Traditional Slow Airs

CICD 194

Gavin Whelan - whistles, uilleann pipes

With Special Guests:

Paul Doyle - guitar

Peter Eades - keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion

Gavin Ralston - guitar

Deirdre Smyth - fiddle

Daire Braken - fiddle

Gavin Whelan is widely regarded as one of the finest exponents of the tin whistle in Ireland today. His eponymous debut recording, Gavin Whelan, propelled the tin whistle to centre stage, winning high praise from critics for his crisp, uncluttered phrasing and bright, clean tone. The album, released in 2001, was hailed by one critic as "beautiful, captivating and formidable". Gavin has released three further albums since his début, Another Time, In Full Flight and Homelands.

Bio: Gavin Whelan

Born and raised in Dublin, Gavin Whelan still lives in Tallaght on the west side of the city. Gavin's interest in traditional Irish music began when he was a young boy when he regularly travelled, with his parents, to Co. Clare. His dad claims to have taught Gavin his first tune although not a whistle player himself, it was a tune he had learned from the late Micho Russell from Doolin in Co. Clare.

It wasn't until the following year in school when all the students in his class were asked to buy a tin whistle and a tutor book that Gavin took up the whistle seriously. The book was supposed to last two years but Gavin learned all the tunes in just two weeks. This is where Gavin's hunger for Irish Traditional music began.

Audio

Lord Mayo:

An Paistin Fionn:

Bean Dubh an Ghleanna:

Track Listing

1. Ian Ghlinn 'Cuaich
2. The Emigrant's Farewell
3. Hector the Hero
4. Lord Mayo
5. Geaftaí Bhaile Bhuí
6. An Paistin Fionn
7. Mi le M'uilinn
8. Easter Snow
9. A Hiúdai Pheadair Éamoinn
10. Bean Dubh an Ghleanna
11. Limerick's Lamentation
12. Ae Fond Kiss
13. Neither a High Place nor a Low Place

Press Reviews

The Living Tradition 98

This Dublin whistle player extraordinaire has done what few have dared to attempt since Eugene O'Donnell's 1978 album: an entire recording of slow airs. Not even Whelan would try this on the humble whistle alone: he also plays the uilleann pipes which he has mastered in recent years, and duets with himself on these two instruments, as well as enlisting the aid of Daire Bracken and Deirdre Smyth on fiddles, plus a small handful of accompanists. Each of the 13 tracks here focuses on a single air, from Carolan classics to well known songs.

There's a surprising number of Scottish melodies - Hector The Hero from Tommy Peoples' playing, two Gaelic songs from the repertoire of Capercaillie singer Karen Matheson and the Burns love song Ae Fond Kiss - all great tunes and well worth recording, Of the nine Irish airs, most are well known: the only two which were not very familiar to me were Aodh Ó Domhnaill's composition A Hiúdaí Phádaí Éamoinn and the final Neither A High Place Nor A Low Place . Both were pleasant surprises.

Gavin's interpretations of these airs are less elaborate than some, concentrating on the beauty of the melody, with few variations and embellishments. His versions are also relatively short - under four minutes as a rule - and some may feel that he has not done full justice to the songs behind the tunes. But these are not songs: they are slow airs, and I think there is room for a purely instrumental interpretation. Certainly the airs stand up for themselves without the words and in the case of Bean Dubh An Ghleanna , Gavin Whelan has taken a very fresh and free approach to the phrasing which moves the air away from the song. Not all the melodies here come from songs: Lord Mayo and Hector The Hero were not written to be sung and I don't believe I've ever heard original words to Limerick's Lamentation . But there's no denying the power and passion in their renditions here: the sobbing of the pipes through Marbhna Liumnigh , the beat of the drones under that great Carolan composition and the aching loss expressed in Skinner's tribute to Hector MacDonald. It's also a considerable achievement to bring something new to The Emigrant's Farewell or An Páistín Fionn with a simple whistle solo. Anyone with a taste for the slow air treasures of Scotland and Ireland should give this CD serious consideration and any whistle player could learn a thing or two from Gavin Whelan's playing here. Check out www.gavinwhelan.ie for more details. Alex Monaghan

Irish Music Magazine

I had the pleasure of sitting in on a session with Gavin Whelan in the back garden of Cleary's bar in Miltown Malbay toward the end of the Willie Clancy Summer School this year. He was driving the session with his characteristic break-neck speed of whistling, finding energy in places where most were worn out from their week of tuition.

To begin that week, where Gavin was also hosting his regular tutorial classes, he launched his latest offering to the world of traditional music, Catch the Air — Traditional Slow Airs, a little more mellow in approach than as l found him amid the horde of musicians in the sun-drenched beer garden.

Catch the Air does follow on nicely from his last studio album, Homelands, which also saw Gavin take a more relaxed attitude in his playing. However, instead of mixing various tune signatures, he sticks strictly to slow airs, displaying equally as much emotion in his gentle treatment of these pieces of music as he does when in full flight.

From the opening lain Ghlinn Cuaich, the melody to the Scots Gaelic love song, some familiar names and sounds can be heard in accompaniment of Gavin's whistling and piping, including Paul Doyle and Gavin Ralston on guitars, Deirdre Smyth and Daire Bracken on fiddles, along with Peter Eades on keyboards and percussion, all of whom have worked with Gavin Whelan in the past.

Hector the Hero will be known to fans of Gavin's recordings, as it is the link between this and his Homelands album. In just over 42 minutes, he has managed to pack in another 12 tracks alongside Hector the Hero, and this is perhaps the one criticism, as some airs, like the opening track, feel as though they

are not given enough time to breathe in such a short space. This is not the case with Easter Snow, however, with the beautifully sustained, long notes, filling the air with all the magic the tune deserves.

Produced in conjunction with Clo lar-Chonnacht, Catch the Air - Traditional Slow Airs adds to the versatility and array of expression in Whelan's music. Derek Copley