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Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) |
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Subject: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: Barry Finn Date: 24 Jul 07 - 03:26 AM Joe Joyce, Boston area Irish accordian player, singer & funny man extraordinaire past away this last weekend. Joe goes back the Boston, Dudley St (Roxbury) sessions of the 40's & 50's as well as being a regular at the (now defunt) Old Village Coach House sessions in Brookline from at least the 70's, when I 1st meet him, through the 80's or 90's & then the Green Briar sessions in Brighton from then till now. Joe's noted mostly though for his welcoming smile, jokes & the joy & friendship he brought to everyone that he even remotly came in contact with, weither be it as an MC at a benift event, a kitchen or back porch music party or at any of the many musical events & sessions he attended over the years. Joe leaves behind his young 16 old daughter Catherine, a lovey singer, whisle player & excellent All Ireland fiddle campion of whom he was so proud of & her mother Karen. Joe will be a sorely missed smile for a long time to come in the New England area, his acccordian may lay silent but his laughter will long be remembered. I stopped going to the Boston area Irish music sessions maybe close to twenty yrs ago when I started raising a family by then I had already known Joe for a good many years. Then about 4 months ago my son got invited to a local house ceili here in southern New Hampshire by a fellow school mate whose mother told her daughter to invite me. In came Joe with Karen who I had known yrs ago & Catherine who he introduced as his daughter. We hadn't seen each other in so long that neither of us knew the other had kids. The teens hit it off fine & we got reaquinted & that lead me back recently to attending the Brighton sessions where I got to renew my friendship with Joe, his family & some of the other musicians that I hadn't seen or heard from over my many absent yrs. Tonight I came into the session & was hit with news of his death, a sudden heart attack. What an awful hit, I will along with many others mourn him for a long time. I'm glad that I had these last few months to catch up with Joe & Karen again before his passing & to meet & become aguinted his very much loved daughter. I'm grief stricken for Catherine's loss, her's is the greatest loss. Please keep her in your prayers. Thanks Good-bye Joe. Barry |
Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: RiGGy Date: 24 Jul 07 - 02:44 PM Thanks for telling us, Barry. Joe Joyce was central to the whole "Irish Social" scene I so enjoyed in the mid-seventies. Super-welcoming and patient with the new influx of players like me who didn't grow up within the vibrant culture of Southie, Roxbury and Brighton. Tommy Magee brought me in to my first Fields Corner session and Joe was there smilin' up a storm. I think he was the first player I ever saw with his name emblazoned on the front of his accordion, like Ernest Tubb's guitar neck. Eventually the scene morphed into the Boston Coolie-Hannafin branch of Comhaltas Ceoltori Éireann, with Joe joining Larry Reynolds, Seamus Connolly, Brendan Tonra + + + channeling the music thru the generations. Sniff, sniff. I miss 'im already. Riggy |
Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: Barry Finn Date: 26 Jul 07 - 01:12 AM Thanks Riggy I hope to be at the session Fri that's gonna be held for Joe. I'll pass on your words to his daughter, she'd like to hear that. At the wake it was pretty much the same discussion about how Joe always welcomed everyone espically those that he spotted as being new to the music scene, always chatting them up & making them feel a part of the family. Barry |
Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: GUEST,Bostonboy Date: 26 Jul 07 - 09:22 PM He will be remembered. I was on vacation in Bermuda when I got the call. Bill Byron how is now living in Boston was inspired by him. Discovered a great talent in a guy called Bob Woodley from Wales recently. Check him out if you never heard of him, he is fantastic. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: Rapparee Date: 26 Jul 07 - 09:33 PM I only heard him once, but that was memorable. He's gonna be missed. |
Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: Barry Finn Date: 28 Jul 07 - 12:45 AM Joe was buried & sent off in the finest of fashion today. After the burial a session was held this evening in Joe's honor with at least a few hundred people attending. The hall was packed, step dancers & singers with probably better than 50 musicians playing in a session. Joe would've loved that. What better way to leave this world with folks happy to have known you & happy to be playing some of the best music this side of heaven for your grand entrance. Barry |
Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Joyce (Boston area Irish Musician) From: GUEST,Brien Date: 28 Jul 07 - 02:00 PM I recall Joe for the same humor and congeniality that everyone else observes. I remember him from various Irish-American events throughout New England. I recall sitting at a table in a club in Roxbury and having Joe as the only other person I knew in the room. Ech person who came in the room, he introduced as a long-lost relative that that had a way to warm folks up in a potentially akward situation. Beannachtai De ar a h-anam. Brien |
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