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JigTime International

Altan's Ciaran CurranWelcome to JigTime's Music Pages where I will try to guide you through the maze of musical styles you are going to find on this site. I grew up playing music from all sorts of places and am lucky to have been exposed to a rich variety of musical cultures throughout my life. Despite being raised in Ireland my first ever band was a Bluegrass one and I have always loved the music that came out of America and especially the real old country and mountain music. I also love our own Irish traditional sounds and many forms of Celtic music from the highlands of Scotland to the coast of Galicia and all points beyond. To begin though I have been asked many times by people all over Europe and especially in the US about what the best albums are to ease someone new into Irish or celtic music. So I wrote a couple of pieces to give a very potted history of the last century of Irish traditional music and also a slightly tongue in cheek look at a typical Session. And below I have listed the top 50 of what I consider to be the best and most accessible albums for anyone wishing to dig deeper into the Irish traditional well. In the coming months I will add a whole section on the music of America's roots as well for our Irish and European readers. For now though enjoy my own view of where my music comes from.

The Articles


A Potted and Recent History of Traditional Irish Music
For anyone who is just getting into Traditional Irish Music, here is a very quick glance at the timeline of how in more modern times the music has grown and spread throughout the world. It is a very potted history and by no means complete but will serve as a short guide to the major players who have worked to make this music globally accessible. Click Here


The Blaggers Guide to an Irish Session
If you ever go to a Session or "seisun" in Ireland you can make life very easy for yourself by following my extremely important guide to the ins and outs of the whole affair. Ok so its not very important really but it might give you an idea of what to expect. It will not however stop the inevitable hangoverthe following morning Click Here


And Now.. my pick of 50 Irish albums to ease you into Irish and Celtic music.
in no order of importance here are 1 - 10


1. Altan: Blackwater Altan who are from Donegal have many albums on release each with its own beauty. Blackwater is by and large the most accessible for a new listener to pure traditional Irish music. It was the first album the band released when they signed to Virgin in one of the biggest deals for a traditional band ever.


2. The Chieftains: Tears of Stone This is a great album from the band who are as popular now as they ever were and still travel the world constantly never tiring of playing the music they love. It doesn't seem like over 40 years does it?


3. The Chieftains: The Long Black Veil This album shows the level of fame and respect that the band command in the world of music with guest vocalists including Mick Jagger & The Rolling Stones, Sinead O'Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Ry Cooder, Marianne Faithful and Tom Jones.

4. DeDanann: Ballroom A tribute to the great social event of The Dance from the ballroom era in Ireland . DeDanann at their best with great tunes and wonderful songs
5. Gerry O Connor: Myriad This is Gerry's second solo album a few years down the line from Time to Time. Both these albums are fine examples of the imagination of probably the best tenor banjo players ever to emerge from Irish music.

6. Clannad: Rogha: The best of Clannad Haunting melodies, glorious singing and beautiful production tracking the best of the more modern Clannad repertoire.

7. Paul Brady: Welcome here Kind Stranger Paul Brady from Strabane in Co. Tyrone has grown over the years into one of our finest songwriters and performer in his own right. Here he shows us his roots in his first solo outing singing some of the most haunting traditional songs of Ireland .

8. Liz Doherty: Last Orders Another fine Donegal fiddle player with her first solo album featuring tunes from her home county as well as music from Cape Breton .

9. The BumbleBees: Buzzin Also featuring Liz Doherty this all female band have released this, their second album with foot tapping tunes and fine playing from all four involved.

10. Four Men and a Dog: Doctor A's secret remedies This 1994 album shows this amazing band at their best. After a long rest the band are back playing live but the individual members continue to work on exciting solo projects

Click here for Albums 11- 20

 

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