Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Antonio Breschi Pays Tribute to Ronnie tonight at The Sugar Club
The master of celtic piano, Antonio Breschi, will be delivering a private performance in tribute to Ronnie at The Sugar Club tonight. It is very much in line with his previous tribute to Ronnie in Spain entitled, "From Dublin to Bilbao".
Ronnie's children, Cliodhna and Phelim, will be attending the function.
Hopefully we will get some pictures to pass on to you all.
Friday, November 14, 2008
RSVP from Brendan Gleeson
"Sorry I can't be there.
Ronnie was one of those people who, the more you got from them, the more you wanted.
One story was never enough. One song, One album. One laugh.
One life wasn't enough for Ronnie. We wanted more. One consolation is that we still have his music. It's not enough. But it helps.
Thanks Ronnie,
Brendan"
Ronnie was one of those people who, the more you got from them, the more you wanted.
One story was never enough. One song, One album. One laugh.
One life wasn't enough for Ronnie. We wanted more. One consolation is that we still have his music. It's not enough. But it helps.
Thanks Ronnie,
Brendan"
A Session to Remember
Packed like sardines in the windy upstairs of O'Donoghue's Pub, a remarkable assortment of friends, family and fans listened on as Dave Kavanagh, Aengus Fanning, Cliodhna and Phelim Drew gave their thanks to the hundreds that showed up for the release of The Last Session: A Fond Farewell.
As they recalled the joyful, and often amusing moments they lived through with Ronnie, there was a hint of underlying melancholy, yes. But even more poignant still were the smiles, laughter and undeniably phenomenal vibe that simultaneously filled the room.
"This is what sessions in Ireland used to be like", one onlooker said.
From start to finish, the night was truly a testament to how much love there was for Ronnie.
So many people from all walks of the industry were more than willing to contribute their memories and musings on Ronnie. Hopefully their stories will help turn the pages of this blog into something very special, a window into the great life of the man himself.
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew!
As they recalled the joyful, and often amusing moments they lived through with Ronnie, there was a hint of underlying melancholy, yes. But even more poignant still were the smiles, laughter and undeniably phenomenal vibe that simultaneously filled the room.
"This is what sessions in Ireland used to be like", one onlooker said.
From start to finish, the night was truly a testament to how much love there was for Ronnie.
So many people from all walks of the industry were more than willing to contribute their memories and musings on Ronnie. Hopefully their stories will help turn the pages of this blog into something very special, a window into the great life of the man himself.
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Antonio Breschi commemorates Ronnie Drew tonight
Ronnie's son Phelim got in touch to let us know that he was attending a very special concert in Spain tonight in tribute to his father. Antoni Breschi, or Antoni O'Breskey as he is otherwise known, lauded throughout the world as the celtic piano virtuoso extraordinaire, is hosting a concert called "From Dublin to Bilbao" in memory of Ronnie Drew at Cafe Anzotkia in Bilbao, Spain.
Although Antonio wasn't involved in "The Last Session: A Fond Farewell", he and Ronnie have a lovely, and quite interesting, history. After meeting through producer Paul McGuinness, the two established a long standing friendship that brought them to gig everywhere from the humble stage at Whelan's to the National Concert Hall. In fact, it was a song recorded with Ronnie and Shirley Grimes entitled "A Song for Carla", part of Breschi's first US release, that inspired American radio listener Alan McClendon to employ his experience as an investigator into finding Breschi's lost daughter, Carla.
The estranged father and daughter were reunited the very same year McClendon set out on his search (1997). And the driving force behind it all, Breschi rightfully claims, was the power of music to transcend borders and inspire.
For more on Breschi himself check this great interview and his official site:
Victoria Mary Clarke Interview with Antonio Breschi
Antonio Breschi Official Website
Although Antonio wasn't involved in "The Last Session: A Fond Farewell", he and Ronnie have a lovely, and quite interesting, history. After meeting through producer Paul McGuinness, the two established a long standing friendship that brought them to gig everywhere from the humble stage at Whelan's to the National Concert Hall. In fact, it was a song recorded with Ronnie and Shirley Grimes entitled "A Song for Carla", part of Breschi's first US release, that inspired American radio listener Alan McClendon to employ his experience as an investigator into finding Breschi's lost daughter, Carla.
The estranged father and daughter were reunited the very same year McClendon set out on his search (1997). And the driving force behind it all, Breschi rightfully claims, was the power of music to transcend borders and inspire.
For more on Breschi himself check this great interview and his official site:
Victoria Mary Clarke Interview with Antonio Breschi
Antonio Breschi Official Website
The Session's 'Dream Team'
Hugh Buckley, an oftentimes unsung hero of the Irish jazz scene, is one of the many people that worked with Ronnie on this last album. His input has been invaluable; he had a great grasp of how important it was to make this special, and to ensure that the magic encompassed in this album carried through from the first to the last note.
Here's his take:
"Ronnie and I had spoken over a number of years about the idea of doing an album of songs with jazz style accompaniment. In selecting the musicians for the session, I was looking for accomplished players who could play arrangements in that style but were also spontaneous and creative in the studio. In Myles Drennan and Dave Fleming I most definitely achieved this goal. Special guest soloists Richie Buckley, Paul Sweeney and Ciaran Wilde also most definitely fell into this category. It also helped that we all knew Ronnie and had worked with him on previous occasions. The addition of Gavin Ralston as engineer and Stephen Fanning was the finalisation of this "dream team".
Although Ronnie`s voice, through illness, lacked the strength of former years, it was his mastery with a lyric and his depth of expression which touched me most during these recordings."
Here's his take:
"Ronnie and I had spoken over a number of years about the idea of doing an album of songs with jazz style accompaniment. In selecting the musicians for the session, I was looking for accomplished players who could play arrangements in that style but were also spontaneous and creative in the studio. In Myles Drennan and Dave Fleming I most definitely achieved this goal. Special guest soloists Richie Buckley, Paul Sweeney and Ciaran Wilde also most definitely fell into this category. It also helped that we all knew Ronnie and had worked with him on previous occasions. The addition of Gavin Ralston as engineer and Stephen Fanning was the finalisation of this "dream team".
Although Ronnie`s voice, through illness, lacked the strength of former years, it was his mastery with a lyric and his depth of expression which touched me most during these recordings."
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A New Style, An Old Love
The collection on this album is no more, nor no less, than Ronnie Drew’s musical epitaph, the music he wanted the public to hear after a lifetime of playing and recording in the world-renowned style of The Dubliners and their associates.
This album is different, the musicians backing Ronnie are jazz players , the duets are with some of our leading singers in a diversity of styles, including classical, and Hugh Buckley’s inspired arrangements place Ronnie in a setting he has never had before. It is also something of great historical importance – Ronnie Drew’s last record, made between November, 2007, and May, 2008, three months before he died of cancer.
The idea was born from an interview Aengus Fanning did with Ronnie for the Sunday Independent in August, 2007, not along after his wife Deirdre’s death, also from cancer, a few months earlier.Ronnie had over the years been a frequent caller to jazz gigs at JJ Smyth’s in Dublin where he sat in with Hugh and Richie Buckley, and Myles Drennan. Around the same time, he frequently came to the late Peter O’Brien’s gigs and did shows with him in the National Concert Hall in jazz style.
He loved the idiom and on more than one occasion he lamented the fact that he had spent most of his life playing what he called ‘diddly aye’ music. After that heartbreaking interview in Dali’s restaurant, Aengus suggested to Ronnie that, if he could get sponsorship, they might enlist Hugh Buckley’s musical genius and get a record done in that style. Michael Fingleton of the Irish Nationwide Building came up with E25,000 and the show which became ‘The Last Wave’ was on the road.
On a cold morning in November, 2007, Aengus picked Ronnie up at his Greystones home to drive to Gavin Ralston’s studio in Newtownmountkennnedy. ‘I’m fucked’, said Ronnie as he sat into the car. ‘In the long run, we-re all fucked,’ said Aengus. An hour later, Ronnie was as happy Larry in Gavin’s studio, surrounded by his friends Hugh, Myles, and Dave Fleming, working with dedication, love and fun on Kurt Weill’s ‘September Song.’
Over the following seven months, there were eight sessions in all with the initial band being joined by Richie, Paul Sweeney, and Ciaran Wilde, and singers as contrasting as Damien Dempsey, Mary Coughlan and Emmanuel Lawlor. Hugh recalled the unique atmosphere in the intimate studio during the sessions. ‘We were all friends and there was a great vibe of mutual respect in the air.
‘Each day in the studio was full of that wonderful feeling that something special was happening.’
This album is different, the musicians backing Ronnie are jazz players , the duets are with some of our leading singers in a diversity of styles, including classical, and Hugh Buckley’s inspired arrangements place Ronnie in a setting he has never had before. It is also something of great historical importance – Ronnie Drew’s last record, made between November, 2007, and May, 2008, three months before he died of cancer.
The idea was born from an interview Aengus Fanning did with Ronnie for the Sunday Independent in August, 2007, not along after his wife Deirdre’s death, also from cancer, a few months earlier.Ronnie had over the years been a frequent caller to jazz gigs at JJ Smyth’s in Dublin where he sat in with Hugh and Richie Buckley, and Myles Drennan. Around the same time, he frequently came to the late Peter O’Brien’s gigs and did shows with him in the National Concert Hall in jazz style.
He loved the idiom and on more than one occasion he lamented the fact that he had spent most of his life playing what he called ‘diddly aye’ music. After that heartbreaking interview in Dali’s restaurant, Aengus suggested to Ronnie that, if he could get sponsorship, they might enlist Hugh Buckley’s musical genius and get a record done in that style. Michael Fingleton of the Irish Nationwide Building came up with E25,000 and the show which became ‘The Last Wave’ was on the road.
On a cold morning in November, 2007, Aengus picked Ronnie up at his Greystones home to drive to Gavin Ralston’s studio in Newtownmountkennnedy. ‘I’m fucked’, said Ronnie as he sat into the car. ‘In the long run, we-re all fucked,’ said Aengus. An hour later, Ronnie was as happy Larry in Gavin’s studio, surrounded by his friends Hugh, Myles, and Dave Fleming, working with dedication, love and fun on Kurt Weill’s ‘September Song.’
Over the following seven months, there were eight sessions in all with the initial band being joined by Richie, Paul Sweeney, and Ciaran Wilde, and singers as contrasting as Damien Dempsey, Mary Coughlan and Emmanuel Lawlor. Hugh recalled the unique atmosphere in the intimate studio during the sessions. ‘We were all friends and there was a great vibe of mutual respect in the air.
‘Each day in the studio was full of that wonderful feeling that something special was happening.’
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