Record of the Day: Various Artists, “Music at Matt Molloy’s”
Various artists
“Music at Matt Molloy’s” (Real World CDRW26)
In addition to being the flautist for the Chieftains, one of the world’s best-known traditional Irish music groups, for twenty-seven years, Matt Molloy is the manager of a famous pub in the town of Westport, crowded all year round with tourists and enthusiasts who swarm from all over the world to listen to the improvisations of the musicians who spontaneously gather at the tables to play (and of course to enjoy some excellent dark beer).
Every evening the warm and convivial atmosphere encourages all those present to sing and play arias, dances and melodies of the incomparable
musical tradition that Ireland possesses. Songs for voice and solo instrument (called Lament and Air) or accompanied by guitars, bouzouki, mandolins and violins. Melancholic arias alternate with tasty Reels so fast that they make your head spin, while the audience present claps their hands, sings and generally has a great time.
In 1992 Molloy came up with the idea of making a record that would bear witness as faithfully as possible to the atmosphere present in his
local, and for four days invited musicians from all over the country to record them in a completely spontaneous way. At first, when the recording equipment was positioned in a visible way, the result was a catastrophe; everyone felt awkward and the climate was not the usual one, so Molloy had the equipment installed on the ceiling in such a way that many musicians did not even notice the presence of cables and microphones.
In the recordings (which are of excellent quality, by the way) you can hear the customers chatting happily in the background, every now and then a glass falls and breaks but nothing really disturbs the sensational energy that these musicians manage to infuse into the music, it really seems like you are sitting at one of the tables and you want to order something to drink.
Molloy is an unrivaled soloist in this repertoire, both on flute and tin whistle (a smaller instrument), but
Also very good were all the violinists, accordionists and singers present, too numerous to name them all.
The album is a real celebration, all the songs are recommended, with a special mention for the solo ballad “Bonny Wood Green” and the whirlwind “Cape Breton Jig”.
Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.
This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.
