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Thread: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

  1. #1
    ************** Caleb's Avatar
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    Default Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Greetings. I’m looking for some good CDs of traditional music (tunes). Seems like a couple things always happen when I look for this: I find those ubiquitous and awful “Celtic” music compilations with swirling synthesizer sounds, or I find a traditional player that includes only a couple old tunes along with his/her originals. I always end up wanting more of the old stuff.

    I’d love to find some CDs with old tunes played on the fiddle mostly, but any acoustic setting is fine. I do have to take the bagpipes in very small doses though.

    Thanks for any suggestions, and Happy New Year.
    ...

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    Registered User CelticDude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    For Irish:
    Na Connerys - done in the style of a seisun. Good mix of acoustic traditional instruments, including uillean pipes. All fairly common trad tunes
    any by Matt Malloy - flute, usually with an accompanist.
    Lunasa - all acoustic, all instrumental.

    Scottish:
    any by Alisdair Fraser - fiddler extraordinaire. Usually with either guitar of piano accompaniment.
    Archie MacAllister: Fiddler's Tapestry - Mostly fiddle, with occasional other instruments joining.

    Welsh:
    any by Calan - great musicians on acoustic instruments. Some "modern" interpretations, which I find fun, but may not be what you're looking for. Unfortunately that's all I know about Welsh.

    English:
    The Beatles?

    Much of what I would recommend, Solas, Silly Wizard, Bothy Band, Danu, Altan, does veer into modern rhythms and occasional electric keyboard, so may not fit in with your parameters. Great stuff anyway. Maybe check them on YouTube? In fact YouTube's probably a good starting point for any new genre.

    Good luck and have fun.

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    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Anything by John Carty - his recent CD release with his daughter Maggie is called "Settle Out of Court", really enjoyed it but you can't fail with any of his releases really. I like "The Good Mixer" as well, available on his website - which features John and a group of other musicians who used to all play together at the sessions at the Good Mixer pub in London back in the '80's.

    Fergal Scahill just released a CD called "A Tune A Day for Pieta House" - with the proceeds going to Pieta House, an organization in Ireland that raises awareness about suicide/self harm. Great selection of tunes played with a rotating cast of guest musicians.

    Alan Reid & Rachel Conlon "A Quare Yield", great release from last year - fiddle/tenor banjo

    Téada are another group I like featuring fiddle player Oisín Mac Diarmada. This is another one of their CD's that I like "Inné Amárach", great selection of tunes on it.

    "Pride of New York" is a CD I always liked as well - featuring Stateside musicians Joannie Madden, Brian Conway, Billy McComiskey and Brendan Dolan.

    Anything by The Bothy Band which featured fiddle player Tommy Peoples for one recording, "1975", and then fiddle player Kevin Burke for their other releases, such as "Old Hag You Have Killed Me" and "Out of The Wind and Into the Sun"

    Edel Fox and Neill Byrne "The Sunny Banks" is another great recording, featuring concertina and fiddle.
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    These are great suggestions and will keep me busy on YouTube for a while. To be more specific, when I hear a tune like “Skye Boat Song”or the Welsh “Suo Gan,” my ears always perk up. I realize some of these types of tunes are actually folk songs with lyrics originally, but they are so simple and beautiful when done on a fiddle etc. I like lullabies and haunting pieces and would like to find more.
    ...

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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Quote Originally Posted by Caleb View Post
    These are great suggestions and will keep me busy on YouTube for a while. To be more specific, when I hear a tune like “Skye Boat Song”or the Welsh “Suo Gan,” my ears always perk up. I realize some of these types of tunes are actually folk songs with lyrics originally, but they are so simple and beautiful when done on a fiddle etc. I like lullabies and haunting pieces and would like to find more.
    You're most likely talking about an instrumental slow air. Many are indeed based on Sean-nós songs ("songs in the old style") with lyrics in Gaelic that inform the phrasing of the instrumental versions.

    You can find some good fiddle versions if you go to YouTube and type "fiddle air" as the search term. The first hits include some classics like Port na bPúcaí, Da Slockit Light, Neil Gow's Lament, and others. As usual with YouTube, quality will vary, but there are some good versions there.

    Slow airs are great as listening tunes. Not so great in a pub session (IMO), because it's hard to keep everyone in sync with the irregular, slow rhythm. They're really intended as solo performance pieces.

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post

    Slow airs are great as listening tunes. Not so great in a pub session (IMO), because it's hard to keep everyone in sync with the irregular, slow rhythm. They're really intended as solo performance pieces.
    I enjoy finding these simple melodies and learning them on mandolin by ear, and strictly for solo performance (often just to me).
    ...

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Arcady's "Many Happy Returns" is a good take on some Irish session classics.
    Bren

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Martin Byrnes - Masters of Irish Music
    various - The Silver Bow: The Fiddle Music of Shetland
    Billy Pigg - The Border Minstral
    various - Paddy In The Smoke
    various - The Lark In The Clear Air

    The Bothy Band - The Bothy Band (first album, aka 1975)
    The Boys of the Lough - The Boys of the Lough (first album)
    The Chieftains - Chieftains 2, 3, 4, 5

    Kathryn Tickell - The Gathering
    Dave Swarbrick - Swarbrick 1/2
    Tony MacMahon - Traditional Irish Accordion
    Paddy Carty with Mick O'Conner

    Dick Gaughan - Coppers and Brass
    Kevin Crawford - 'D' Flute Album
    John Doonan - Flute For The Feis
    Seamus Tansey - Easter Snow

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    I love Liz Carroll. Great fiddle player
    https://www.lizcarroll.com/

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    England has produced some quite good stuff in the last few years.

    If you want something featuring mandolin, try Spiro. And anything with the English melodeon player Andy Cutting is worth hearing, including his trio Leveret.

    Interestingly, both these bands have teamed up for a joint tour this year.
    https://www.leveretband.com/home/blo...tour-announced
    David A. Gordon

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    For traditional Scottish playing have a look for the likes of Bobby McLeod, Iain Powrie, Gordon Patullo, Andrew Rankine, Jimmy Shand to name but a few for starters. Accordion and fiddle represented in their playing and you will find very many great scottish dance bands playing the music you are looking for. Then there's the wealth of Shetland fiddling to explore!
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Anything by Paddy O'Brien accordion player now living in St. Paul, MN. I also like Sharon Shannon's music.

    Others have also made some excellent suggestions.
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Tommy Peoples and Paul Brady - The High Part of the Road
    Fiddlers 5 (Matt Felding/Chuck Fleming/John McCusker/Brian McNeil/John Martin) - Fiddle Music From Scotland
    Matt Malloy - Matt Malloy
    Martin Hayes - Martin Hayes

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    I've been really enjoying the Alasdair Fraser/Natalie Haas stuff, particularly the Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle CDs.

    Years ago I was on a roadtrip and driving through San Fransisco. I passed Alasdair's tour bus on the freeway. Wanted to snap a pic but I was driving a 40-ft RV at the time.
    ...

  21. #15
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Quote Originally Posted by CelticDude View Post
    English:
    The Beatles?
    Ha ha.
    Ha ha ha.
    Ha ha.
    "Danger! Do Not Touch!" must be one of the scariest things to read in Braille....

  22. #16

    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Simon Mayors ' Music From A Small Island, ' brilliant CD of British tunes and the odd song.

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dagger Gordon View Post
    England has produced some quite good stuff in the last few years.

    If you want something featuring mandolin, try Spiro. And anything with the English melodeon player Andy Cutting is worth hearing, including his trio Leveret.

    Interestingly, both these bands have teamed up for a joint tour this year.
    https://www.leveretband.com/home/blo...tour-announced
    Thanks for this Dagger, I hadn't come across Spiro before, and I rather like it!
    and... I have just noticed they are gigging "just up the road" in Tavistock in March!
    Last edited by Rob Beck; Jan-18-2018 at 5:23am.
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    I'm a BIG Chieftains fan. That's pretty Trad and they have collaborated over a wider range and that makes me happy. My favorite records are Celtic Wedding and Santiago. It's hard to go wrong with them.

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

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    Registered User Rob Ross's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    For Welsh tunes, you can look online for music by the group Ar Log. They've been around for a while, so many of their original releases are strictly vinyl LPs, but they have later releases and compilations that can be found as CDs, plus various YouTube videos. Schott World Music has released a very fine book of Welsh Fiddle Tunes edited by Sian Phillips. The accompanying CD has each tune played through on solo fiddle by Sian, each track beginning with her quietly counting off the tune. It is very enjoyable to just sit down and go through the book, playing through various tunes you have not yet met.
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    My favorite Irish group lately is called Bua. Some lads from Chicago. They can sing and play in the old style.






    Decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Bumping up an old thread because I recently stumbled upon this wonderful old collection of English songs/tunes. The title is a bit misleading because they are not all done on concertina. I'd love to find more albums like this one. Any recommendations?

    https://folkways.si.edu/in-come-a-bu...um/smithsonian

    I have checked out several of the suggestions in this thread, and while there are many great players, many of these artists are playing original music. I'm looking for collections of old tunes/songs that people sang for the past several hundred years. I like original music but am trying to go a more historic route and learn more traditional music.
    Last edited by Caleb; Jan-01-2023 at 1:14pm.
    ...

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    I believe John Turner had the most authentic Scottish fiddle music you will ever hear. Check out his CD's at

    http://www.fiddletree-music.com/fiddletree.html

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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Well what a great opportunity to revisit some of the best music I know.

    If you are looking for songs my favorite singers are Maddy Prior and June Tabor.



    As for instrumental music, there are many choices. One of my favorite recordings involve two 'world class' musicians,
    Seamus McGuire & Steve Cooney. Seamus has won the 'All Ireland' competition many times on fiddle and here he is playing viola for a quieter, more 'laid back' sound. Steve has accompanied just about all of the great traditional artists and this shows why. My favorite tune here is from the Petrie Collection (1865 or so...). It is called 'With her dog and her gun'. (youtube 6:46 min)

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    Registered User lowtone2's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommend Some Trad. Scottish/Irish/Welsh/English Tune CDs.

    Anyone interested in Irish Traditional Music needs Mary Bergin's Feadoga Stain 1&2.


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