Artist: Finbarr Dwyer (accompanied by Mary Corcoran on piano)
Album: Pure Traditional Irish Accordion Music
Year: 1970 (CD Re-issue, 1994)
Genre: Irish Traditional (Accordion solo, piano backing)
Finbarr Dwyer has been, and still is, an important influence on many of today's major Irish traditional musicians. I, personally, have taken great pleasure in listening to his method of turning tunes, learning his versions of old standards and his newly-composed work. He was born into a musical family in Castletownbeare, Co. Cork in 1946 and began playing when only three years old! Cork is usually associated with the music of Sliabh Luachra but the Dwyer family have a special, individual stamp like no other. Not a polka or slide is to be heard on this recording.
Released in 1970 on the renowned Outlet label, this was Finbarr's first commercial recording - he had just 24 years behind him. Judging by the picture on the back sleeve, Finbarr played a 3-row accordion, unusual in Irish music and, from what I've heard since, was tuned B-C-C#. The audio quality is nothing more than could be expected from an Irish record of the era. In any case, it's irrelevant for those purely focused on his musicality. The accompaniment is not virtuoso by any means but sits happily in the background. In fact, to provide anything of greater standard would detract from the only person that really matters - Finbarr! One could say, Mary Corcoran's piano playing is "substantial".
A hardcore blast of The Pigeon on the Gate opens up the gateway and, already, you can tell that you're in for a treat. 'The Pigeon' is a hackneyed old tune but, in the higher key of A mixolydian, Finbarr deviates from the bare bones to create a tune all for himself. His gift for phrasing can be heard throughout, as can his ability for playing in awkward keys when he dives into The Donegal Traveller in A major (not an accordion-friendly key). His scope on the fingerboard is used to its fullest as he decorates the tunes with alterations down at the low end of the scale.
Following suit is another set of reels but, this time, both compositions of Finbarr: Hill 60 and The Spring Well. This showcases Finbarr's attachment to modal tunes and also demonstrates how his compositions comply to no form usual with Irish melodies. Particularly in The Spring Well, one can experience the melody jumping around wildly before settling on the home note.
Two piping jigs ensue, in line with his preferred character of tune. He doesn't rush them but plays them nice and steady. In fact, there is a very heavy feel to them but in no way do they drag. He carries momentum throughout the performance.
For those familiar with the music of the Dwyers, An tAthair Jack Walsh, as per track 5, reveals that unmistakable stamp so often revered. Finbarr drops the key to A to work around the piece in an entirely different fashion.
Trim the Velvet, then, displays his mind for well thought out variations without letting go of the spontaneity that is such an integral part of his approach. Berehaven was written by Dwyer and, although more usual in terms of key and movement in comparison to his other hits, the melody is written in a far-from-clichéd manner and would sit well in many different enviroments.
The other workings that Finbarr put down include one which has been subsequently made popular by fiddle maestros, Sean McGuire and Jim McKillop: Farewell to Cailroe. On the contrary, the aptly titled Finbarr Dwyer's No. 2 is a tune I've yet to hear played by any other musician to date.
All in all, there is a lot of meat on this LP and heaps to learn for the scholar of Irish music. His 'off-the-cuff' attitude to music-making provides us with lively, but personal, variations. Yet, his professionalism, and undisputed adeptness on his chosen instrument, allow Dwyer to go as far-reaching as he feels necessary, without the risk of having anything slip through his fingers.
As a side note (no pun intended), an amusing factor with regard to Pure Traditional Irish Accordion Music is his (or the record label's) chosen titles for the tracks. The first hornpipe set includes a one named West the Hill. I suspect they misprinted it on the sleeve by leaving out the word 'of' ; this was not corrected on the re-issue however. In any case, a more common title is The Chancellor which points to a fair possibility that the title could have been made up on the spot for the sake of not producing any "Gan Ainms". There are other examples of this, including his take on Jenny, Tie the Bonnet, which is referred to as Upstairs in a Tent. Whilst this might seem wholly irrelevant (it is, to a large degree), trouble did arise when it was found that a reel on track 10, The Meadow, was actually one written by the prolific composer Sean Ryan and named The Trip to Nenagh. It took some time to realise this and many considered the tune to be one of Finbarr's own thereafter. Some still, incorrectly, attribute this reel to Finbarr and place The Meadow title on it.
Regardless of that nit-picking, Finbarr Dwyer's entry into the recording world spurred a new perspective on playing Irish traditional dance music. His completely personal approach to the art of variations and a sound that is stand-alone (despite being compared to other B/C stalwarts like Joe Burke and Paddy O'Brien) is reflected today in the many students of Irish music who focus, solely, on the music of this great man, in a context all its own.
Tune of the album: The Pigeon on the Gate
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