949.
The title track is delightful, mischievous sounding hornpipe, fiddle and flute again merging in seamless unison, accompanied by Brian McGrath's subtle piano. It was first recorded in Dublin in 1931 by The Fingal Trio and here is paired with the similarly exuberant Smash The Windows, from a 1943 BBC recording of Westmeath uilleann piper Richard O'Mealy.
Wynne's flute takes the lead on a particularly lovely tune, The Pouca, helped along by McGrath's piano, before McEvoy's fiddle joins in for the subsequent two tunes in the set - The Hidden Ireland / The Monsignor's Blessing. Roles are reversed on an exquisite march, The Battle of Cremona, which is led by McEvoy's fiddle, accompanied by Doyle's guitar, Wynne adding flute half-way through. In an outstanding set of tunes, it is impeccably matched with a hornpipe and a polka - Sonny Comer's Fling/Mrs O'Dwyer's Fancy.
Wynne and McEvoy have made an album that is thoroughly absorbing, with a crystal clear sound from start to finish and the sound. The music has great vitality and flow, and their undiminished enthusiasm graces every track. Their choice of tunes, many of them lesser known, points to painstaking excavation of sources, and how they are assembled in sets is exemplary. "We felt there was another one in us" John Wynne said;
we can only hope that in future there is yet another one. Dave McNally
The Irish Times.
"Roscommon flute player John Wynne and Birmingham-born fiddler John McEvoy make sprightly, uncluttered music: filigree playing that stitches the two instruments together seamlessly.”
Following the success of their 2007 album Pride of the West, renowned duo, John Wynne (Flute) and John McEvoy (Fiddle), announce their latest collaboration, The Dancer at the Fair. Joining the much celebrated duet are John Doyle on guitar and mandola, Mike McCague, bouzouki and guitar, Brian McGrath, keyboards, and Pádraic Keane on bodhrán – a stellar line-up of accompanists.
