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Six time Grammy
winners, The Chieftains, are now recognised for bringing
traditional Irish music to the world's attention. They have
uncovered the wealth of traditional Irish music that has
accumulated over the centuries, making the music their own
with a style that is as exhilarating as it is definitive.
The Chieftains
were formed in 1962 by Paddy Moloney, from the ranks of the
top folk musicians in Ireland. Paddy brought together
musicians such as fiddler Martin Fay, flautist Michael
Tubridy, tin whistle virtuoso Seán Potts, and bodhrán player
David Fallon. They recorded a supposedly one-off
instrumental album but five years later were reunited with
some additions - fiddler Seán Keane, and Peader Mercier
replacing Fallon. Derek Bell, harpist came on board in 1973.
It wasn't until 1975 that The Chieftains began playing
together full time and they marked the event with a historic
performance in Albert Hall in London. The following few
years saw the departure of Mercier, and the addition of
bodhrán player and vocalist Kevin Conneff, and another
lineup change in '78/79 with the departure of Potts and
Tubridy and a new flautist, Matt Molloy.
Although their
early following was purely a folk audience, the range and
variation of their music very quickly captured a much
broader public, making them today the best known Irish band
in the world.
The Chieftains
have been involved in such historic events as a tour of
China (the first Western group to perform on the Great
Wall), Roger Waters' "The Wall" performance in Berlin in
1990, became the first group to give a concert in the
Capitol Building of Washington DC, (at the invitation of
former Speaker, Thomas "Tip" O' Neill), and more recently,
Paddy performed a memorial service in October in New York
for the victims of September 11th 2001. They have performed
with many symphony and folk orchestras worldwide, and have
broken many musical boundaries by collaborating and
performing with some of the biggest names in rock, pop and
traditional music in Ireland and around the world.
On top of their
six Grammy awards, they have been honoured in their own
country by being officially named Ireland’s Musical
Ambassadors, performed during the Pope's visit to Ireland in
1979 in front of a 135,000,000 strong audience, and were the
subject of a tribute Late Late Show in 1987, their 25th
anniversary.
The trappings of
fame have not altered The Chieftains' love of, and loyalty
to, their roots - they are as comfortable playing
spontaneous Irish sessions as they are headlining a concert
at Carnegie Hall. After all these years of making some of
the most beautiful music in the world, The Chieftains' music
remains as fresh and relevant as when they first began. |
