Well, I'm not much for so and so is the best, though at one time, I would have not hesitated in saying that Paddy was the best. Having to do not at all with the fact he got the date of my wedding wrong... but rather another incident entirely made me much less sure. I play the Uilleann pipes, myself, and one day, I was at a sessun, and there was a young fellow there, who was astounding... I had heard that one of the many Vallalee's was a great piper, so when I we introduced ourselves to each other, I was not surprised to learn that he was Killian Vallalee. Now, I would certainly add him to the list of best living pipers. It is very hard to judge one against the other though, for example - Ronan Browne has such a unique style, and even makes such unique reeds - which he plays wet, so that he can play off the knee, as it were, it is almost a differnent instrument - and if he is better or different than Paddy is a matter of taste. As long as no one is offering a million dollars to the best, thank god, we don't have to get into the American mania of who's best, I hope.
Cheers,
Larry
PS I was going to go to hear Paddy that night, but I was a bit under the weather, So Paddy was good, Eh? Is he behaving himself?