FRANKIE
GAVIN
Fierce Traditional
TARA4011
FIERCE
TRADITIONAL is the latest and long awaited album from Ireland's most
celebrated fiddle player Frankie Gavin. The album was launched in
Galway's newest hotel and premier music venue, the Radisson SAS Lough
Atalia Hotel, during this year's Galway Arts Festival. A concert with
special guest appearances took place to mark this memorable event,
on Wed. July 25th, in the hotel's spacious 'Inis Mor Ballroom'.
The album title 'FIERCE TRADITIONAL' is a term frequently used in Irish music circles, and one that positively defines what the album is all about. For Frankie, it is without doubt a 'back to the roots' style recording, featuring an abundance of Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes and Slow Airs. The album promises over one hour of the liveliest heart warming and soulful performances of traditional Irish music recorded in many years.
Appearing on this new album together with Frankie are Brian McGrath on piano and banjo (a world class performed on both instruments), De Dannan bouzouki player Alec Finn, and the album also introduces Frankie's brother, Sean Gavin on accordion for his debut commercial recording.
The new album from this brilliant and gifted musician
will undoubtedly prove to be a traditional Irish music classic.
REVIEWS
"Frankie Gavin is one of the finest fiddlers
of the early 20th century, no mean achievement for a man who wasn't
even born until 1956. To compensate for not getting born in time,
Frankie has led a small but significant movement to recreate the style
and sound of Irish music from early recordings. Frankie Gavin and
De Dannan, John Carty and At The Racket, and one or two others, have
brought the music of Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Patsy Touhey
and others back to life in recent years, helped by the sterling work
of archivists and restorers of old recordings. This new recording
is unsurpassed in both technical and artistic merit. The sleeve notes
give detailed information on written sources and early performances,
and most of the generous eighteen tracks have that crisp, no-nonsense
flamboyance associated with the early recording stars of Irish music.
There are some modern touches, of course. Gone are the crackles and
pops of the old 78s, and the tunes needn't be played at breakneck
speed because nowadays the wire won't run out in a hurry. There's
also a greater depth of tone: today's musicians may have the benefit
of better instruments or better maintenance, or the difference may
all be due to the ravages of time. It would be fascinating to compare
this CD with a pristine recording from the 1930s, or even a recording
of Morrison or Coleman made with today's technology: perhaps their
tone would be as good or even better.
In 56 minutes (one for every year Frankie missed of the 20th century),
"Fierce Traditional" reworks some of the most well-known and oft-
recorded tunes in Irish history: "The Foxhunter's", "The Flogging",
"The Mason's Apron", "The Wheels of the World", "Lucy Campbell", "Jenny
Picking Cockles", and that's just the reels. There's no elaborate
modern production, just Frankie with Brian McGrath (piano and banjos),
familiar sideman Alec Finn (bouzouki), and brother Sean Gavin on the
button box. There's a bit of double-tracking to get Frankie's flute
and fiddle onto some tracks, but that's as fancy as it gets. And the
results are magnificent: the dance music is full of vigour, the slow
airs are bittersweet like the memories they represent, and it's all
as fresh as if it had never been heard before - even "The Mason's
Apron"! "
Alex Monaghan - The Living
Tradition
"Frankie Gavin is, of course, the great
Galway fiddler of De Dannan fame and the classic 'Frankie Goes to
Town'. In recent years Frankie has not been as prominent on the traditional
scene, too busy, I guess, recording with the Rolling Stones and such.
'Fierce Traditional, reasserts his claim to being a top fiddler with
a distinctive style. Classic Gavin, to my mind, is fast bouncy, rhythmically
aggressive and technically complex. The opening cut 'Man of the House'
into the 'Providence' is exactly that; fast and virtuosie. But much
of the album shows a mellower side of Gavin and on the laid-back version
of 'Lucy Campbell' (for me the gem of the album), Frankie maintains
his crisp execution of bowing and ornamentation while giving the tune
more space. Tune-hounds will want to note that for 'Lucy Campbell'
Frankie has the fiddle tuned down to Bb (Eb-Bb-F-C) and that for the
rest of the album he is tuned to Eb (Ab-Eb-Bb-F). Much of the album
emphasizes the lower end of the fiddle, giving the album textural
contrast between the fast bouncy stuff and the mellower cuts.
As a reviewer, I see part of my role to be a comparison, fiddler x,
whom you haven't heard, is like fiddler y, so if you like y you should
listen to x... that kind of thing. But Frankie Gavin is himself, the
kind of fellow to whom you compare others. Frankie himself attributes
much of his inspiration to the musicians and recordings of the '20's;
James Morrison, Coleman, the Flanagan Brothers. In making this album
he was consciously returning to those touchstones and seeking to offer
an alternative to what he sees as the 'trendy', nouveau trad recordings
so prevalent today. Other musicians are Brian McGrath, Alec Finn and
Sean Gavin, Frankie's brother, on accordion, but the album is all
Frankie."
Brendan Taaffe - The Fiddle Magazine
"Frankie Gavin is one of the finest fiddlers
of the early 20th century, no mean achievement for a man who wasn't
even born until 1956. To compensate for not getting born in time,
Frankie has led a small but significant movement to recreate the style
and sound of Irish music from early recordings. Frankie Gavin and
De Dannan, John Carty and At The Racket, and one or two others, have
brought the music of Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Patsy Touhey
and others back to life in recent years, helped by the sterling work
of archivists and restorers of old recordings. This new recording
is unsurpassed in both technical and artistic merit. The sleeve notes
give detailed information on written sources and early performances,
and most of the generous eighteen tracks have that crisp, no-nonsense
flamboyance associated with the early recording stars of Irish music.
There are some modern touches, of course. Gone are the crackles and
pops of the old 78s, and the tunes needn't be played at breakneck
speed because nowadays the wire won't run out in a hurry. There's
also a greater depth of tone: today's musicians may have the benefit
of better instruments or better maintenance, or the difference may
all be due to the ravages of time. It would be fascinating to compare
this CD with a pristine recording from the 1930s, or even a recording
of Morrison or Coleman made with today's technology: perhaps their
tone would be as good or even better.
In 56 minutes (one for every year Frankie missed of the 20th century),
Fierce Traditional reworks some of the most well-known and oft- recorded
tunes in Irish history: The Foxhunter's, The Flogging, The Mason's
Apron, The Wheels of the World, Lucy Campbell, Jenny Picking Cockles,
and that's just the reels. There's no elaborate modern production,
just Frankie with Brian McGrath (piano and banjos), familiar sideman
Alec Finn (bouzouki), and brother Sean Gavin on the button box. There's
a bit of double-tracking to get Frankie's flute and fiddle onto some
tracks, but that's as fancy as it gets. And the results are magnificent:
the dance music is full of vigour, the slow airs are bittersweet like
the memories they represent, and it's all as fresh as if it had never
been heard before - even The Mason's Apron!"
Alex Monaghan - FolkWorld
"De Danann's big daddy's been shuffling
around the dancefloor and shimmying round the dresser for long enough
(fiddling with Beatles and Beach Boys toons, to name but a few). Fierce
Traditional is Gavin back at base, inhaling deep of the tradition
and basking in its glories. Old time tunes fuelled by little more
than piano and fiddle (with the occasional bouzouki, flute and accordion,
the latter from Gavin's brother Seán) call the shots. Lucy Campbell
and The Mystery Reel are irrepressible calling cards: Gavin in top
gear, yet in uncharacteristically sanguine form. No attention seeking
antics here. Just damn fine tunes from a damn fine player."
Siobhán Long - The Irish Times
"Innovation may be the buzz-word in Traditional
music, but Frankie Gavin's digressions are not in the common areas
of tempo and superficial style-impressions. His contemporary borrowings
of art-deco and music-hall Irishness are re-jigged in original avenues
of exploration. His dextrous treatment of troublesome tunes might
get even the Pope out on the floor, his orchestration could break
hearts. A superbly uncompromising player, he makes refreshment of
the old by picking out and polishing every detail and setting it off
in a steady, listenable pace. Gavin edgy and brilliant on both fiddle
and flute, with always the most meticulous attention given to tone
and variation. Live, his tune sets are perfectionism that drive and
are driven by an audience spontaneity that spurs Gavin to push fiddle
from shriek to rasping bass. Tears and cheers erupt spontaneously,
the goodwill of his mixed-age audiences has always been great sauce.
Like herding the mythic creac, Frankie Gavin here whoops a great retrospective
before him into the Ogham of Celtic Valhalla."
Fintan Vallely, Sunday Tribune
"The title of this album says it all Fierce
Traditional and it's no surprise to find the contents are straight
up traditional music. Frankie Gavin’s musical heart is obviously in
the Irish music of 1900’s America when Coleman, Killoran and Morrison
trod the boards in New York and elsewhere. Fierce Traditional his
latest solo album continues the trend began on Frankie Goes to Town
of a fiddle album with minimal accompaniment – this is an old fashioned
traditional Irish album of the pure drop kind. The tunes are either
well known such of The Man of the House, Jenny Picking Cockles, maid
of Mount Kisco, variety which have lasted longer than most and some
classic slow airs like Slaibh Na mBan and She lived beside the Anner,
exhibiting his flute playing and the latter’s almost baroque style
arrangement. Accompaniment is provided by Brian McGrath on piano and
banjo, Alec Finn on bouzouki and Frankie’s brother Sean Gavin on accordion
making a rarely recorded appearance on Flogging Reel and they add
necessary light and shade. However it's Frankie Gavin’s playing as
lively and inventive as ever that seals Fierce Traditional‘s fate
as a top notch traditional collection. It’s both fierce and traditional
so who says you can’t have it both ways?"
John O'Regan - Irish Music Magazine
"This is only the third solo recording in
the long career of Frankie Gavin, the County Galway fiddle virtuoso
who has fronted the traditional music supergroup De Dannan since the
1970's. Gavin's lesser-known talent as a flute player is also represented
on this disc, which includes bouzouki accompaniment from Alec Finn,
the only other founding still with De Dannan. County Fermanagh man
Brian McGrath, a more recent recruit to band, provides both piano
backing and some sparkling tenor banjo playing on tracks that recreate
the wild energy of music recorded on 78rpm discs in New York by emigrant
Irish musicians in the 1920's. Gavin's brother Sean, an All-Ireland
button accordion champion in his own right, is heard on some sprightly
duet selections"
Don Meade - Irish America Feb/Mar 2002
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