Music

How New York Got Its Pride

Paul Keating can’t take credit for the amassed talent of the super ceili group, “Pride of New York,” but maybe he can take credit for the name.

It happened that in 2005, all four of what Keating now calls “the PONY people”—flute and whistle whiz Joanie Madden, fiddler Brian Conway, button box player Billy McComiskey, and pianist Brendan Dolan—were at the Catskills Irish Arts Week, where Keating is the artistic director.

“When I knew all four of them were there together, I wanted to put them on the stage for the Thursday night concert,” he recalls. “I’d had a lot of experience with them, and I knew they had a style of music that was spot on for dancing, with rhythms and comfort levels and a certain spirit and lift that was natural. I introduced them as the Pride of New York Ceili Band. I figured it was an appropriate name.”

The PONY people wowed the Catskills crowd, of course—how could they not?—but that concert marked the beginning of something bigger.

They came back and played again the next year, Keating said, and soon began looking for more opportunities to perform together. It wasn’t that they were strangers to the idea, after all. Keating recalls Joanie, Billy and Brian playing together with Brendan’s father Felix at the Eagle Tavern in Greenwich Village about 1989. Even then, he says, they had a “special sound.”

But this was something else. It was a concept that soon took on a life of its own. Not long after their 2006 Catskills performance, they landed a gig at the Irish American Community Center in East Haven, Connecticut. They played again at Lewisburg in County Mayo, and again at Lincoln Center’s outdoor dance series.

“It became clear that they really liked playing together,” says Keating. “I thought they should be documented—they should be recorded.”

With some grant proposal-writing help from Peter Brice, one of Billy’s students, funding for the project started to come together. Soon, the four were taking time out of their separately quite busy schedules to occasionally meet and record at Joanie’s home studio. The goal was to have a CD ready to go in time for launch at the 2009 Catskills festival.

“I encouraged them,” Keating says. I said that if you would do this, this would easily be the centerpiece of Catskills Irish Arts Week. We all agreed it was the right thing to do.

“They plodded ahead. They knew the end game would be to have it ready in time. They met the deadline.

“It was really an ambitious poject, but then again it wasn’t. This style of music and their respect for it is just second nature for them. they had exposure to the best players who came from Ireland to New York. They all mentored with people who came deeply from the well of traditional music. They had a heart and soul that went into the music, they developed a great respect for where the music came from. It stayed with them.

“They were also coming along at a time when there was a lot more comfidence and pride associated with the music. The music scene was evolving in part because of them, and around them. They kind of had this brash attitude toward it, and their music came across that way.”

Keating, naturally enough, is hugely proud of the band and the recording. “You have expectations,” he says, “but when they go beyond that, it’s especially satisfying.”

September 3, 2009 by
Music

Review: Pride of New York

It’s just a brace of reels, a smattering of hornpipes, a few jigs, a set of marches, and an air. But that’s like saying the Empire State Building is just a steel skeleton and a stack of bricks.

Like the famous Fifth Avenue landmark, the new CD, “Pride of New York,” is a towering achievement in its own right.

Just consider the musicians who make up this killer ceili band: Joanie Madden on flute and whistle, Brian Conway on fiddle, Billy McComiskey on button accordion, and Brendan Dolan on piano. Toss in essays by Catskills Irish Arts Week artistic director Paul Keating, journalist Earle Hitchner and Baltimore Singers Club director Peter Brice, with tune notes by the percusssionist Myron Bretholtz. It all adds up to a memorable, very nearly flawless Irish traditional recording that is not only one of the best of the year, but probably one of the best of any year.

“Pride of New York” is pure dance music. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be dance music. But not all modern American Irish music invites people to put down their beers, get up out of their chairs and dance. But with Brendan Dolan laying down the delicate rhythms, it’s all too easy to envision folks whirling about the hardwood floor, feet stamping, whoops of unbridled joy.

Each of the artists is well-known individually, but here they come together as a solid, perfectly harmonious group. There’s a cohesiveness that is possible only when individual motivations are set aside and the music moves to the fore. Again, it all sounds blindingly obvious, but there’s a world of difference between a mere assemblage of prodigies and a band. Make no mistake: this is a band.

Which is not to say that there are not standout individual performances. Not to emphasize one contribution over all the others, but Dolan’s sure and confident hand is what makes “Pride of New York” a ceili band. His entry on one set of jigs, Happy Days/Boys of the Lough Gowna/The Knights of St. Patrick, and again on the introduction to a set of slip jigs, Redican’s Mother (The Barony)/The Bridal/Humours of Whiskey, shows him at his best, setting not a merely metronomic cadence but playing with great expression—light, airy and musical.

Joanie, who plays flute on most of the tunes, offers up a memorable tin whistle performance of the haunting air Slán le Máigh. She makes a dime store instrument sound symphonic. You’ll tap your feet to McComiskey’s accordion on a brisk set of reels, Mulhaire’s #9/Grandpa Tommy’s Ceili Band. Conway sets a masterful pace on a set of hornpipes, The Stage/The Fiddler’s Contest/The High Level.

I’m not a fan of waltzes generally—to me, they have too much of a “man on the flying trapeze” quality to them—but the band’s performance of Sean McGlynn’s Waltz shows “Pride of New York” at its most impressive. There’s a gentle lift to this tune, contrasted with some seriously complex but deftly played melody. I promise I didn’t think about the circus, even once.

Though it seems unfair that the Big Apple should play host to so many monuments, you can add this recording to New York’s trove of treasures.

September 3, 2009 by
Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

What could be better to bring summer to a close than an Irish festival? We can’t think of anything.

 Well, there’s one this Sunday at Brittingham’s Irish Pub in Lafayette Hill. Headlining is a great local group, Paddy’s Well, with the Bogside Rogues, Olive McElhone and Jamison on hand, along with bagpipers, dancers, vendors and pipes and drums. It being Brittingham’s there’s also great food (burgers, dogs and barbecue chicken—andyou don’t even have to fire up the grill!) and beer. It’s cheap too—only $10 for all day.

 The plays “The Bros.Flanagan” and “Trad” are on stage at Fergie’s Irish Pub and the Amaryllis at the Adrienne in Center City respectively. They’re part of the Philly LiveArts and Fringe Festivals.

 On Tuesday, have a beer with Dr. Lew Losoncy, a motivational psychologist and author of “Early Poppers: The Secrets of Self-Starters”—and no, it’s not about hot pepper appetizers—at McGillins Old Ale House in Center City. It’s all part of McGillin’s 150th birthday celebration. Losoncy cites a longtime McGillins’ employee, John Doyle, as a superstar of customer service in his book.

 Also on Tuesday night, spend “An Evening with Sean Tyrell” at Villanova University’s Connolly Center. This award-winning Irish folk singer will share both his music and his poetry with the audience.

 Starting on Thursday night, the Philadelphia Ceili Group Irish Music Festival will showcase dozens of musicians and provide workshops for everyone who wants to hone their skills (or learn a little about genealogy) through Saturday night (very, very late). There will be dancing, vendors, food and drink, and lots of great music.

 On Friday, the annual Green Lane Scottish Irish Festival kicks off a weekend of all things Celtic (even some Gaelic football!) at Green Lane Park in Green Lane.

So you can begin and end your week with festivals. But don’t get fesitvaled out. There’s more to come: Mt. Holly, Bethlehem, and North Wildwood in the next few weeks.

September 3, 2009 by
Music

It’s Ceili Group Festival Time!

Although the Philadelphia Ceili Group Irish Music Festival lost its long-time director, Frank Malley, this year to cancer, the show that must go on is going on in his honor.

 And, says his daughter Courtney Malley, his spirit will be all over it. Singer’s Circle, for example, will be moving from Thursday  to Friday night, a prime spot. “Dad and I are singers, that’s our big passion, so it’s going to be a fun night,” says Malley, who is a co-chair of this year’s festival.

 On Saturday, the emphasis will be on education. “My Dad was a natural-born teacher. He taught us the tradition, how to run festivals, do it on a shoe-string, find the manpower, and to be nice to the volunteers so they come back year after year,” she says.

 There will be workshops on genealogy, sean nos singing, dancing, and instruction and showcases on a variety of instruments, from the whistle to the harp.

 “In past years, we’ve really focused on more local musicians and we’re doing that this year too,” she says.

 Piper and flutist Tim Britton, who grew up in the Philadelphia area, will be back from his new home in Iowa for a concert on Thursday night and will be playing the whole weekend. (If you’re hankering for some new uillean pipes, you might want to talk to him. He’s one of the leading makers of these smaller, sweeter-sounding pipes.)

 On Friday, the singers will include locals Rosaleen McGill, Terry Kane, and Matt Ward, along with County Armagh singer Len Graham and all-Ireland ballad champ Brian Hart of St. Louis,who was the first American to win the title—and the youngest person ever. Graham, who was Ireland’s Traditional Singer of the Year in 2002, has been singing and recording for more than 30 years. He was one of the Irish singers featured in the Smithsonian’s 2007 Folklife Festival tribute to Northern Ireland. (He actually gave a concert at the Library of Congress. No one said, “Shhhhh!”) There will be a session afterwards, so bring your instrument and lilting voice.

 The ever-popular McGillian Family—some combination of patriarch Kevin, sons Jimmy and John, and perhaps Mary–will provide the music for the Friday night ceili dance.

 Saturday’s workshops will certainly be punctuated with music and there will be vendors and food. That evening, our out-of-town visitors Len Graham, Brian Hart, and Hart’s group, BUA, will share the stage with a new local trad group, Cruinn, featuring singer Rosaleen McGill. Also on hand—two remarkable fiddlers: Pairac Keane, who hails from Dublin and is the son of Chieftans’ fiddler Sean Keane, and six-year-old Haley Richardson from New Jersey, who won first place at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Choil (Music Contest) in Pearl River, NY.

 And at 10 PM, all the chairs will be shoved aside in the Fireside Room for an old-fashioned Irish house party—music, dancing, and whatever else happens—all in honor of the late Frank Malley, who sang and danced and enjoyed whatever else happened.

You’ll want to be there. 

Buy tickets here.  

Here’s the way it looked in past years. 

 

Here are the workshops:

From noon until 2PM onSeptember 12th, attend workshops with

Brian O’hAairt (Sean Nos Singing/InIrish)

Sean Gavin (Uillean Pipes)

Chris Bain (Beginning Fiddle)

Len Graham(History of Ulster)

Brian Miller (DADGAD Guitar)

Josh Dukes (Flute)

TerryKane (Irish Language)

John Shields & Cass Tinney (Ceili/Set Dancing).

From3 until 5PM, attend workshops with:

Len Graham (Singing in English)

Sean Gavin(Tin Whistle)

Chris Bain (Intermediate Fiddle)

Will Hill (Genealogy)

BrianMiller (Accompanying Irish Music)

Josh Dukes (Bodhran)

Ellen Tepper (IrishHarp)

Brian O’hAirt (Sean Nos Dancing).

September 3, 2009 by
Columns, How to Be Irish in Philly

How to Be Irish in Philly This Week

The Philadelphia LiveArts and Fringe Festival starts next week and features several great Irish plays.

“The Bros. Flanagan,” a play about an Irish pub in Philadelphia, debuts in, what else—an Irish pub in Philadelphia—on September 5. It’s being staged upstairs at Fergie’s Pub on Sansom Street. Tickets are $20, and there’s a buy-one-get-one-free entrée offer going on through the run of the play.

 The Inis Nua Theatre’s popular production of “Trad,” a comic look at culture shock by comedian Mark Doherty, starts on September 3 at the Amaryllis at The Adrienne Theater, also on Sansom Street.

 “Go Irish: The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller,” starts on September 4 at the Arch Street United Methodist Church.

 This Saturday, pay tribute to a great guy. Sean Cullen was a union steamfitter, a member of the AOH Div.88 and athletic director for Our Lady of Calvary School Athletic Association. He died in May in a motorcycle accident, and his friends are holding a memorial at the Quaker City Yacht Club, where Cullen was a member, that will also raise money for a trust fund for Cullen’s 7-year-old son, Ryan.

On Tuesday, head down to McGillins in Center City to meet New York Times bestselling author William Lashner, whose Victor Carl novels have been translated into a dozen languages. He’ll read from his book, “Blood and Bones,” whose main characters have a beer at McGillins. You can have a beer too–for $2! It’s all part of McGillin’s 150th birthday celebration. Starts at 6 PM.

 On Thursday, the Pat McGee Band will be playing at the Sellersville Theatre. Though McGee and company don’t do Celtic, he is the nephew of a prominent member of Philadelphia’s Irish community, Kathy McGee Burns, vice president of the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association.

The first and second of four September festivals is coming up the weekend of September 10—the Green Lane Scottish-Irish Festival and the Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival of Irish Music and Dance. Pace yourself, though. Celtic Classic in Bethlehem and the AOH Irish Weekend in N. Wildwood follow close behind.

August 27, 2009 by
Food & Drink

A Culinary Expert Serves Up Tips on Irish Breakfasts

We’re continuing our conversation about Irish breakfast with an expert interview. Margaret M. Johnson, author of numerous cookbooks on the Irish culinary arts—including the recent “Tea & Crumpets”—has had ample opportunity to sample Irish breakfasts. We asked her for her views on this distinctive meal.

Q. When you’re in Ireland, I’m guessing that if it comes down to the choice between the Weetabix and the fry-up, you’re going for the fry-up. What is there about this breakfast that is so appealing to you?

A. I think because it’s “the thing to do.” Let’s face it, when you’re on vacation, you tend to “splurge” and a fry-up is really something that most Americans thinks is a no-no on a regular basis (probably most Irish think so, too). Too much fat, cholesterol, etc.

Q. What are the essential elements?
A. Two eggs, bacon, sausage, black and white puddings, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Q. For tourists, sitting down to the “full Irish” seems obligatory. It’s probably how most of us have become familiar with it. But is it likely to be more popular among tourists than among native Irish?
A. Absolutely yes.

Q. Are they secretly starting their day with Pop Tarts or Carnation Instant Breakfast?
A. Probably not Pop Tarts, but perhaps yogurt, fresh fruit, and a bagel.

Q. Is the full Irish breakfast likely to be popular only in certain parts of Ireland—the North, for example—or is it more or less universal?
A. Universal. In the north they add fadge, a fried potato bread.

Q. What they call bacon seems a lot more like what we call ham. It’s really salty and delicious. In what way is it different from our bacon? Seems like it would come maybe from a different part of the pig.
A. It definitely comes from the leg of the pig and is cured differently than American-style bacon. Also less fatty.

Q. I “get” everything about this breakfast except for one thing–the beans. I suspect I’m not alone. At the same time, I think beans on toast is a British and Irish standby, too. Where does this idea of beans as a breakfast food come from?
A. Most hotel breakfasts where tourists are likely to eat do not come with beans. I think beans are a more “home-style” part of a breakfast and come from the fact that these huge breakfasts were meant to serve the workers for a good part of the day—you know, hearty, hearty, hearty.

Q. What they call “puddings” can be a turnoff for some folks. At the same time, a lot of my fellow Philadelphians greatly relish their scrapple. Aren’t they in some ways similar?
A. I’m not too sure abut scrapple. I think the flavor might be similar, but the black pudding in Ireland is made with pig’s blood, oatmeal, and seasonings, which is a turn-off to a lot of people. The white pudding is milder.

Q. Is there one thing on that plate that is not your favorite?
A. I could skip the black pudding, but usually will allow a bite or two of the white. Brown bread, however, is always a winner.

Visit http://www.margaretmjohnson.com/.

August 27, 2009 by
Food & Drink

Where to Find – and Eat – a Full Irish Breakfast

The full Irish, as served at Ida Mae's.

The full Irish, as served at Ida Mae's.

Maybe it ought to come with a side of statins and a defibrillator. Fat and cholesterol content aside, is there anything that will take you back to Ireland (in your head and your stomach) more than a full Irish breakfast?

To review, a full Irish breakfast generally includes the following: numerous meats and things purporting to be meats, including bangers (sausage), rashers (a hammy kind of Irish bacon), and black and white puddings (also known as blood sausages, yum), together with a couple of eggs, grilled tomato and mushroom, beans and a slice of bread.

If you’re still hungry after all that, you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Diner.

Maybe you thought that you could only get that kind of breakfast in Ireland. Well, you don’t have to wait for your next trip. There are numerous places in the Philadelphia area where you can get an Irish breakfast, often at any time of the day.

We’ve assembled a sampling of those places. If you know of any other places that serve the full fry-up, let us know:

http://www.irishphiladelphia.com/contact

Here’s the list of places and when they serve it:  

Black Sheep Pub
247 S 17th St, Philadelphia, PA – (215) 545-9473

Saturdays and Sundays during the day.

Dark Horse Pub
421 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA – (215) 928-9307

All day, every day.

Fado Irish Pub
1500 Locust St # 1, Philadelphia, PA – (215) 893-9700

All day, every day.

Hibernia Deli Coffee Shop
3711 Garrett Road, Drexel Hill, PA – (610) 626-7370

All day, every day

Ida Mae’s Bruncherie
2302 E Norris St, Philadelphia, PA – (215) 426-4209

All day, every day.

Irish Coffee Shop
8443 W Chester Pike, Upper Darby, PA – (610) 449-7449

All day, every day.

Irish Times
629 S. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA – (215) 923-1103

Saturdays and Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Kildare’s
18-22 West Gay Street, West Chester, PA – (610) 431-0770
4417 Main Street, Manayunk, PA –  (215) 482-7242  
45 East Main Street, Unit 200-202, Newark, DE – (302) 224-9330

All day, every day 

Shanachie Pub
111 East Butler Pike, Ambler, PA 19002 – (215) 283-4887

All day, every day.

Sligo Pub
113 W. State St., Media, PA, 19063 – (610) 566-5707

All day, every day.

Tir na Nog
1600 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA – (267) 514-1700

Saturdays and Sundays until 3.

August 27, 2009 by
News

An Evening of Music and Dancing

Maired Timoney Wink is enjoying this dance.

Maired Timoney Wink is enjoying this dance.

There ought to be a bumper sticker that says, “Irish Dancers Have More Fun Than You,” because it sure seems that way.

At Sunday’s benefit for the WTMR 800AM Irish radio shows, the dancers turned out in force, and if there had been a rug to cut, they would have shredded it like roast pork.

The money from the benefit will help radio hosts Vince Gallagher, president of the Commodore Barry Club where the event was held, and longtime dancer Marianne MacDonald raise the $36,000  they need to keep the shows on the air.  

August 27, 2009 by