Entertainment
Stomptown Brass bring party vibe to Monroe’s
Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie
Expect some good-time New Orleans-inspired sounds when Stomptown Brass come to Monroe’s Live on Saturday, January 23. The Dublin based nine-piece have been only been together for a year but have already made their mark on the festival scene.
It all began when trombonist James O’Leary assembled some players he knew from the Newport music school in Blackrock, alongside some other brass players. “It was an absolute nightmare at the start, especially with the jazz guys who always have gigs, every evening almost,” James says. “But eventually, because a few of us are in 9-to-5 jobs, we found a weekly rehearsal time that suits.
“Gradually, over the course of six or eight months, it became more a thing in everyone’s lives. It came to a point where everyone worked around this band. Now we’re at a strong stage where we can look for gigs well in advance and we don’t have to worry about people being over-committed to things.”
The band cut their teeth busking, but began to make their mark this summer. “We started off doing Canalaphonic in May,” James says. “It’s a festival in Rathmines and at the end of it we did an impromptu march towards the city centre, a big parade following us. “We moved on to bigger festivals as the summer progressed and from that we got some interest from Longitude. We were on the main stage of Indiependence in Cork shortly after that, and then it culminated in Electric Picnic where we had five different gigs.”
Five gigs in three days? That can’t have left Stomptown with too much time for the hedonism that defines the Picnic for many people. “On the Saturday, we had three gigs,” James says. “There were over twelve hours between our second and third gig. The third one was at three in the morning. The partying in between was a bit of a challenge, but we all managed to turn up on time!”
James is the band leader and writes the pieces for Stomptown Brass, but the other members help shape the numbers and come in with solos. “Generally what happens is what I’ll do is have a melody bouncing around in my head, and I’ll be too busy to do anything with it. When it works out nicely, I can bang it out in one day, particularly when I’m cycling around. Sometimes I need to put in a little bit more work.”
Stomptown Brass do an impressive re-working of The Auld Triangle. How did the idea to fuse Brendan Behan’s classic with brass come about?
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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