Published on Apr 22, 2001
For every million selling piece of offal out there, there are
ten maybe a hundred
recordings that are a labor of love. No one’s going to make a
buck off these discs, but
they’re there for a reason, a reason someone believes in. So
it is with this recording from
Rounder Records, a re-release of the first ever series of
recordings on the history of Irish
music in America. (I have four recordings in this series and
will be reviewing them all as
time permits.)
Who’s Ed Reavy, you ask? Good question, for you
non-historians. Ed Reavy was the
greatest American composer of Irish music, and the greatest
composer of Irish music in
the world since Turlough O’Carolan in the 17th century.
Reavy’s jigs, reels, flings, and
hornpipes have entered the list of standards played by
traditional Irish musicians from
Dublin, Ireland, to Dublin, Ohio. Born in County Cavan,
Ireland, Reavy emigrated to
Philadelphia with his family when he was 14, in 1912. For the
next seventy-six years he
wrote, performed, and recorded his work, until his death in
1989.
Reavy’s influence cannot be calculated. This recording,
originally released in 1979, is
breathtaking in its historical scope. There is, first, the
songs and the playing of Reavy
himself, a smooth and lyrical touch on the fiddle that is in
many ways the definition of
“classic”Irish fiddling. (Though I have a sneaking suspicion
Reavy would have approved of some of the modern multi-style
fiddlers like Natalie McMaster and Mark O’Connor). Then there are
the other fiddlers, playing to honor and document Reavy’s work,
that reads like a who’s-who of modern Irish music in America: Liz
Carroll, Brendan Mulvihill, Paddy Cronin, guitarist and project
organizer Mick Moloney…this is more than a recording, it’s a work
of art and of history. Special kudos go to Rounder Records for a
breathtakingly complete CD booklet, including the original liner
notes, new liner notes, notes on Reavy’s style of music theory and
composition, and Reavy’s original notes on song titles.
The Music Of Ed Reavy is just that; a seminal,
groundbreaking piece of American
music history that no serious fan of the Irish music genre
should be without. Take the time to find it today.