Gerry mckee bouzouki

[GaliBouz]

Hi!
Do you know who is the builder of that amazing weapon?
Incredible!
You can see it in
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=xwto-jXrBlE

Thanks!

GaliBouz.

[Bertram Henze]

With that headstock, it looks like a Foley. Gerry McKee is Irish, so might be his zouk.

[Chris Travers]

That's awesome! But... aren't most zouks smaller than that? It looks kinda big.

[Bertram Henze]

It is hard to tell size in that video - Gerry McKee might be a small person; but I found this pic that shows he's normal size, so the instrument is probably from Brobdingnag, not Ireland...

[danb]

Gerry's not small, the instrument is large

[steve V. johnson]

It's nice to hear something about Gerry McKee! #I have the Mad4Trad CDrom tutorial that he did, have had it a long time, and in that one he's playing a huge instrument, -or- he looks very small behind it.

Dan, do you know Gerry well? #Do you know of any bio material or information about him? #I've never found any, but then I haven't looked in quite a while. #I hadn't heard of him when I got the CDrom, tho I enjoyed it and learned a good bit from it. and I still don't really know anything about him.

I just went and watched that linked video, and that is from the Mad4Trad CDrom. Good stuff, thanks! I also followed a YouTube link (I could wander in there for days...) to a lovely Andy Irvine tribute to Woody Guthrie and the song, Never Tire of the Road... fantastic....

Thanks,

stv

[danb]

Dan, do you know Gerry well? Do you know of any bio material or information about him? I've never found any, but then I haven't looked in quite a while.

We've met, but I can't say I know him very well. Back in the years that I lived in Milwaukee I played at the Irish festival, and there were mighty sessions in the hotel afterwards. We played with Gerry and some other guys from the band for a few no-sleep nights

Good sense of humor, and some years later he recognized me with different facial hair arrangements and etc. It always impresses me when someone you meet in a cloudy session can do that years later!

[Mike Anderson]

With that headstock, it looks like a Foley. Gerry McKee is Irish, so might be his zouk.

I know I'm reviving a 5-year old thread; apologies if that's considered really bad form. But I am wondering if anyone knows anything more about this instrument.

I recently acquired the MadForTrad tutorial disk as well, and here's a resized scan of the front cover if that helps. That ornament at the top reminds me of Abnett (from the little I know of his work), but this instrument is pretty clearly a one-off. I've also attached a pic I found on eBay of a Nomos promo photo that has a pretty good view of Gerry McKee's mighty bouzouki. Thanks for any info!





Edit: I have looked at a lot of Foley pics on the web now, and I have to agree with your assessment Bertram! All his work was unique it seems, he didn't work off a single pattern in any way. Lots of variety in the headstock ornaments, body, soundhole etc.

[Steve L]

I could be mistaken, but I think that instrument came up for sale in the classifieds a few years ago. I don't remember the maker.

[Mike Anderson]

Wow, no kidding Steve? Wonder if it sold to a member.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I used to own a large Foley 10-string bouzouki...

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ighlight=blarz

[Mike Anderson]

I used to own a large Foley 10-string bouzouki...

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ighlight=blarz

I found your videos during my searches today Eddie! Fantastic instrument, the BLARZ.

By golly, I think I may be developing CAS (CBOM Acquisition Syndrome) - please don't tell my wife!

[citeog]

That's a Foley. Joe made a somewhat similar instrument for Pat Broaders, which Pat called a "dordan".

Paul

[jdsobol]

That's a Foley. Joe made a somewhat similar instrument for Pat Broaders, which Pat called a "dordan".

Paul

I played a session with Gerry and the Nomos folks in Lisdoonvarna in 1990, and he was playing an instrument that was either that one or one just like it, great sounding and enormous--they called it a blarge, for bloody large bouzouki. It wasn't by Foley, but a German maker whose name I can't recall. I met Gerry's brother Terry in Doolin on the same trip, and he was playing a Foley 10-string that looked like he'd carried it through a war.

[Mike Anderson]

I found another example of that body style, and it is referred to as "Dordan" there as well. It's the third one from the top, and if you click on the thumbnail you get a big image in a popup window. Google Translate gives us this description:

"It is a bouzouki to be in the hands of the guru Joe Foley Mr. bouzouki production of Joe Foley Ireland. It becomes the bouzouki of 3 knots since I ordered a bouzouki for the first time in Mr. Foley when he visited Ireland in 1993, this had been made ​​to him. It is this instrument in order that the answer to be given of instruments such as bass Mandosero, he's made​​. I was surprised at first to the long scale of 68 centimeters in addition to the large body about two bouzouki around than the original design. Similarly for the size of the body, the thickness is also not odd, I feel that bass comes from springs towards the bottom of the instrument. Pattern of flowers is decorated with the head portion of the horn-like, but this is due to the hobby of Mr. Foley that love flowers and trees. Himself were called Dordan which means bass in Gaelic this instrument."

The owner of the website has a pretty sweet collection of mandolin family instruments! I'm assuming that by "springs" he must mean braces. Interestingly, if you put "dordan" into Google Translate and select Irish as the language, it gives the translation "drone".

[Eddie Sheehy]

I think Jimmy Crowley coined the name Dordan for his Joe Foley zouk...

[Mike Anderson]

I think Jimmy Crowley coined the name Dordan for his Joe Foley zouk...

Coincidentally that was another great photo I found - an old one of Jimmy Crowley at Davy Rogers's site, playing that large Foley:

[Bertram Henze]

You can hear the large Foley, too:

[Mike Anderson]

You can hear the large Foley, too:

Great video! Not be argumentative though Bertram but I'm not sure that that is the Bloody Large Bouzouki; this one looks a bit more on the huge side:

[Bertram Henze]

this one looks a bit more on the huge side

Ok, there is the tall ship right in his arms. Funny enough, only the body seems to be bigger - the scale length looks about equal.

[Eddie Sheehy]

That one of Jimmy of Jimmy with the normal-sized zouk looks like it's a Donal Lunney cast-off (a converted citeog)...

[Mike Anderson]

That one of Jimmy of Jimmy with the normal-sized zouk looks like it's a Donal Lunney cast-off (a converted citeog)...

That's well spotted Eddie, with the pickguard over the soundhole instead of under.

[Eddie Sheehy]

... and it might be a Manson or an Abnett...

[Mike Anderson]

Not to squeeze this thread until it bleeds, but - there is one good U-tube video of Nomos, and you get a pretty good view of Gerry McKee playing the big beast: