Eileen Ivers

[Alan H]

OK, so she's Irish.

Got tickets to see her and Immigrant Soul at a really small venue, tonight. I've nver een her, so I'm looking forward to it.

[piperdbh]

If you like fiddling, you're going to be very happy.

[denmcdough]

Let us know how it goes!

[Whidbey78]

Very cool Alan. I think you'll enjoy it.

[beloitpiper]

You're gonna love it. Eileen Ivers, Kevin Burke, Liz Carroll, and Paddy Glackin are my favorite fiddlers.

[Tim Little]

Saw her a few years back at Regis College; great gig!
I love "Pachelbel's Frolics"

[Alan H]

Oh

My

God.

The theatre that she was booked in is quite small, maybe 250-275 seats. Incredibly, it was only about a third full. What a disappointment. On the other hand, it was great for us. We had unbelievable seats, about nine rows back, just off center.

Eileen is an amazing musician, and she takes her style of playing far, far beyond "Irish Traditional Music". I can't say enough good things. This one one of the best nights I have EVER spent listening to a concert.

Afterwards she came out to sign CD's Incredibly, only about 8 people stuck around to talk to her, so I got to talk to her for about ten minutes. I told her that I played in a band that did Klezmer, Greek and Celtic music, as well as some Jazz, and I had learned something about how *I* could play, how I could approach Celtic music, in fact all music, from listening to her tonight. She gave me this totally unpretentious, incredulous look and asked how.

So I told her.

In jazz, the tune is not the thing. A good tune is a good starting point. If you want to improvise well, then you must know the tune, you must know it well enough that the tune provides the foundation, so that you can go beyond that. You START with the tune, and then you create, beyond that. That's how it's done.

But that's emphatically NOT how it's done by most traditional folk musicians. Liz Carroll is a perfect example. Liz Carroll is a phenomenal fiddler, there's no question about it. I'm SO NOT KNOCKING Liz Carroll, ok? But Liz plays like most other trad Irish and Scottish fiddlers, she plays the tune, with exceptional grace, speed and wonderful phrasing. Then she will depart from the tune a little bit, add some ornamentation, rest on one note, invert a phrase, change octaves or whatever, but she never gets that far from the tune. Within 2-4 measures she's back on the tune again. Klezmer is done, traditionally, much the same way.

Eileen CAN play that way, and most of her tunes start out that way, but it's not long before she goes to the freaking stratosphere.....she will improvise off the tune for 8, 16, 32 measure and then hit the tune again, and that is exactly like a jazz musician. She did a breakout duet with the squeezebox player that was absolutely freaking phenomenal, and they were SO far away from the basic tune....they traded fours, traded eights, it was exactly what a jazz group would do, and it went on for 3-4 minutes.

THIS...this is the crossover. This is the promise of that hackneyed term "World Music" where traditions mix, and sparks fly. Jazz meets Celtic music in Eileen Ivers. And she plays pretty decent bluegrass, too! I never knew she played mandolin, though of course a lot of fiddle players double on it.

I wasn't this articulate with her face to face, but more or less, I got the basic idea out. That earned me a sincere and grateful hug. Seriously, Eileen Ivers gave me a big hug.

I'm sending her a Wicked Tinkers CD for Christmas. Honest!

What a phenomenal musician. AND...what a lovely, kind, sincere, unpretentious and beautiful woman.

[2a5t2f7]

What a great post about a phenomenal evening! The chance to interact on such a personal level is such a rare treat in this day and time. Although she really doesn't need the external validation, it is still gratifying and validating for her coming from a fellow musician. Some years ago I had the privilege of playing a concert (symphony player) with Cherish the Ladies. I will never forget them standing backstage after the concert thanking each of us as we came off the stage for "getting it." I still am a huge fan of theirs and follow Joannie Madden's work with anticipation. I am thrilled for your opportunity!!!

PS - I play Klezmer clarinet on the side….

[piperdbh]

I heard someone say once that as long as we follow the printed notes and never deviate from them, then we remain "prisoners of Gutenberg".

I cannot think of a higher compliment that a musician could receive than what Alan told Ms. Ivers last night.

[Alan H]

What a great post about a phenomenal evening! The chance to interact on such a personal level is such a rare treat in this day and time. Although she really doesn't need the external validation, it is still gratifying and validating for her coming from a fellow musician. Some years ago I had the privilege of playing a concert (symphony player) with Cherish the Ladies. I will never forget them standing backstage after the concert thanking each of us as we came off the stage for "getting it." I still am a huge fan of theirs and follow Joannie Madden's work with anticipation. I am thrilled for your opportunity!!!

PS - I play Klezmer clarinet on the side….

Well, that makes two of us! I thought I was the only person in the world who plays klezmer in a kilt, but maybe not!

I also play pennywhistles and bodhran, though I'm terribly out of practice on the drum.