2007 - 2008 Concert Series Events
(return to the list)Friday, February 22, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Buy tickets online to
see The Brock McGuire BandAdvance tickets:
$14 adults (non-members)
$12 CMCAA members (please pay
dues for 2008 if you have not yet)
$8 students / seniors
Free for ages 14 & underThe Brock McGuire Band
Paul Brock -- Accordion
Manus McGuire - Fiddle
Enda Scahill - Banjo
Denis Carey - Piano7:00 p.m. at Unity Center of Columbia
1600 W. Broadway map
Admission:
Advance tickets:
$14 adults (non-members)
$12 CMCAA members (please pay dues for 2008 if you have not yet)
$8 students / seniors
At the door:
$16 adults (non-members)
$14 CMCAA members
$10 students/seniors
Free for ages 16 & underDownload a PDF flyer for the event
Listen!
A sample from their debut CD "The Brock McGuire Band"
60 seconds of track 3: The Mountain Road/The Ash Plant/Humours of Westport ReelsNever heard of The Brock McGuire Band??? Here's what you need to know:
"Now, down to the business at hand. Brock-McGuire is the best Irish traditional instrumental group in the world, and has----unbelievably---surpassed Moving Cloud. Let us suffer no disagreement here. The album matches the group. This is the deal. Paul Brock is now the pre-eminent button box player in the tradition. Manus McGuire has won our Award for Musician of the Year for his solo album, Saffron and Blue. His fiddle playing is the best Clare has to offer, which is fab. These two masters are joined by equally gifted banjo whiz, Enda Scahill. Lending a family feel is Ferghal Scahill on guitar, bodhran and fiddle. Ferghal has won a number of All-Ireland Championships on rhythm, fiddle and guitar. Enda is the five-time All-Ireland on banjo. He is the best banjo player in traditional music. Period. There is no counting the number of All-Irelands Brock and McGuire won in their days of competition. All-Irelands are hardly the best way to measure these things. Let's drop that now. A real, secret weapon of the group is Ireland's best piano player and one of the great composers, Denis Carey. A stunning musician, gifted in composition as well. Music falls out of this guy. His piano, among 51 other instruments he plays, is perfection. You may have noticed that we are proclaiming these musicians as " the best " on each of their instruments. Yup. That's the point. No group has this concentration of truly gifted heavyweights of this caliber. Trust us." Bill Margeson, LiveIreland.com
"The award-winning foursome features the musical talents of Moving Cloud founders Paul Brock on accordion/melodeon and Manus McGuire on fiddle, plus Enda Scahill on banjo and Denis Carey on piano. "Band members seemed unaware an audience was even in the room with them when they performed, playing with all eyes fixed downward. But between sets, they spun warm and friendly tales; Manus said his Sligo style of fiddling was influenced by the Cape Breton Symphony when he heard them in his youth. The band introduced an instrumental version of "I'll Tell Me Ma" by noting Paul learned it as a French polka and played it for some time before learning its origin as an Irish children's song.
"The set had a relaxed pace, ambling along and allowing plenty of room for ornamentation. The show was a sterling example of how the banjo, once the instrument of choice for bluegrass and Appalachian musicians, has been wholly adopted into the Irish fold -- much as the guitar and bouzouki were in the mid- to late 20th century. In this case, Enda's banjo helped transform a very good Irish dance band into an exceptional one."
Tom Knapp, rambles.net folk music Web site
The Brock Mcguire Band Passion and precision, authenticity and diversity: these are the hallmarks of Ireland's traditional music quintet, The Brock Mcguire Band. They are steeped in tradition and perform it with abiding respect and rousing creativity. The band's tight, tenacious blend of instruments often reaches fever pitch on stage, and their repertoire runs wide and deep, emphasizing mostly Irish music but also sprinkling in exciting arrangements of Shetland, French-Canadian, and other Celtic traditions.
Founding members button accordionist Paul Brock and fiddler Manus McGuire are two of Ireland's most celebrated traditional musicians, and have been at the forefront of Irish music for many years through their joint work with the group Moving Cloud. Manus is also a founding member of Buttons & Bows, and both bands, ranking among Ireland's finest, have helped to introduce international audiences to the virtuosity of their playing.
A multiple All-Ireland champion born in Athlone, County Westmeath, and now residing in Ennis, County Clare, Paul has many albums to his credit, including include the classic Omós do Joe Cooley with fiddler Frankie Gavin, and his solo album Mo Cairdín called "a master piece of accordion playing" by the Rough Guide to Irish music, 2001. Manus was raised in Sligo Town and now lives in East Clare. His solo album Saffron and Blue was placed in many overseas top-ten music polls and was also named best album of 2000-and Manus, best male musician of the same year-by the Irish American News.
Performing with the Brock McGuire Band are two highly-rated musicians on the traditional music scene: young Galway player Enda Scahill, a five-time All-Ireland champion on tenor banjo and a senior All-Ireland champion on mandolin, and his brother Fergal Scahill, a superb multi- instrumentalist who has an all-Ireland senior fiddle title to his credit and who drives the rhythm section of the band on guitar and keyboards.
Paul Brock
A multiple All-Ireland champion born in Athlone, County Westmeath, and now residing in Ennis, Paul pursued a solo career through the 60’s and 70’s by mastering the single-row, two-row, three-row, and five-row button accordions.
His collaborations with fiddle player Frankie Gavin during the 70’s and 80’s culminated in their 1986 Gael-Linn recording ‘Tribute to Joe Cooley’, regarded by critics and fellow musicians as one of the outstanding traditional albums of the modern era. Paul’s solo album, ‘Mo Chairdin’ (Gael-Linn), was described in the Rough Guide to Irish Music as a ‘modern masterpiece of accordeon music’.
In May 1989, Paul co-founded the group Moving Cloud with Manus McGuire. This Clare-based group produced two albums for Green Linnet Records, including their 1994 self-titled release that was selected by well-known U.S. music critic Earle Hitchner as the best Irish traditional album of the year. Paul was voted as 'Best Male Musician' (2004) by the Irish American News. His 2006 release 'Humdinger' with fellow band member Enda Scahill was voted 'Irish Music Album of The Year' by the Irish Times and has been released by Compass Records in Nashville, USA.
Endorsements of the Humdinger album include:
“An album alive with powerful rhythms delivered by musicians who play with dazzling virtuosity and precision” Martin Hayes (fiddle player).
“Dazzling. Stunningly Performed. Filled with virtuosity, exuberance, flair and joy” Mick Moloney (musician).
Manus McGuire
Born in Tullamore, County Offaly, raised in Sligo Town, and now residing in Scariff, East Clare, Manus McGuire is an Irish fiddler who blends dazzling technique with faultlessly far-ranging taste.
In Sligo, Manus instinctively developed the local fiddle style made famous by such legendary Sligo fiddlers as Michael Coleman, James Morrison and Paddy Killoran. Manus’s musical mettle became apparent to all in 1970, the year he won Sligo’s prestigious Fiddler of Dooney competition – at age 14.
Since then, he has recorded ten albums, including three with Buttons and Bows, two with Moving Cloud, and two solo albums, ‘Saffron and Blue’ (Green Linnet, 2000) and 'Fiddlewings' (Shelly River Music, 2006) which recently received a Bravo Award from Trad Magazine in France. Manus was voted 'Male Musician Of The Year', 2006, by the Irish American News in Chicago.
“As with his classic, Saffron and Blue (2000), he again distinguishes himself as one of the great musicians and composers of our time and gives an elegant listening and teaching tool to fiddle players, musicians and teachers alike. Fiddlewings is a top-flight performance given by a master at work.”
- Seamus Connolly, Chair of Irish Music, Boston College.“Fiddlewings exudes class from first to last note played. Variety, virtuosity and vitality are the lasting impressions created by this recording”
- Earle Hitchner, Irish Echo, New York.Enda Scahill
Galway born banjo player Enda Scahill is one of the most critically acclaimed banjoists in Ireland today. Enda has long established himself as one of the finest exponents of traditional Irish banjo playing and is widely recognised for his banjo teaching abilities.
His solo album Pick It Up was widely acclaimed. Enda has been described as “just about the strongest banjo I’ve have ever heard” (Art Ketchin, Celtic Beat) and Irish American News in Chicago said “[Enda] does things on the banjo which should be impossible”. Irish Music Magazine has described his playing as “simply divine”
Enda recently released the album Humdinger with Paul Brock which was awarded Album of the Year in the Irish Times and Instrumental Album of the Year in Irish American News. Paddy Maloney of the Chieftains hailed the album’s “incredible virtuosic playing”
Enda has performed with The Brock McGuire Band, The Frankie Gavin Band, The Furey’s and Sessions from the HearthDenis Carey
A native of Newport, Co. Tipperary, Denis is a musician/composer/arranger with a diverse musical background from Irish traditional to classical, jazz and pop. He has performed and recorded with leading international artists. His compositions have been performed by various international groups and orchestras, including Symphony Nova Scotia and the Scottish National Orchestra. Denis runs his own Academy of Music based in Limerick.
His new album of his own compositions and featuring some of Irelands leading musicians is due for release in 2007.
