Liam O'Flynn (Solo Cassette 1988)

-Original liner notes below-

LIAM O’FLYNN
Uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn has been acclaimed as an outstanding musician, not just in Ireland but in a much wider world of music and amongst people who were not brought up in the tradition in which he was nurtered.
With this wide acclaim and reputation it may seem strange that is Liam O'Flynn's first solo album. But against that it can be said that his outstanding qualities as a musician and his indivdual style were already very apparent and highly dominant and appreciated within the groups and the ensembles in which he performed.
A native of Kill in Co. Kildare, Liam O'Flynn was born into a rich tradition of Irish music from both sides of his family: his father, a schoolteacher, played the fiddle and his mother was related to the Clare heritage through her cousin Junior Crehan.
His first contact with the uilleann pipes was through Sergeant Tom Armstrong of the Garda in Co. Kildare. Later, three pipers in particular influenced his musical development and widened his repertoire: Leo Rowsome, Willie Clancy and Seamus Ennis.
In the 1960s, as a very young piper, he had won prizes at the Oireachtas Festival and the Fleadh Ceoil but he really came into prominence in the group Planxty which made such an impact on the musical scene all through the 1970s.
Since 1980 Liam O’Flynn has brought a new excitement into our musical lives in the way he has skilfully grafted the uilleann pipes onto the symphony orchestra through the compositions of his friend, Shaun Davey, particularly The Brendan Voyage.
Though a very private person, this quiet gentle musician is a superb public performer. In the best meaning of the word, he is a great showman but never a show-off. He has worked with the internationally famous avant-garde composer John Cage in New York; he has accompanied the popular singer Kate Bush; His piping was featured on the soundtrack for Pat O’Connor’s film Cal by Mark Knopfler. The celebrated classical guitarist John Williams, at his own request, joined Liam O’Flynn in the Brendan Voyage Suite in the South Bank Festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall. In 1985 he was honoured in the National Entertainment Awards.
In this album he has also gathered round him some outstanding performers in various musical disciplines. Donal Lunny, who is producer of the album and co-arranger, plays bouzouki and synthesiser. Seán Keane is here with his fiddle and Micheal O’Súilleabháin plays the harpsichord. A string quartet including Aisling Drury-Byrne, Nollaig Casey, Helen Davies and John Sheahan join the piper in a new piece by Shaun Davey.
There is here a rare combination of pipes and Church organ in an air called Easter Snow. The organist is Catherine Ennis, daughter of Seamus Ennis to whom Liam O’Flynn is indebted for this ancient tune.
Liam O’Flynn, with his pipes, has opened up new musical horizons without compromising his traditional heritage or traditional style and he has enriched us all. Go mairidh sé an céad – long may he be with us.

-CIARÁN MAC MATHÚNA

Tracklist:
A1. My Former Wife / Snug in the Blanket [ 0:00 ]
A2. The Beauty Spot / Bean Tinceara [ 2:52 ]
A3. Limerick's Lamentation [ 5:53 ]
A4. Alexander's Hornpipe / The Bank of Turf [ 9:56 ]
A5. The Faery Queen [ 13:45 ]
A6. Willie Clancy's Reel / The Milliners Daughter [ 16:46 ]
A7. Shadow on the Hill [ 19:22 ]
B1. The Old Bush / The Dark Girl in Blue [ 21:35 ]
B2. Fraher's Jig / I buried my Wife / The Leg of the Duck [ 24:35 ]
B3. Easter Snow [ 28:24 ]
B4. The Drunken Gauger [ 32:13 ]
B5. Sean O Duibhir a'ghleanna [ 34:03 ]
B6. King of the Blind [36:53 ]

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam