Cillian Vallely | |
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Background information | |
Genres | Irish traditional |
Instrument(s) | Uilleann pipes, flutes, tin whistles |
Website | http://www.cillianvallely.com |
Cillian Vallely is an Irish musician, born in Armagh, Northern Ireland. He plays traditional Irish music on the uilleann pipes and low whistle, and studied at the Armagh Pipers Club with his mother and father, Brian and Eithne, and then with the late Armagh piper Mark Donnelly. His brothers, Niall and Caoimhín, also play traditional music. [1]
Since 1999, he has been a member of the band Lúnasa [2] with whom he has recorded seven albums. He has also performed and toured with Riverdance, Natalie Merchant, Tim O'Brien & Mary Chapin-Carpenter in The Crossing, New York-based Whirligig, and the Celtic Jazz Collective with Lewis Nash and Peter Washington. In the past couple of years, he has worked on various collaborations between traditional and classical music, along with his brother Niall and the composer Micheal O’Suilleabhain.
He has recorded on over 40 albums including Callan Bridge with his brother Niall, On Common Ground with Kevin Crawford and various guest spots with Natalie Merchant, Alan Simon’s Excalibur project with Fairport Convention and Moody Blues, GAIA with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and singer Karan Casey. He has recently recorded on two movie soundtracks, Irish Jam and The Golden Boys and played uilleann pipes on the BBC’s Flight of the Earls soundtrack. In January 2014, he played uilleann pipes, low whistle and tin whistle on the Bruce Springsteen album High Hopes , which topped the charts in 14 countries.
Michael McGoldrick is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar, cittern, and mandolin.
Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975 the label became Innisfree/Green Linnet and Wendy Newton joined Null and Sky as operating officer. In 1976 Newton took over control of the now Green Linnet label and moved it to Danbury, Connecticut in 1985. Newton became sole owner in 1978. Newton's love of Irish music had been sparked during a visit to Ireland where she heard traditional music for the first time in a small pub in County Clare.
Davy Spillane is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.
Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas. She resides in Cork, Ireland.
Séamus Ennis was an Irish musician, singer and Irish music collector. He was most noted for his uilleann pipe playing and was partly responsible for the revival of the instrument during the twentieth century, having co-founded Na Píobairí Uilleann, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the promotion of the uilleann pipes and its music. He is recognised for having preserved almost 2,000 Irish songs and dance-tunes as part of the work he did with the Irish Folklore Commission. Ennis is widely regarded as one of the greatest uilleann pipers of all time.
Lúnasa is a traditional Irish music group, named after Lughnasadh, an ancient harvest festival. They tour and perform internationally, and have recorded a number of albums of both traditional and contemporary Irish instrumental music.
Niall Vallely is an Irish musician, born 1970 in Armagh, Northern Ireland. In 1966 his parents, Brian and Eithne Vallely had founded the Armagh Piper's Club, but he chose to learn the concertina instead, from the age of seven. His brother Cillian plays the uilleann pipes and low whistle, learning from Mark Donnelly. Another of his brothers, Caoimhin, plays classical piano, tin whistle and fiddle. In 1990, Vallely founded the group Nomos, which released two albums before breaking up in 2000. In 1992, Vallely completed a degree in music at University College, Cork.
Willie Clancy was an Irish uilleann piper, flute player and whistle player.
Kevin Crawford is an Irish flute, tin whistle, low whistle and bodhrán player. He was born in England to Irish parents from Milltown Malbay, County Clare. He later moved to West Clare to improve his music and become more exposed to traditional Irish music.
At First Light is an Irish Celtic music group. At First Light comprises uilleann piper John McSherry, fiddle player Dónal O'Connor, and Francis McIlduff.
Mick O'Brien is an Irish musician.
Lúnasa is an album by Lúnasa that was released twice, first in 1998 on their own label, and again in 2001 on Compass Records. It was the band's first major release. The piping on the album was done by John McSherry, as Cillian Vallely was not part of the group at the time.
Otherworld is an album by Lúnasa that was released 1999 on Green Linnet Records. It is the band's second major release. Although the album displays the band’s traditional Celtic sound, it features techniques and styles unusual to the genre, such as occasional double-tracking recording and occasional instances of instruments that differ from Celtic music, such as cello, electric bass and flügelhorn, leading Allmusic to say the album "yields a sound that is unique to the group and yet clearly in touch with tradition". The album has been described as innovative, with The Georgia Straight citing several tracks' usage of multiple woodwinds as an example.
The Merry Sisters of Fate is an album by Irish Celtic band Lúnasa that was released in 2001 on Green Linnet Records. It is the band's third major release, and first with pipe player Cillian Vallely. The record is characterised as particularly rhythm-heavy and showcasing the band experimenting more with rhythm and sound than on previous records, and features numerous instruments atypical to Celtic music, such as lap steel guitar, piano, harmonium and clarinet, played by a number of guest musicians. Rhythm, melody and strings vary as the foreground of the music, which largely consists of Irish tunes.
Redwood is an album by Lúnasa that was released in 2003 on Green Linnet Records. It was their fourth major release, and their last album on Green Linnet Records. The band conceived the album in October 2001 whilst staying in a Californian lodge; the band aimed to record an album that would capture the band's live feel whilst at the same time retaining the sonic quality that the band feature on their albums. The band took a ten-day break from their February 2002 American tour to record the album at Prairie Sun Recording Studios in California. It is characterised by a more relaxed sound than previous albums, and less guest musicians.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is a fiddler, born in Dublin, Ireland, who attended Trinity College Dublin, becoming a scholar in Theoretical Physics (1999) and earning a first-class BA degree in 2001. He is known for developing a drone-based fiddle style heavily influenced by the uilleann pipes and the music of Sliabh Luachra.
Irish traditional music is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
Celtic Solstice is an album by Paul Winter, released in 1999 through the record label Living Music. In 2000, the album earned him a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.
Dónal O'Connor is an Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter from Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland. He is a member of Belfast-based Irish traditional groups Ulaid & At First Light.
Lúnasa with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra is a collaboration album between Irish traditional Celtic music band Lúnasa and the Irish RTÉ Concert Orchestra, recorded in 2012 and released in April 2013 by Lúnasa Records. The collaboration came about after RTÉ contacted contemporary Irish composer Niall Vallely, requesting he composed music for a traditional group, and Vallely in turn requested Lúnasa for a collaboration, bringing the two ensembles together for a fusion between traditional and classical music. After the two groups performed at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, in April 2012, they recorded the album later in the year.