LIAM O'FLYNN QUOTES & REVIEWS

"Laoi na Pibe (The Irish language version of The Piper's Call television documentary) looks at the life, work and music of Liam O'Flynn, one of Ireland's outstanding musicians.
We saw Liam playing on his own, with traditional musicians, rock musicians and orchestra. So skilled is he, that he made the pipes sound as if they had been invented for each and every musical genre he visited.

It is extraordinary how the pipes, when played as beautifully as they are by Liam, captivate all who hear them. Musicians from all sorts of traditions find they can fit the pipes easily into their work.

This hour-long programme portrait of Liam O'Flynn was too short by half. I must say, that as we become swamped by more and more incredibly bad television stations RTE and TG4 fly the flag when they transmit programmes like this.

Liam O'Flynn says
that the only English rhyme

For the word "uilleann" -
From Irish uile, meaning
Elbow - is the word "villain".

Ag seideadh, pronounced

"Ig-shade-oo" (or near enough)

And meaning "blowing" -

Used of great biblical winds -

Means also "to play the pipes".

The solicitor

Questioned the dying master

One last time: "You want

To leave your pipes to that man?

Why?" "Because he can play them"

Thursday evening, May 29th was the first in Lincoln Center's celebration of Seamus Heaney, part of the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center, and the line outside gave it all the appearance of a premier.

The sage-like Mr. Heaney, after knocking over his glass of water, said of the concept of the evening "It's very simple. He plays some tunes, I read some poems" Simple idea; the effect was transporting.

The presence these men brought with them is not easily named. It was a presence that could be best subscribed as a link, a tangible link if music and words be tangible. O'Flynn and Heaney certainly form the link between worlds, of here and there, of past and the present, the spirit and the material.

It was a theme introduced immediately by Liam O'Flynn's rendition of 'Song of the Spirit'. Fittingly, O'Flynn explained that the tune is said to have come from the spirit world, carried by the breeze off the Blasket Islands.

Heaney follows and speaks of a 'sunken kind of love' that permeates Irish literature and thought, such as the love between a farther and son. He talks about his own father and reads 'A Kite for Michael and Christopher', a poem about his relationship with his own sons.

The sunken love theme surfaced again in 'Mossbawn' from North: "And here is love/like a tinsmith's scoop/sunk past its gleam/ in the meal-bin".

Perhaps the best pairing of the evening came when O'Flynn played the soulful 'Brendan Voyage' a piece that captures the mystical journey of the sixth century saint.

O'Flynn's pipes seemed to be sending Brendan's adventurous spirit itself whipping through the auditorium.

The kind of presence that Heaney describes perfectly in 'Lightenings': "When the monks of Cloinmacnoise were all at prayers inside the oratory, a ship appeared above them in the air".

The poem speaks of a man whose anchor is stuck, who "can't bear our life here and will drown". The abbot responds "unless we help him". Released, "the man climbed back out of the marvellous as he had known it".

Like two shamans, like two monks, Seamus Heaney and Liam O'Flynn freed a small corner of upper Manhattan that night, allowing our ships to soar to where, as Heaney writes, "the soul cloud-like roams".

thank you, Mr. Heaney and Mr. O'Flynn. We've not yet touched ground.

ELIZABETH RAGGI - Irish America

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Seamus Heaney & Liam O'Flynn, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Poetry and piping. Poems about piping. Piping that was sheer poetry. It would be easy to go into poetic overdrive about this meeting of Ireland's best-known poet and, arguably, the country's leading uilleann piper. But it wasn't like that. This was about two quiet masters of their respective arts performing on a stage but at the same time not being on a stage at all.
In Seamus Heaney's down-to-earth world, writing is work, honest toil. It wouldn't have been seen that way on the family farm, he acknowledged, but as he wrote in Digging, the poet digs out the words just as surely as the tattie-howker digs out the spuds. So when he reads out his words, he simply talks to you. Of digging. Of childhood memories, where a tragic accident leaves his young brother in a 4ft box - a foot for every year of his life. And of Homer. Simpson, that is. Or the other one.
The poet's self-effacing comments about having the neck to add verses to a Sophocles masterpiece are complemented by Liam O'Flynn's references to "lumps of piping", a kind of "ach, it's nothing" preface to magisterial playing of the classic Fox Chase or the unutterably gorgeous music of the spirits.
It was another Seamus, Ennis, another piper and a zealous one, who grudgingly referred to all meritorious performances, piped or otherwise, as "good piping".
On a night when words soothed, touched, and entertained mightily, especially an ingenious, rude rhyme with abducted, and tunes sang, "good piping" would have been right on two counts.

Rob Adams - Glasgow Herald Jan 19th 2001

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The Piper's Call - "Probably the finest uilleann piper of his generation, and a founder member of Planxty, Liam O'Flynn has played with the best of Irish traditional musicians as well as classical orchestras and many other musical traditions. All this experience comes through on his new recording: solo Irish piping alternates with orchestral arrangements and ensemble pieces including a Scottish strathspey and two sets of Galician tunes.
The core of this CD is traditional Irish music arranged for a small ensemble with whom Liam has been performing for the last two or three years: Arty McGlynn and Steve Cooney on guitars, Rod McVey on keyboards and Liam Bradley on percussion. Guests include Sean Keane and Matt Molloy of The Chieftains, Carlos Nunez from Galicia, Mark Knopfler from Planet Nashville, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra and friends.
The opening track is a beautifully relaxed and understated pair of traditional jigs. The music flows from the pipes like porter from a tap: smooth, unhurried and full of flavour, with just enough bite to it. Track 2 is traditional again, hornpipes this time, and then we come to the first unusual track. "An Droichead" is a slow air commissioned from Liam by Irish president Mary McAleese, as part of her "Building Bridges" initiative: Liam performed it solo at her inauguration, but on this recording he's joined by Mark Knopfler on electric guitar. This track is followed by the strathspey "Miss Admiral Gordon's", a William Marshall tune given a suitably formal arrangement: the Irish pipes don't quite have the snap of their Scottish cousins, though.
Two more excellent traditional Irish tracks follow, a beautiful rendition of the slow air "Sliabh na mBan" and a set of reels where Liam is joined by Sean Keane and Matt Molloy to give an almost Planxty/Bothy Band sound. But the best is still to come.
Track 7 sees Liam duetting with Carlos Nunez on a couple of Galician jig-time tunes. The build-up on this track is terrific, solo pipes becoming double pipes becoming full band, and I'd swear there was double tracking at some points: magical stuff. A more down-beat Galician track finishes the album in fine style, but before that there are three gems of Irish music.
First we have Micheal O Suilleabhain's six-minute orchestral arrangement of "Bean Dubh an Ghleanna", a classic slow air which has been tackled by Liam, Matt and Sean in the past. Next there's a set of four reels including a spine-tingling delivery of "Mayor Harrison's Fedora" and a stunning change into a tune I'm sure is Scottish. For me, this is the most powerful set on the CD. Finally, we have a return to the old piping classics with "The Gold Ring", a virtuoso 7-part jig on which Liam's playing sparkles but the fiddling of Sean Keane is simply dazzling.
This has to be one of the best albums of the year, and if this isn't enough there's an accompanying video available."
Alex Monaghan - The Living Tradition

The Given Note - "To be perfectly frank, I have not had the easiest of relationships with Liam O'Flynn (I mean with his music, before any tabloid journalist reading this, thinks they have a new "scoop" on there hands). I still regard Liam playing "Tabhair Dom Do Lamh" (at the end of the Raggle Taggle Gipsies) as one of the great pieces of piping, of any kind. Yet his collaborations of a orchestral nature leave me colder than the Minch in January. So it was with trepidation I started to listen to this CD.
My worries disappeared faster than Guinness in a Dublin pub as Liam cajoles the pipes into singing divinely for their supper. From the first note it is obvious that we are in for a treat, as a musician completely at ease with the music and its traditions gently brings a contemporary and cosmopolitan approach into play. Liam has stepped in to a market saturated with unbelievably talented youngsters, playing everything at twice the speed of sound, with a cultured and sophisticated piece of work, and he kicks ass.
This CD has class stamped all over it. The piping is exceptional as is Liam's Whistle playing. The accompaniment is first class as you would expect of musicians of the calibre of Arty McGlynn, Sean Keane and Steve Cooney (guitar and Didgeridoo no less) to name but a few. Shaun Daveys production is crystal clear, as indeed it needs to be with so much happening in each track.
Although the pace of this CD varies throughout the overall feel is one of calmness with Liam always confident in the quality of the music, and even when playing hornpipes the concentration is on the music of the tune rather than the speed it is played at (not that Liam is any slooch). Three delightful airs, Phil Cunningham's "Farewell To Govan" an Edward Bunting collected "Joyce's Tune", and "Calin na Gruaige Doinne" have Liam exploring the plaintive qualities of the uillean pipes to the full, and you will definately get the urge to cuddle up close to someone as you listen to them (be careful who you sit next to). They also serve as the backbone of the CD and contribute to the laid back feel.
As well as the traditional Irish material Liam expands his horizons to include Galician dance rhythms, and Scottish Strathspeys (complete with side drummer). The first of two Galician inspired tracks sees Liam tackle a "Foliada" which is apparently a Galician dance rhythm and as he spars with the Galician pipes of Xose V Ferreiros you can only admire the Galicians for having enough energy to dance to these wild and enthralling tunes. The second Galician set comprises a slower tune with Clarinet, oboe and whistle each taking the lead with deft harp playing in the background. The pipes come and go as the arrangement changes never allowing you to get bored with one setting. Slowly the tempo rises and the Galician pipes enter the arena as the set builds to a suitably climatic ending. At eight minutes long this set finishes the CD in considerable class and style.
Not content with furnishing us with terrific music Liam also gives us two songs, just to mix things up, and if anything, split up the instrumental tracks a little lest you get blase about the fare on offer. The songs serve as a sorbet to cleanse our aural pallets before the next feast. This in no way denegrates the songs they easily stand scrutiny on their own. Andy Irvine sings "Come With Me Over the Mountain" while Paul Brady gives his own interpretation of the classic "The Rocks of Bawn", both are a pleasure to listen to.
This CD is the work of a master craftsman and is the culmination of years spent absorbing the tradition until he becomes the tradition. Those at peace with themselves will tap into this music instantly, those still fighting the great fight may take a little longer. I strongly suspect that this is going to be a huge seller. It will not short change anyone who buys it.
Chris MacKenzie - The Living Tradition

"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

"Liam is never flash, never over-plays his hand, and never uses the pipes as a vehicle to dominate the music. So that when he does open up and let rip, the earth moves. Such is the mark of a true master." Colin Irwin - Folk Roots

"When Liam O'Flynn plays the uilleann pipes he creates a forcefield which surrounds his listeners and seems to envelop them in something almost mesmeric. "
From an interview with John Kelly - Irish Times

"O'Flynn himself has taken the uilleann pipes on many a musical adventure, be it traditional, classical or pop. He has done as much as anyone to ensure the uilleann pipes a continuous, living place in Irish music."
Maureen Brennan - Dirty Linen

"If you're told that uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn got a 15-minute standing ovation after playing Shaun Davey's The Brendan Voyage in London's Royal Festival Hall, you'll get an idea of how powerful a piece it is."
Linsey Reed - Edinburgh Evening News

"Liam O'Flynn brings to the pipes a spirit and richness that other pipers can only strive to."
Lahri Bond - Dirty Linen

"Though a very private person, this quite, gentle musician is a superb public performer. In the best meaning of the word, he is a great showman, but never a show-off."
Ciaran MacMathuna - R.T.E.

"With the Given Note Liam O'Flynn has re-affirmed his primacy among the piping fraternity, has yet again revealed his gift for reinvention of ancient muses, and created in the process one of the albums of the year"
Oliver P. Sweeney - Hotpress

LIAM O’FLYNN. Palau de la Música Catalana. 16 de abril de 1998.
Manuel Sánchez.

Liam O’Flynn regresó a Barcelona con su gaita irlandesa para presentar su nuevo disco, The Piper’s Call. Lo que hace tiempo parecía quimérico -que la música tradicional tuviera un hueco en los recintos de más alto prestigio- se va convirtiendo en norma, gracias a algunos intérpretes cuya calidad ha sido internacionalmente reconocida.

Un concierto de Liam O’Flynn siempre es algo más que el escuchar una serie de piezas musicales; nuestro protagonista acude acompañado de la aureola de una leyenda que se ha depositado en él (Planxty, sus instrumentos, sus maestros); él lo sabe y enmarca su música en un lugar apropiado para no traicionar a nadie; en los tratamientos y en el modo de presentar su música casi no ha cambiado con el paso del tiempo. Lo que ha variado es que ahora él es el solista, el centro principal de atención.

Mucho se puede hablar sobre cuál es el sitio más apropiado para la música instrumental irlandesa, sobre cuál es la formación ideal y cuál el modo de presentarla. En la particular opinión de quien escribe, ni el Palau ni todas las opciones que eligió O’Flynn son lo mejor. Arty McGlynn (guitarra) cumplió con la misión encomendada, que por su capacidad debiera ser mayor. Liam O’Flynn, con la gaita y con el whistle, ejerció de solista en todo momento, y ejecutó la música con su precisión técnica habitual, pero con emoción desigual; en ciertos momentos se echó a faltar algún instrumento melódico que lo acompañase. Los arreglos del directo dan un amplio papel al sintetizador de Rod McVey, que apenas dejan oír el sonido real de la gaita. En contraste, la percusión del galaico Méndez, que los acompañaba, no llegó a oírse en todo el concierto, dando un toque extraño a la actuación. Tanto McGlynn como O’Flynn son dos grandes músicos que pueden expresar más de lo que vimos este día.

Intérpretes: Liam O'Flynn (uillean pipes, whistle), Arty McGlynn (guitarra acústica), Rod McVey (teclados), Tommy Hayes (bodhram)./ Escenario: Sala La Riviera./ Fecha: 6 de febrero

MADRID.- Desde Irlanda, y aún con cierto retraso histórico, nos va llegando la flor y nata del folk de aquel país, sede y cuna de buena parte de la mejor música tradicional de Occidente, Estados Unidos incluidos. Y es que, con la moda de celtismo que nos inunda, se cuelan algunos gazapos modernistas, pero también se repara en algunas figuras realmente históricas.

Este es el caso del gaitero Liam O'Flynn, veterano actor de la escena musical desde hace más de un cuarto de siglo.

Liam no escatima reels y energía si ello es preciso, pero lo suyo, ante todo, es la rendición ante la melodía bien construida y serenamente conjugada. En el insólito marco de una discoteca pop, la sonoridad de O'Flynn y su cuarteto no sólo no desentonó, sino que ofreció algunas pautas ejemplarizantes. Respeto sumo, en todo instante, para el material interpretado, y también para la propia audiencia. O'Flynn y su mano derecha, Arty McGlynn, guitarrista de altos vuelos y carrera prolífica, construyen un entramado básico donde tienen cabida el arrebato comedido y el lirismo exaltado. Además de algunas piezas de la tradición gaélica milenaria, el cuarteto hizo hincapié en el nuevo disco del maestro, The Piper's Call, en el que han colaborado Mark Knopfler y nuestro Carlos Núñez.