With the new ban in Ireland that illegalizes smoking in pubs, restaurants, and other workplaces, many wonder if the Irish music pub scene will die out. This is a cause for concern among modern Irish musicians, but on March 29, the day the ban went into effect, Irish music was very much alive on the Wesleyan campus.
The renowned Irish musician Andy Irvine and his band, Mozaik, performed both original and traditional Celtic music at Crowell Concert Hall Tuesday night.
Mozaik is an international group made up of five exceptional musicians and composers. Bruce Molsky, an American fiddler, guitarist, banjoist, and singer, tours on his own as well as with Mozaik. His other band, Fiddlers 4, earned a Grammy nomination in 2003 for Best Traditional Folk Album.
Nikola Parov from Bulgaria plays such uncommon instruments as the kaval, the gadulka, the gaida, and the bouzouki. Also a producer, arranger, composer, and musicologist, Parov is a featured artist in the Riverdance Orchestra. His latest album, Kilim, placed sixth on the World Music Charts in Europe.
Rens van der Zelm, a guitarist, violinist, mandolinist, keyboardist, accordianist and whister from the Netherlands is a highly sought after session musician in Holland.
Tony McManus, who on Tuesday substituted for Donal Lunny, is a Scottish guitarist well-known for his original adaptations of traditional Irish music. In addition to his own three albums, McManus has appeared on over fifty albums by other artists.
Finally, the Irish Andy Irvine is hailed as a pioneer of Irish music. Throughout his forty-year career, Irvine has traveled the world from performance to performance, absorbing the musical styles of other cultures. Many compare his traveling lifestyle to that of Woody Guthrie, Irvine’s greatest influence.
“[Irvine is] a living legend in Ireland,” said Jody Cormack Viswanathan, Library Assisant at the World Music Archives, who arranged the event. “He introduced the idea of counterpoint to Irish music [and] the bouzouki, which is now a commonplace instrument. He adapted Greek music and Balkan music to the Irish folk scene, [which] use odd rhythmic structures. Mozaik is the synthesis of that.”
While traveling in Australia in early 2002, Irvine had a “vision” of his dream band, according to Viswanathan. He dreamed of a band of the best musicians to play his original blend of Irish and Eastern European music. The result was Mozaik.
“I got an e-mail from Andy Irvine two and a half years ago saying, ‘Want to come to Australia and join a band?’ When you get an e-mail like that, you either think real hard…or you just say, ‘Sure!’” said Molsky in between songs.
Mozaik performed a mixture of original and traditional folk songs, with a break in the middle for a solo performance by McManus, in which he played two minutes of a forty-eight minute Scottish dirge. All the musicians had an air of ease about him, as if he had been playing for centuries. McManus joked about the other musicans’ wide array of instruments.
“They all get to play with their toys, except me. I just play the guitar,” he said.
Thanks to Viswanathan, who received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan and is currently writing a book with Irvine, the Irish music scene has stayed active on and around campus. Inspired by Robert Brown, who several years ago held weekly Indian music concerts, or “curry” concerts, at his home, Viswanathan has held many Irish music performances in her own home. Students, faculty, staff, Middletown residents, and even people from around and outside of Connecticut have regularly packed her house for these concerts.
“We’ve had to turn people away,” she said.
Viswanathan said she likes the sense of community that hosting these concerts brings.
“Wesleyan is all about outreach,” she said. “Everyone knows this is Wesleyan-based. It’s trying to draw people into the Wesleyan spirit and environment.”
In addition to the house concerts, Viswanathan also helped to organize the Celtic Roots Festival this past fall, which she said also widened the community’s interest in Irish music.
She decided to bring Mozaik to Crowell, as opposed to her home, because she felt that such renowned musicians deserved a sophisticated environment. She was pleased with the performance.
“The way they segued from tradition to tradition was on the highest level of sensitivity,” she said.
Viswanathan added that she was happy with the turn-out, which she said was quite large for a Tuesday night. The lack of students present, however, was “a lot of a disappointment.”
“I think [not many came] because it was right after spring break,” she said.
Katchen Coley, a Wesleyan alum, also expressed disappointment that there were not more students.
“[The World Music Series is] a great opportunity to learn about music of other cultures,” she said. “This whole year [has] brought us so many varieties of music.”
Audience members agreed that the music was outstanding.
Andy Carey, Middletown resident and longtime Irish music fan, described the performance as “brilliant.” Laura Goldhamer ’06, one of the few students present, also enjoyed the concert.
“Despite initial problems with the sound system, they [found] their comfort on the stage and with the audience, creating less of a scene of awkward performance and more of a traditional pub scene. What I mean to say here is that the whole audience is drunk.”
The concert was sponsored by the Underground Music Consortium, the T. Viswanathan Fund for the World Music Archives, the World Music Collective, and local businesses and individuals.
Viswanathan would especially like to thank Sam Franklin of the Underdog Music Consortium for his help in bringing Mozaik to Crowell.
“I owe it to Sam,” she said. “He was so enthusiastic and so responsive.”
For everyone who missed the Andy Irvine concert, the next Irish music performance will be held in the World Music Hall on April 21st at 8 p.m.
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