Songwriter, composer, mandolinist, vocalist Sharon Gilchrist of Mary & Mars is a friend, great musician and former student of mine. Was raped by the British brigands! God damn, God damn! This is a brilliant, cutting and direct account of Ireland’s fate at the hands of the English. To me, this is a just a great excuse to highlight John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer and Rick Laird (who is from Ireland!). The album is not very “Irish” except for the title of this one musical work, A Lotus On Irish Streams. The Inner Mounting Flame was an album of genius and astounding virtuosity that inspired and guided me ever since it was released. John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra – A Lotus On Irish Streams This unique version, sung by The Band’s Richard Manuel along with guest Van Morrison, is from The Band’s fantastic farewell concert/film, The Last Waltz. The Band & Van Morrison – Tura Lura Lura (That’s An Irish Lullaby) I especially like The Rolling Stones’ agitated and fun insertion/interpolation of “Satisfaction” at 1.07 – 1.22. If you had only one means to learn about the music of Ireland, I’d recommend The Chieftains. If you only had one means to learn about the music of Jamaica, I’d recommend Bob Marley. The Rolling Stones & The Chieftains – The Rocky Road To Dublin (I’ll resist the temptation to be political here – John Lennon did it for me!)Ĭomposed by Shane O’Madden – from the Govinda album, “O Earthly Gods.” The best known of the following recordings (recordings, not songs) is probably John Lennon’s Luck Of The Irish an unabashedly pro-Irish/anti-English political diatribe. My recording is from Satchmo’s excellent The Complete Hot Five And Hot Seven Recordings I wanted to incude Louis Armststrong’s great Irish Black Bottom with his free and swinging interpolation of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” but couldn’t find a high enough audio quality recording on YouTube. Patrick’s Day post in 2015, I’ll have to atone for that sin. Very oddly I’ve only used one Chieftains recording in this post. I am of Irish descent – lots of it – and take pride in this day when millions wear green and pretend to be irish, or at least use March 17 as an excuse to ingest green colored drinks and foods. Patrick’s Day, I have compiled six (6) musical works I own that are in a very direct or indirect way pertinent to Ireland, Irish music or St. Performed with John Williams, Peter Serkin, Rolf Smedvig, Allan Dean, Kenny Rogers, Arlo Guthrie, Davidīromberg, Natalie Cole, Cladio Roditi, Lew Soloff, Roger Voison, Bob Mintzer, The Yellowjackets, PeterĮrskine, Yosef Lateef, John Abercrombie and Ernie Watts.Music of The Band, The Chieftains, Govinda, Mary & Mars, John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Morrison and The Rolling Stones are featured below.įor St. Tri-Arts Theater Company, Berkshire Opera, the Berkshire Bach Society, and the Empire Brass. He has performed with the Barrington Stage Company, Orchestra, the Bluestars and the Advanced Phunk Band. Jeff has appeared throughout the Northeast as a member of the Berkshire Brass Quintet, the Amherst Jazz Jeff is currently director of Music for the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. In 1986, he was given the “Outstanding Arts Educator Award” by the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education. He is the director of the Monument Mountain Regional High School Band and Jazz Ensemble as well as the Monument Valley Regional Middle School Band and Jazz Ensemble. For 32 years, he has taught music in private and public schools and has taught at the Empire Brass seminar at Tanglewood. Jeff Stevens is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music and holds a Masters degree from California State University. He has performed with Roberta Flack, Cheryl Bentyne of Manhattan Transfer, Dick Hyman, Dave McKenna, and Larry Coryell to name a few. He attended Berklee College of Music and traveled to many parts of the globe as the pianist with the United States Coast Guard Band. Early influences include Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson and Dave Brubeck. Robert Kelly began studying ragtime, jazz and classical repertoire at the age of five.
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