Who are your favorite harpists?

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: pastorpest
Date: 05 Feb 00 - 09:30 AM

Here is another vote for Derek Bell. I like Sharlene Wallace's mastery of the instrument. Another master in a different genre is Eralio Gill who plays a Paraguayan harp and records for Oliver Sudden Productions of Montreal: www.oliversudden.com

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 05 Feb 00 - 02:02 PM

Janet Harbinson

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 May 16 - 03:37 PM

I am posting to this thread even though I can't really answer the question that is the thread title, my conscience nags me about this so I have to say something as a disclaimer.

There are three names that come up in a conference paper from twenty years ago, presented by Irish harpist Janet Harbison. Here's a direct quote:

"Another world of harping emerged in the early 1970s directly in response to the American folk music revival, which cross-fertilzed with, and energetically animated, Irish [traditional] music making at this time....A small number of us younger harp players in Ireland...responded with playing instrumental music featuring the trendier traditional jigs, reels, and hornpipes. These would include Máire Ní Chathasaigh of Bandon in Cork, Noreen O'Donoghue of North Dublin, and myself. I preferred the challenge of playing the harp rather than another instrument in sessions[...], and I was always welcomed with it, whether as melody player or accompanist....I was happy to...indulge in the vast dance music repertoire which all my traditional musician friends outside school were playing nightly."

pp. 96 - 97, from "Harpists, Harpers, or Harpees?"
© Janet Harbison and The Crossroads Conference, 1999
from the proceedings, The Crossroads Conference of 1996
published, Dublin: Whinstone Music, 1999


I had never before heard of Noreen O'Donoghue; she seems to be well-known in Ireland but has a low profile otherwise. Anyone else hear of her?

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 05 May 16 - 03:51 PM

All of em. Love it, love it, love it!

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 05 May 16 - 04:16 PM

Anyone else hear of her?

Noreen O Donoghue recorded with Seán Potts' group 'Bakerswell' during the late eighties, she also accompanied James Kelly on his recording 'Capel Street' for one or two tracks.

As for favoutites, Paul Dooley, Laoise Kelly, a few others nice too, in moderate amounts.

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Helen
Date: 05 May 16 - 04:29 PM

Nice to see this thread revived. My vote still goes to Sileas, Patsy Seddon and Mary McMaster, who are/were also part of The Poozies, and Derek Bell.

I have one track of Maire ni Chathasaigh playing on a CD by Arty McGlynn and Nollaig Casey, called Lead the Knave. I like Maire's harp style a lot on that track. Now I am wondering why I have never bought any of her CD's.

Thanks to keberoxu's recent posts I have started listening to all my harp CD's in a more focused way. I listen to them in the car on my way to and from work.

That Green Linnet link to samples of tracks by Sileas posted by our dear departed katlaughing on 23 Jan 00 - 12:09 PM looks like it has been hijacked by a vacuum cleaner company, or something. Green Linnet still exists, but Here is an alternative:

Sileas - links to some of their tracks via a Google search

You can use the same method to find sample tracks by other artists.

Helen

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Reinhard
Date: 05 May 16 - 04:40 PM

I do love the Scottish harpists Patsy Seddon, Mary Macmaster and Corrina Hewat, but my absolute favourite is young Rachel Newton who plays with The Shee, the Emily Portman Trio and the Furrow Collective and who has just released her beautiful third solo album, Here's My Heart Come Take It.

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 May 16 - 04:42 PM

Patrick Ball is one of my favorites and also there's this Sheila in Oz that I've never heard play.

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Helen
Date: 05 May 16 - 05:06 PM

That, gillymor, is because she can't play very well! Especially not solo and not in front of other people, so she doesn't rate at all, I'm sorry to say. LOL

I just found this rather beautiful video with traditional/jazzy/traditional version of Carolan's Eleanor Plunkett.

Maire Ni Chathasaigh & Chris Newman

Helen

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 05 May 16 - 07:38 PM

Bonnie Shaljean, we know you're listening...

Two younger Scottish harpists I was very impressed by, for a while:

- Rosie Morton (strong trad player, made one CD, then got religion in a big way, went to France to become a nun, quit a bit later, but hasn't been very publicly musically active since)

- Ailie Robertson (terrific driving jazzy style, did a very good first CD and then hooked up with an utterly dull Canadian backing band and that was that, though she is doubtless crying all the way to the bank if people like me don't like it)

My pet hate is Celtic-lounge-lizard music. The sort of MOR slop that Corrina Hewat and her hubby David Milligan do. I just wish they'd get together with Eddi Reader and bugger off to the spiritual home of that kind of music, Las Vegas.

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 May 16 - 08:01 PM

Regarding Rosie Morton, sorry, no clickies from me, but here is a URL.

http://rosieharp.wix.com/rosie-morton#!page3/cee5

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 May 16 - 08:03 PM

Hey Helen, I was just trying to answer the question honestly. :)
And I found this: Robin Williamson The Blackbird/The Downfall of Paris

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: GUEST,Guest - tongue in cheek
Date: 05 May 16 - 08:17 PM

Tony Capstick.

Actually he was usually fully pissed!

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 May 16 - 08:54 PM

Laoise Kelly playing Polkas

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Helen
Date: 05 May 16 - 09:47 PM

gillymor,

I listened a couple of times to the Robin Williamson Blackbird/Downfall of Paris. I don't know the Blackbird tune so I found it a bit hard to hear the melody in it, and even though I am familiar with DoP, I had a bit of trouble hearing the melody in that as well. Maybe too many twiddly bits and the melody got a bit lost, or just a personalised version of the tunes. Don't know.

But, in saying that, I like RW's style and eclectic choice of music. He is a bit out there, but what would you expect from an ex-Incredible String Band founding member. "Out there" doesn't even begin to explain THEIR music!

I like the Laoise Kelly video.

Jack Campin said "Celtic lounge-lizard music". Ok, I get it! It's the reason I can't watch those Celtic Woman, and Celtic Thunder TV specials which pop up at Christmas etc.

Another harp player I can't listen to is Loreena McKennitt. Sorry to any LMcK fans on this thread, but I find it monotonous, repetitive and without fire, and the reason I like Sileas so much is that they are the antithesis of that.

Helen

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: Mr Red
Date: 06 May 16 - 04:51 AM

Maire Ni Chathasaigh
Arthur Marx (aka Adolph aka Harpo)
Turlough O'Carolan

cos I'm greedy!

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: CupOfTea
Date: 06 May 16 - 08:23 AM

Unlike famous guitarists or fiddlers, I've seldom heard a harpist in person, where I did not fall in love with their playing.
The guys:
Derek Bell of the Chieftans- a wonderfully fun performer & huge inspiration
Patrick Ball & Dennis Doyle
Robin Hew Bowen- master of Welsh tunes
The ladies:
Liz Cifani - Celtic to classical
Antoinette McKenna-lovely vocals & generous nature
Anne Heyman once upon a time

Lately the harpist who impresses me most is Loretta Simonett (of Curtis & Loretta) who can do tunes with the best of 'em, AND writes songs of great depth and beauty with the harp as lead instrument for her warm singing. She also has the advantage of being among the living, unlike Bell, McKenna and my Cleveland friend, Jocelyn Chang, who was an incredible teacher, and proponent of the Dilling Harp. Jocelyn was also known for her performance costume, a visual joke of mine: a Chinese dragon robe infused with tea imagery. I was just finishing a third edition of it, after she'd worn out the first two, when she died.

Tangentially, a harp of Jocelyn's was the cause of one of my favorite adventures. In the 90s, she paid me to bring back an $11,000 antique concert harp from Lyon & Healy's repair in Chicago in mid November. I visited several friends, taking the harp in with me at each place. The chance to see friends Lou & Peter Berryman in concert was irresistible. Peter came out to help me bring the harp in, past the line of folks going in to the show. "Peter, is there something you've added to your presentation?" They wanted to know. Then after, end of the night, hauling it down the street at Kate Early's place was entertainment for the headbangers leaving a nearby venue. Not entertaining was getting it up three tall stories.
      Next morning, heading home to Cleveland on a clear, cold day, I was a bit annoyed at the snarking about the Cleveland weather on Chicago NPR. By the time I got to South Bend, the er.. harping...about Cleveland on the radio concerned me enough to call my dog sitter for a report. "Everything is closed after a weekend snowfall of about three feet of snow. Plows haven't kept up. Don't know if you can even get up your street" Jocelyn insists her street is passable, they've all been shoveling, so come on. The weather grew steadily worse and snowier all through Ohio. The piles of roadside snow higher and higher. It was an incredible relief to get the harp intact to Jocelyn. The snow was waist high and unplowed at my house, and I waded bootless to the front door, only to find I had no phone ( for a week). It was days before I saw my dog again and longer before I got the car off the street, after it was plowed in. I got off easy: thousands just south of me lost power, some for over a week.

Joanne in Siberia on the Lake, where we THINK we're done with snow for the spring

Subject: RE: Who are your favorite harpists?
From: oldhippie
Date: 06 May 16 - 05:00 PM

Marnie Boyd   http://harpgigs.com/MarnieBoyd/index.htm