When Bill Jones won the Horizon award as Best New Artist at 2001’s BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, it suggested the arrival of a major new English folk talent. Since then, Jones has nurtured that potential beautifully, continuing to challenger herself while staying true to own idiosyncratic vision of the English folk tradition. A disarmingly pure and unaffected vocalist and multi-instrumentalist (piano, flute, accordion, and various recorders and whistles), Ms. Jones (Bill being short for Belinda), with the release of her third studio album Two Year Winter, stands at the forefront of England’s rich folk renaissance.
The vitality and freshness of Jones’ music stems in part from the fact that she has only been performing professionally for a couple of years. Although her father played fiddle in a ceilidh band, Bill came to folk music relatively late and purely by accident, as part of a university project.
Bill was born and brought up in Staffordshire, England. Her part-Indian mother sang Buddy Holly songs around the house, and though she heard folk songs through her dad she paid little attention. “I just thought they were songs old people sang; they didn’t seem to be anything I should be interested in.” Instead she seemed destined to pursue a career in classical music as a concert pianist. She spent five years at music school, dropped out of an arts degree course at Middlesex University and then took on a course in music at London’s City University. That course changed her life and played a big role in shaping her career. Bill studied music from all over the world, including England, and as part of school project, she put on a concert of traditional music.
The concert was a huge success and friends persuaded Bill that she had a natural aptitude for singing traditional songs. She’d never previously thought of herself as a singer, limiting her party pieces to coy interpretations of Kate Bush and Beverly Craven songs, though she also played keyboards with predominantly female band The Wise Wound, and appeared with them twice at Glastonbury Festival. When she was 20, The Wise Wound who christened her Baby Bill and she took up the accordion as an alternative to dragging keyboards to remote festivals, where she often discovered there was no electricity anyway. All she had was a huge antiquated accordion from her Grandmother and a book of Karen Tweed tunes.
After leaving university at 22 Bill enrolled in a Folkworks summer school and became involved in the Newcastle folk scene. She started working in a duo with guitarist Steve Moffatt and, after they split, took a big gulp and went on the road as a solo artist. Word spreadabout her music fast and in response to requests from her audience, she made her first (cont.) album, Turn To Me, in 2000. It was an imaginative mix of mainly traditional songs, from “Long John Moore” to “Handsome Cabin Boy,” “Mist Covered Mountains,” and “Ye Mariners All.” Her impassioned interpretations may sound so fresh because she’s a recent convert to them. She says she still hasn’t heard many of the classic performers, mostly because she was always too broke to buy their records. The album also features a radical interpretation of the old Buffy Sainte-Marie anti-war classic “Universal Soldier” (a hit for Donovan). When she recorded it, Bill had not even heard Buffy Sainte-Marie’s version; she’d found the song on the internet and because she couldn’t hear the tune properly, set it to the tune of “The Birmingham Boys.”
Bill’s second album and first US release Panchpuran was produced by Karen Tweed (The Poozies, Swap). The album’s title (pronounced “ponch pure on”) is a Hindi expression that literally means ‘five spices’. Bill picked the name to suggest the idea of many different things all mixed up together. This concept applies well not only to the cd and Bill’s musical influences, but to her family’s background as well. Throughout Panchpuran, Bill’s open-minded approach to folk music informs the songs, arrangements and choice of guests. Guests include Kathryn Tickell on fiddle, Kellie While (E2K, the Albion Band) on harmony vocals, Paul Jayasinha on cello and flügelhorn, Keith Angel (The John Tams Band) on percussion, and David Wood on guitar. A brass band from County Durham also joined in on one track, and a beautiful Finnish string quartet fill out the arrangement on two songs.
Released on August 12, 2003, Two Year Winter is the next step forward for Ms. Jones, bringing the adventurous impulses of Panchpuran into sharper focus, yet retaining the accessible immediacy of her debut. Jones’ own songwriting has grown richer and increasingly detailed, while collaborations with American singer/songwriter Anne Hills are achingly poetic laments given a sense of urgency by Jones’ unadorned, visceral vocals. The instrumental palette is equally luscious, ranging from sparse a cappella interludes to jazz-inflected flugelhorn intermingling with classic fiddle, accordion, and recorder. Joining Bill are two members of her touring band (Keith Angel, percussion and Miranda Sykes, double bass and vocals) alongside Stewart Hardy (violin), Paul Jayasinha (flügelhorn), David Wood (guitar), and Sarah Wright (flute).
By turns stark, haunting, elegant, and playful, Two Year Winter finds Jones freshly energized by two years of constant touring throughout the US, UK, Japan, Denmark, and Belgium. “It was my first time in the States since my honeymoon,” she jokes. Existing at the intersection of heritage, contemporary experience, and Jones’ own unbridled senses of adventure and curiosity, Two Year Winter is up to the daunting task of following her previous two triumphs. The result is stunning, beguiling music that resonates with timeless echoes while expanding the boundaries of traditional music.
Over twenty years ago, two of contemporary string music’s greatest masters joined forces for the first time, setting in motion a partnership that would take them all over the world, exciting acoustic music lovers along the way. Mike Marshall and Darol Anger began making music together in 1978 as members of The David Grisman Quintet and continued stretching from solo and duo records for Kaliedoscope, Rounder and Windham Hill, through the Montreux Band, Psychograss and The Anger/Marshall Band. They have consistently been at the center of the acoustic music scene and can be heard on hundreds of recordings in the acoustic music world. Marshall’s mastery of mandolin, guitar and violin and his ability to swing gracefully between jazz, classical, bluegrass and Latin styles is rare in the community of American vernacular instrumentalists. Anger’s ability to be at home in a number of musical genres, some of which he helped to invent, have put him at the top of his field.
These two major forces in contemporary string music once again join talents to explore a musical world stretching from Brazil through the Appalachian hills, by way of Manhattan and the Florida Swamps. Their brand new release, At Home and On The Range, continues their journey together, begun in 1978. This live cd, recorded during a tour of the U.S. eastern seaboard during which the duo played The Community Church in Chapel Hill, the Prism Coffeehouse in Charlottesville, VA, the Arden Club in Delaware, Acoustic Stage in Hickory, North Carolina and the Zirinsky Home in Long Island, is engaging and sheds light on this duo that The Oakland Tribune called “Some of the most gifted and amazing players in the field”. At Home and On The Range features the duo’s mind-bending improvisations, eclectic instrumental compositions and tight synergistic relationship on tunes like Down In The Willow Garden and Fiddles of Doom Medley (Old Dangerfield/Big Mon). Marshall and Anger have mastered the powers of simple virtuosity and once again careen their musical backhoe straight across the backyards of jazz, newgrass, rock and world music, cutting a deep trench filled with tunes so exuberantly personal that it can’t be mistaken for anyone else .
At Home and On The Range reflects the journey and growth of this longtime partnership as they continue their musical odyssey together. This duo is at the edge of the world of modern American string bands in the 21st century and ready to fly once again.
If bluegrass is the point at which jazz rhythms, blues inflections, Scotch-Irish fiddle tunes, and Appalachian ballads intersect, The Other Side of the Mountain is the place where all of those influences are tossed into the air and reassembled on their way down. While the tracks on this illuminating new collection draw from bluegrass music in different ways, they have in common is the same adventurous spirit that was present at the founding of bluegrass music — a spirit of innovation as well as the freedom of not being limited by any one musical source.
In its nearly fifteen years of existence, Compass Records has emerged as a premier outlet for unfettered bluegrass explorations. Founded in 1995 by Grammy-winning banjoist Alison Brown and bassist/producer Garry West, Compass’s willingness and flexibility – stemming from it being artist-owned – has made it a haven for creative musicians of all genres. In addition to being an exquisite document of trends in modern bluegrass, The Other Side of the Mountain doubles as testament to Compass’s unflagging commitment to the artistic visionaries at the cutting edge of bluegrass.
Features performances by Alison Brown (w/Vince Gill), Victor Wooten (w/Bela Fleck), Drew Emmitt & Peter Rowan, Matt Flinner, David Grier, Todd Phillips, NewGrange (Tim O’Brien, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Todd Phillips, Philip Aaberg, and Alison Brown) and more.
Orkney-born and son of singer-songwriter Ivan Drever (Wolfstone), Kris Drever emerges from within the surging folk scene with Black Water, a debut album that is “as marvelous as it is timeless.” (Maverick) . Produced by John McCusker and featuring constant conspirators and collaborators Kate Rusby, Donald Shaw, Roddy Woomble and Eddi Reader, Black Water gives a modern washing to folk standards such as “Braw Sailin’ On the Sail” and “Patrick Spence”. “I like either to do songs that haven’t been covered much before,” Drever says, “or folky standards that are open to a different interpretation. I try to steer clear of that kind of typical folk-singer sound, and put my own mark on things.”
Drever admittedly spent most of his youth listening to Metallica and Pantera, all the while learning the guitar and ruining other people’s sessions at the Orkney Folk Festival. At seventeen, Drever left home for the mainland, eventually gravitating towards Edinburgh’s burgeoning session scene and The Tron Ceilidh House, which was then (late 1990’s) the place to be. It wasn’t long before Drever was a regular at this Scottish musicians haven, playing several nights a week.
After a temporary switch to the double bass, Drever subsequently returned to the guitar and began honing his highly individual style – a blend of rhythm and harmony, folk, jazz, rock and country inflections – that now finds him in near-constant demand as a session player. Drever’s earlier live and recorded work includes collaborations with Cathy Ryan of Irish-American supergroup Cherish the Ladies, Scottish fiddlers John McCusker and Bruce MacGregor, Irish accordionist Leo McCann and Gaelic band Tannas, as well as tours of the US and South America with the Irish dance show Celtic Fusion. Drever was also a member of the highly acclaimed trio Fine Friday which released two albums on the Foot Stompin’ label and toured the UK, Europe and Australia before the three went their separate ways to concentrate on individual projects.
In February 2007, Kris Drever was honored with the prestigious Horizon Award at the 2007 BBC2 Folk Awards. Drever recently toured the UK with Eddi Reader and Roddy Hart and will release an album with the band Lau (Aidan O’Rourke on fiddle, Martin Green on accordion) on Compass Records summer 2007.
In 1961, Irish fiddle virtuoso Martin Hayes was born into one of the most influential musical dynasties ever to exist in Irish music. Raised in East Clare, Ireland, Martin was surrounded by exquisite world-class music, supportive family and friends, and both performance and competition opportunities, all of which proved to be the perfect formula necessary to create, arguably, one of the world’s finest Irish fiddlers.
Hayes’ father, the celebrated fiddle player P.J. Hayes, who was the leader of the legendary Tulla Ceili Band, was instrumental in his son’s early musical development. His uncle, national fiddle champion Paddy Canny, was likewise influential in the creation of his inimitable musical style.
Hayes toured with his father in the Tulla Ceili Band from the age of thirteen and was very active in Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, the worldwide organization devoted to the preservation of Irish music. During his years competing in Comhaltas music competitions, Hayes took home six All-Ireland championships, the highest level of individual competitive achievement, and by the age of twenty, he had won every competition that Irish music had to offer.
The 1980’s saw Hayes moving to Chicago to take up commercial fiddling. Experimenting in the diverse musical styles of the city, he spent three years playing locally in various rock bands, including the electric/Irish/rock fusion band Midnight Court, where he met his current musical partner, guitarist Dennis Cahill. When his now-manager convinced him to record an all-Irish fiddle album, Hayes recorded his self-titled first US album on the Green Linnet Label, in 1993.
That album was greeted with such extensive critical acclaim that he became an almost instant household name among Irish music connoisseurs, and the album won Ireland’s National Entertainment Award. Hayes’ second album, Under the Moon, was released in 1995, and in 1997, he, along with Dennis Cahill, created an album that would enrapture audiences across the globe and reach over genre divides with expressive candor and natural grace, entitled The Lonesome Touch.
Now living in Seattle, WA, the two tour extensively having released Live in Seattle in 1999, and Welcome Here Again in late 2007.
Nuala Kennedy is a celebrated traditional Irish musician and internationally acclaimed flute player and singer. Touted as “spellbinding” and “a delight,” by the Irish Times, her live performances over the last few years inspired her return to the studio to record Noble Stranger (Compass, avail Aug. 28), a road-tested collection of innovative originals and traditional songs recorded with her touring band. Kennedy uses her traditional music background as a springboard for the new album which offers a 12 song set on which her adventurous instrumentation and progressive instrumentation shine.
Noble Stranger was recorded over a week in the beautiful rolling hills near Biggar, a little town nestled between Edinburgh and Glasgow by Kennedy, her percussionist Donald Hay, 10-string mandolinist Iain Macleod, guitarist Mike Bryan and guest vocalist AJ Roach. Their stage camaraderie translated seamlessly to the studio and this third album is a natural byproduct of their energetic and spontaneous live shows. “The tracks were laid down live, all together, with generally sparse overdubs. The band has been touring together for so long that there’s no other way I could imagine having made Noble Stranger,” comments Kennedy. “The whole album is a real reflection of our live sound.”
Accompanied by the spirited interplay between Bryan’s guitar and Macleod’s mandolin and supported by the tasteful percussion of Hays, tracks on the album intimately connect Kennedy’s own interests in traditional music and her neo-folk composition style. “Spending time in America has given me a greater appreciation of my own traditional musical heritage, and this renewed appreciation is reflected in the choices of some of the older material on the album. Classic traditional songs such as “My Bonny Labouring Boy” and the bonus track “Matt Hyland” are songs I have known for a long time and they seemed to re-emerge as a natural part of this record.” Not all is tradition here, a vintage Casio keyboard given to Kennedy by Norman Blake of the Glasgow band Teenage Fanclub inspired several album tracks, including the light and groovy album opening “Gabriel Sings.” “I was immediately drawn to the simplicity and transportability of the instrument and it strongly influenced the direction of the arrangements.”
Kennedy has recently been calling New York City a home-away-from-home, absorbing and contributing to the City’s growing neo-folk scene. She was raised playing and singing traditional music on the East coast of Ireland – an artistic area steeped in mythology with long historical ties to Scotland. Captivated by the traditional Irish and Scottish repertoire, she went on to study at the Edinburgh College of Art, mentored under fellow Irish expatriate Cathal McConnell and formed her first trio with guitarist Kris Drever and fiddler Anna-Wendy Stevenson and released two critically acclaimed albums. Her first two solo albums, The New Shoes and Tune In, were released through Nashville-based roots music company Compass Records Group and were universally well received. She has performed and recorded with Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Norwegian musicians Frode Haltli and Vegar Vårdal as well as the late Canadian composer Oliver Schroer. Kennedy is also a member of the traditional music group Oirialla performing music of her native North-East area of Ireland alongside Gerry ‘fiddle’ O’ Connor and Martin Quinn and she holds a Masters Degree in Music Performance and Composition from Newcastle University.
“Noble Stranger, you have ventured to me from the land of your fathers,” sings Kennedy on Noble Stranger‘s final track “Napoleon’s Dream,” a sentiment that reflects the underlying theme of the album. In joining the burgeoning New York folk music scene, she has also imported her distinct virtuosity and strong sense of traditional Irish identity—an identity that, inspired by her many influences, continues to evolve and define new boundaries for her tradition.
Andy Irvine is quickly achieving the status of folk legend, having already been hailed as a folk hero. It’s Andy’s turn for heroes, however, as he tells the stories, in song, of his own heroes through history — heroes like Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazi death camps, and James Connolly, famous Irish labor leader who was severely wounded during the uprising of 1916 and subsequently executed, and of course, Woody Guthrie himself. Featuring such artists as Davy Spillane,Arty McGlynn, and Rude Awakening rank this as the most eloquent album of 1991, if not the decade.
Kaila Flexer is a violinist, composer, producer and Artistic Director of Worldview Cultural Performances, an Oakland-based non-profit arts organization. She is best-known locally for having founded and produced Klezmer Mania!, a much-loved annual Bay Area Jewish music event for over 10 years (1989-2002). She has been at the helm of bands such as Third Ear, Next Village, The Klezmer Maniax and Kaila Flexer’s Fieldharmonik, ensembles that feature Flexer’s original material. As a composer, her work reflects her deep respect for folk music, while showcasing her ability to forge new and expansive musical landscapes. She has performed both nationally internationally with her own ensembles as well as with groups including The Hollis Taylor-Kaila Flexer Duo , The Flexer-Marshall Duo, Club Foot Orchestra, The Composer’s Cafeteria, The Bay Area Jazz Composer’s Orchestra and KITKA (Bulgarian Women’s Vocal Ensemble). She has recorded two CD’s of original music for Compass Records (Nashville) to critical acclaim. Flexer, along with collaborating organization The Crowden School, were recipients of a 2005-2006 Creative Work Fund grant (link to Current and Past projects page—Xylem Folkestra). Her current project is Teslim, (link to Teslim page) a duo that performs Turkish and Greek folk music as well as original music by Hegedus and Flexer. In addition to performing, Flexer loves teaching both violin and composition and has a thriving studio in Oakland, where she lives with her seven-year-old daughter.
1. Lúnasa: Meitheamh: Fleaur De Mandragore/Ash Plant/Siobhan O’Donnell
2. Sharon Shannon: A Costa De Galica
3. Paul Brady: Arthur McBride and the Soldier
4. Paddy Keenan & Tommy O’Sullivan: O’Rourke’s/The Spike Island Lassies/Lord McDonald’s
5. John McCusker: The Big Man/Waiting For Janet
6. The Poozies: Another Train
7. Éamonn Coyne: Mazurka & Jigs
8. Niall & Cillian Vallely: Malfunction Junction
9. Cathal McConnell: There’s a Day
10. Tony McManus: Lady Ann Montgomery’s Reel/Eilish Brogan/Paddy Fahey’s
11. Bill Jones: Loving Hannah
12. Alan & John Kelly: The One That Was Lost/The Hag’s Purse/The Black Rogue
13. Michael McGoldrick & John McSherry: Rolling Waves
14. Kate Rusby: I Wish
Kate Campbell has been described as one of the most literate songwriters in music today. She embraces many styles in her writing: folk, contemporary acoustic, rock, alternative country, and touches of soul and blues. CD Review wrote “(Kate Campbell) is an important voice that brings literary focus — devoid of pretension — to music that bridges the gap between country and folk”, Campbell has found a musical home in her writing that falls somewhere between Memphis and Muscle Shoals. Still moved by the experiences that shaped her as a child growing up in the South, Campbell’s music has grown to encompass every aspect of the human experience, connecting with all those who hear it and gaining her a large circle of admirers in the U.S. and around the globe.
On Rosaryville, her fourth release on Compass, Campbell reflects on the pursuit of art and devotion in everyday life. With a deep respect for where she came from, Campbell says, “Something told me I had to make sense of how I was connected to the world I came from before I could go on to connect to the world at large.” On Rosaryville, Campbell has found that worldly connection on such songs as Rosa’s Coronas where she writes about the dignity and devotion of a woman who rolls cigars for a living in Cuba. “The woman thinks about her daughter and grand-daughter who have fled their native country for America while the lector in her factory reads to her about the violence happening there.” Campbell contemplates the mysteries of life in New Orleans on the song Porcelain Blue and reflects on the changing relationships between mothers and daughters on In My Mother’s House. The album represents Campbell’s first time out as producer and features the legendary Spooner Oldham. “I’m interested in the fact that different places have their own unique traits and that the people who live there share them.”
Songs From the Levee, Campbell’s highly acclaimed debut, earned her features on Prime Time Country and NPR’s All Things Considered. In 1995, Farm Journal, the nation’s premier and most widely circulated agricultural magazine, presented her with the prestigious Farm Song of the Year award for “Bury Me in Bluegrass”. The same year, Campbell was voted Best New Artist by the listeners of Boston’s WUMB Radio, and received an Indie Award nomination for Best Singer/Songwriter from the Association for Independent Music (AFIM).
On her second solo outing Moonpie Dreams, Campbell continued to evoke a strong sense of place and timeby creating vibrantly alive characters. Moonpie Dreams received a Nashville Music Award nomination for Folk Album of the Year, was voted Country Album of the Year by MOJO Magazine, and was featured in the now legendary and critically acclaimed Southern Music Issue of the Oxford American. Both Songs from the Levee and Moonpie Dreams climbed into the Top Five.
On Visions of Plenty, Cambell’s third release, she talked about the changing Southern landscape and included themes of land, race and religion. The album was nominated for a Nashville Music Award and featured guests Emmylou Harris, Anthony Crawford, Bo Ramsey, Kevin Gordon and Spooner Oldham. It touched on such subjects as school bussing and integration (Bus 109), the civil rights movement in the turbulent 60’s (Crazy in Alabama), economic disparity (Visions of Plenty), the declining steel industry and its environmental aftermath (Deep Tang), the commercialization of religion (Jesus and Tomatoes), as well as grief and loss (Sing Me Out). The album was highly acclaimed and American Songwriter said, “this Cd is a celebration of Campbell’s unique vision”.
Campbell also saw success as a songwriter when The Nashville Bluegrass Band included her haunting song, Signs Following on their 1998 Grammy nominated album, American Beauty. Galaxy 500 was featured on NPR’s Car Talk and she was a featured songwriter in the book, Solo, along with Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Jewel and others.
Rosaryville is an album that is destined to catapult Kate Campbell into the realm of great Southern writers. “I’m going to write songs no matter what. Whether I’m making records or not. It doesn’t matter whether the people who listen are from Mississippi or that they’ve even seen Mississippi. I’ve had people in England who say, “I’ve never been to Mississipi but I know what it’s like from your songs. When I get that kind of response, I’m completely gratified. That’s what art and humanity is all about — making that connection.”
Inti-Illimani – pronounced “Inte-E-gee-mane”
In Ayamara dialect: Inti – “sun,” Illimani – a mountain near La Paz, Bolivia
For over three decades the music of Inti-Illimani has intoxicated audiences around the globe. Wedded in traditional Latin American roots and playing on more than 30 wind, string and percussion instruments, Inti-Illimani’s compositions are a treasure for the human spirit. Their mellifluous synthesis of instrumentals and vocals captures sacred places, people’s carnivals, daily lives, loves and pains that weave an extraordinary cultural mural.
Known for their open-minded musical approach, the “Intis” had a much different mission in mind when they met in the 1960’s at Santiago Technical University — to become engineers. Luckily for the world, their love of music encouraged their restless souls to explore the indigenous cultures of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina. In some of the poorest, purest and most ancient cultures they discovered Andean music and in a sense their roots. Inti-Illimani’s music became Latin America’s visceral link between pueblo and people, vivified in Nueva Canción.
In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende was deposed while Inti-Illimani was on tour in Europe. The young musicians found themselves without patria or passport. Italy became their home for the next 14 years. In 1988, they were warmly welcomed back to Chile, moving home permanently in 1990. Inti-Illimani became, and remains, South America’s ambassadors of human expression. Their unique sound – forged with passion and poetry – is a mantra for peace in the world and within ourselves.
They have appeared on Amnesty International stages with Peter Gabriel , Bruce Springsteen, Mercedes Sosa, Sting, and Wynton Marsalis and at benefit concerts for the Victor Jara Foundation (London, Dortmund, Glasgow) with Peter Gabriel, Paco Peña, John Williams, Emma Thompson, Karen Matheson, Maria Farantouri, Salsa Celtica, and the Rambert Dance Company.
Jorge Coulon, a founding member, in an interview stated: “We have never been so political that it was propaganda. We are not a political group in that sense, but we have always been politically engaged. We have a concept of society and about the relationships between human beings, and we try to translate our ideas into our sound, not to be part of one political party or another but in the sense to bring about a better world.”
In 2000, Inti-Illimani signed a worldwide license agreement with Warner Brothers Latin America. To date Warner has released The Best of Inti-Illimani: 1973-1987, Inti-Illimani performs Victor Jara (a selection of works by the late Chilean composer, singer, poet, actor and close friend of the Intis) and Inti-Illimani: Antologia en vivo (live tracks spanning 33 years). Xenophile Records also released The Best of Inti-Illimani (XENO4055) with works from the four titles they did with Xenophile during the 1990s.
During 2001, Inti-Illimani toured throughout South America, Italy, Spain, Mexico and North America, ending the year with a tour of Chile and Argentina with John Williams and Paco Peña. Inti-Illimani continues to be the most nominated group at the annual Entertainment Journalist Association Awards Ceremony in Santiago.
Recently Inti-Illimani has welcomed three younger musicians into the fold — Manuel Merino, Juan Flores and Christian Gonzalez — and they’ve brought a new energy and passion into the group. This line-up debuted in America in 2002 to great acclaim, and shortly thereafter went into studio in Santiago, Chile, to record.
In April 2003, the group released Lugares Comunes (XENO4056) “common places” on Xenophile Records, their first studio album in five years. The album is alive with a spirit of musical resurgence and rejuvenation for the band. Now in its 35th season, Inti-Illimani’s music, influenced by their numerous encounters with other cultures, has illustriously evolved with powerful poetry and provocative instrumental textures.
Band Members
- Jorge Coulon (guitar, hammered dulcimer, harp, rondador, tiple, vocals, zampona)
- Marcelo Coulon (bass, flute, guitar, piccolo, quena, vocals)
- Daniel Cantillana (bass, violin, vocals, zampona)
- Horacio Duran (charango, cuatro, percussion, vocals)
- Juan Flores (bass, cajon, charango, cuatro, guitar, quena, vocals)
- Manuel Meriño (bass, guitar, tiple, vocals)
- Christian González (bass, cajon, flutes, quena, siku, vocals, zampona)
- Efren Manuel Viera (bongo, clarinet, congas, saxophone, timbales, vocals)
Tom Doherty, born in Mountcharles, Co. Donegal, in 1913, was one of the last of the great melodeon players in America who played in the old-country style long since vanished from the Irish traditional music mainstream.
Both of Tom’s parents were musicians; his mother played the fiddle and his father, who was a farmer, played the single-row melodeon. His area of Donegal was filled with music, particularly fiddle and accordian. People would get together for music and singing at house parties during the winter and during the summer the musicians would play for crossroads dancing.
Doherty started on the fiddle but was much more successful with the melodeon. He never had any formal lessons on the instrument, but picked it up on his own, putting in long hours of practice, and from listening to other players. In 1948, Tom emigrated to New York City because there was no work in Donegal. He got a full-time job in the cold storage business and on weekends played music, often appearing at some of the famous Irish dance hall in New York. In 1952, Tom married Mary Philbin, from Castlebar, Co. Mayo, and they settled in Brooklyn where he lived until he passed away.
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