Carmel Gunning is one of Ireland’s most accomplished and well-known traditional musicians, a virtuoso tin whistle and flute player, and a renowned singer and composer. She has also spent a life-time teaching traditional music, particularly the uptempo, lifty, exciting Sligo style formed from that county’s immense tapestry of culture and tradition.
Tonight, at the Cois na hAbhna music venue in Ennis from 7pm, two of her most important collections and a new CD – the latest in a lifetime of producing top-notch music – will be formally launched in Munster. A concert also featuring noted musicians such as Eileen O’Brien, Deirdre Scanlan, Kevin Water and Geraldine Cotter will kick off at 8pm.
Well known researcher and authority on traditional music and song, Joe O’Connor, a former Reachtaire with Comhaltas Ceolteoirí Éireann with launch the collections.
Gunning’s CD ‘Cathair Shligigh’, her book of compositions “The Sligo Maid’ , and a songbook ‘Shamrocks from Geevagh’ will all be available on the night.
I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Carmel’s playing in many a session and concert hall, and every time I marvel anew at how she can weave such complex, ornate and beautiful music from something as ordinary as a humble tin whistle.
We’ve whiled away the small hours singing some of the great songs too, and Carmel’s rich, powerful voice is enhanced by the masterful control she has both of her singing and the song. Always innovative, but remaining true to tradition, her singing has great depth of meaning and feeling and substance, relaying her deep understanding of the history and the story of the songs.
Recently, marking an astonishing 50 years playing and teaching music she issued two important collections: The Sligo Maid, which contains 64 original compositions – and Shamrocks from Geevagh, a collection of 40 songs.
To the tunes first then: Carmel grew up in Geevagh in south-east Sligo, from an area and a family steeped in musical tradition and that instinctive ear is evident in these tunes which are an important addition to the traditional repertoire. The breadth of tradition is well represented here in a collection that also showcases Carmel’s astonishing proficiency.
Fresh, exciting jigs, including Footing the Turf and Ciarán’s at Home, remind the listener of the observation made by the great Brendan Mulkere who noted that the best traditional tunes are shaped by the sounds of the composer’s environment.
There are some cracking reels too, including the gorgeous lift of All the Way to Jordanstown and Bring on the Poteen, already two firm favourites in my house.
And there are lively hornpipes, polkas, flings and waltzes too, and seven poignant, beautifully crafted slow airs which tell their own story. Amongst those are laments for Fred Finn and for Paddy Tunney, two bright stars in the traditional firmament who, no doubt, are looking down in approval at being remembered by such lovely airs.
The Sligo Maid is a gift for all serious musicians and for families who want to broaden their repertoire while keeping to tradition, and for everyone who hankers to learn a gorgeous, exciting new tune.
Shamrocks from Geevagh is a collection of forty songs Carmel has learned since she was child listening to family and neighbours, with a strong emphasis on Connaught songs and those that tell a story of love or loss or place – and of rebellion and courage, with a ballad of Brave Michael Dwyer opening the selection.
There are songs which remember Seán MacDiarmada – Lovely Cornmore – and the Glencar Martyrs, and others telling of the victory of the Irish rebels in the Battle of Carricknagat in the 1798 rising. Local characters – Dan O’Hara and Tom O’Dowd – also feature in this significant collection.
The songs are shaped and powered by Carmel’s rich, expressive voice and her command of the ornamentation and variations which make this album such a pleasure to listen to. She notes that she was influenced in a lifetime of singing by Paddy Tunney, Darach Ó Catháiin, Séamus and Úna Mhic Mathúna, Geordie Hanna, Séamus Ó Dubhthaigh but, as evident in this fine collection, her singing and her style is very much her own.
Each CD comes with an accompanying handbook, with extensive notes which will be helpful for students and teachers, and there’s a visual history of some of the people and events that have shaped the development of Comhaltas and traditonal music in Sligo and surrounding counties in the hundred or more photographs that illustrates the pages.
Both collections and the CD are a musical treat and an invaluable teaching guide, and are available by contacting Carmel Gunning at carmelgunn09@gmail.com or calling 00353876250454 or on Facebook.
A recent Dublin launch saw the Cobblestones crammed with supporters and enthusiasts wishing Carmel well and enjoying the best of music. There will be plenty of the same in Ennis tonight!
