LIAM O'FLYNN &
THE PIPERS CALL BAND
Each
concert by Liam O'Flynn and The Piper's Call Band is a unique event. The
core members of The Piper's Call Band are Arty McGlynn on guitar and Liam
Bradley on percussion, whose immense talents provide the perfect setting
for Liam's piping. The band are regularly joined by friends and guests
who each bring a special magic to the show. Because of the calibre of
musicians, endless rehearsals that can erode the spontaneity of a concert
are a very rare event with Liam and the band, thus ensuring each concert
is a special event for the musicians and audience alike.
NOTE: Most of Liam's recordings with
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prestigious BBC Proms concert series), Dublin's National Concert Hall, Glasgow's Celtic Connections Festival, Barcelona's Palau de la Musica, Lorient's Interceltique Festival, Denmark's Tonder Festival, Krakow's St. Catherine's Cathedral and London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. In addition to these concerts Liam and 'The Band have also had a number of very successful tours in Ireland, France, Spain, Finland and Italy as well as a coast to coast tour of America and Canada. In all cases standing ovations and rave reviews were a regular occurrence
Arty
McGlynn has been performing with Liam for many years. He comes
from a family steeped in traditional music. He is one of the most sought
after musicians and producers in Ireland working with most of the country's
top artists. Arty's picking of tunes is hugely impressive, the impact
he has made to the use of guitar in traditional Irish music, is beyond
question.
Liam
Bradley, Who also hails from the north of Ireland has now established
himself in the elite of percussion players not only in Ireland, but on
a wider international scene. Over the last ten years he has worked with
top Irish artists such as Frances Black, Dolores Keane, Brian Kennedy,
Maura O'Connell, Kieran Goss, Mary Black and Eleanor McEvoy. In addition
to which he has also recorded and toured with household names such as
Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor and The Chieftains.
Derryborn Frank Gallagher has worked with many artists since leaving university with a master's degree in music.For the past eight years he has played violin,viola,whistles and keyboards with Mary Black.In addition to recording and touring extensively with Mary he has worked with Sinead O'Connor,Ronan Keating,Midge Ure,Bonnie Tyler, Ralph McTell and Nightnoise.As a producer and arranger Frank has worked with Charlotte Church,James Galway,Phil Coulter and the Celtic Tenors, and he has also composed and orchestrated for TV and film.
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The Piper's Call Band Reviews
Through an expertly controlled selection of jigs, reels and slow airs O'Flynn built up an emotive, expressive mood of music that is both of its time and timeless. Cynics might argue (and occasionally I might agree) that between the jigs and the reels all traditional music sounds the same. Experience a Liam O'Flynn concert and you will have to think otherwise.Tony Clayton-Lea - Irish Times
The Liam O'Flynn band played with a classical symmetry
and precision indicative of the early formality of Irish dance music.
Liam himself is of the inscrutable school of Irish pipers - impassive
as music of pure soul flows from his fingers.
Tony Rose - The Guardian
A huge roar of applause greeted the very sight of Liam
O'Flynn and his band at the Whitla Hall on Friday and the mood continued
throughout a mighty concert.
O'Flynn is one of the few people who can coax Arty McGlynn onto the road
these days and he was complimented by another of the great guitarists
in the land, Steve Cooney. With Rod McVey on keyboards and percussionist
Tommy Hayes, this was a band of the highest quality and so was the music,
from the stately Galician tune which opened proceedings through to the
final blast, The Gold Ring. The high point of the weekend.
Belfast Newsletter Nov. 30th 1998 - Geoff Harden
Without compromising his strong traditional lineage,
Liam O'Flynn has in his three solo albums and session projects successfully
managed to take the uilleann pipe's sound into other contexts, like rock,
European folk music and movie sountracks.
O'Flynn has always been equally respected for the charisma of his live
performance, a charged mix of cool delivery and unhurried fluency. Add
to that an empathetic band that includes Arty McGlynn and Rod McVey, and
it's only natural that the Whitla Hall audience should expect something
unique. A great man for the jigs, O'Flynn began with a pair of Muineiras,
Galician/Spanish tunes. These were a perfect way of introducing the band,
allowing for a democratic, bouncy interplay between lead and rhythm instruments.
The reels too were presented in a setting that left plenty of room for
O'Flynn's snapping grace notes, Steve Cooney's guitar rolls and Tommy
Hayes's bodhran work. Arty McGlynn started and shared the melody during
the 'Willie Clancy's Reel/milliner's Daughter' tunes.
For the song-air Sliabh na mBan (The Women's Mountain), O'Flynn moved
to tin whistle, turning in a lyrical version, with solos expertly taken
by Cooney and McVey (keyboards).
An Droichead (the Bridge), written by O'Flynn for Mary McAleese's inauguration,
showed his ability to create in the traditional mode. Liam O'Flynn's band
has been evolving at its own good pace, slowly gathering people who know
exactly where he's coming from and what sound he's after. And judging
by his solid performance, what begun as a piper working with friends has
become, naturally, a unit in its own right.
The Irish News Nov. 30th 1998 - Michael O'Hanlon
Uilleann pipes maestro Liam O'Flynn and his friends took
the Whitla Hall by storm last night. This was a vintage performance which
captivated the appreciative Friday night audience, The Co. Kildare piper
led an all-star quintet through a one-and-a-half-hour traditional music
session of the highest quality. And what a band it was - ace guitarists
Artie McGlynn and Steve Cooney, keyboards player Rod McVey and percussionist
Tommy Hayes. The other three did a sound job, but it was O'Flynn and McGlynn
- 'the rhyming couplet', as I like to call them - who stole the show.
They were the main men as we were taken through a delightful set of Irish,
Scottish and Galician dance tunes and airs. I have been listening to both
of them now for upwards of 30 years, and I still marvel at their sensitivity
and feel of their music. McGlynn was in majestic form, matching O'Flynn
note for note in even the most demanding of fast Irish reels. And the
piper was at his virtuosic best too, notably on tunes like The Bridge,
which he composed (at her request) for Mary McAleese's inauguration. All
in all, a superb night's entertainment.
Belfast Telegraph Nov 28th 1998 - Neil Johnson
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