Solas
Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers
There are few albums on the shelves today that would truly make you get up and dance (I don't mean slam dancing to "Groove Nasty," I'm talking real movement). But when you hear the beauteous energy of Solas on "Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers," you just may find yourself doing a jig right in your living room.
A group of five Irish lads and lasses, Solas employs tried traditional techniques for the antique songs, and a cohesive, truly entertaining album emerges. Karan Casey's liquid vocals flow through all the non-instrumentals, not missing a beat whether the song be English or Gaelic. The joy of her lilting soprano is second only to the pleasure of the jigs and reels which will captivate even a listener who has never been much of an Irish music fan.
The cover photo shows the five looking straight into the camera, while a little Solas logo dances below them with rainbow colors spilling off onto their collars. The picture gives one pause before opening the jewel case and reminds you that these are indeed serious artists worthy of mountains of respect.
That respect is quick in coming from the second you hear "The Wind That Shakes The Barley," where the rich vocal tones complement the fiddles as much as the lush poetry about the United Irishmen's 1798 uprising. Try this on for size: "T'was hard the woeful words to frame / T'was worse the tie that bound us / But harder still to bear the shame / Of foreign chains around us."
On "Aililiu na Gamhna," the Gaelic lyrics are in sung and the lyrics are included in the album sleeve with English translations, so you're not listening in the dark. But when you're through listening, you'll probably have understood the idea without the English text.
"Vanished Like The Snow" and "Adieu Lovely Nancy," both ballads featuring Casey's vocal embellishments, are grand in their understatement and the pared down arrangements encourage listening to the poetic renderings. "Vanished," an original song by the band's songwriter Sidney Carter, tells a beautiful tale of women like Helen of Troy and Joan of Arc often lost to the history books.
Reels and jigs and Manx airs take you flying through the rest of album at dizzying speed. The flutes, tin whistle, mandolin, banjo, guitar and acoustic guitars used in such simple beauty at once put an image in my mind of the hills of Ireland and of what real music should be.
There are too many bands that try and fail to play fine music, so catch Solas while you can. It may be a while until you'll put something so glorious on your CD player.
- Stephanie Jo Klein
http://www.kelticnations.com/catalogue/celtic_cds/solas.htm
This week we have the second album by one of the finest young Irish or Celtic groups on the scene, and it reflects the proximity of the two countries. Solás can properly be called an Irish-American group, with members not only from both countries, but members who have lived in both countries. Their new CD is entitled Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers.
Last year, Solás released their dazzling eponymous debut that became one of the most acclaimed Irish music releases of the year. The 27-year old Philadelphia-born, Irish-bred Seamus Egan already had a considerable reputation when he began forming the band less than two years ago. He was a real prodigy, winning the All-Ireland music competition on no less than four different instruments, which no one had previously done. While still in his teens he recorded a debut solo album called Traditional Music of Ireland, and joined the Irish-American band from New York Chanting House, featuring Susan McKeown. In 1995 he created the score for the film The Brothers McMullen, released a pretty New Age-Irish effort called When Juniper Sleeps and even recorded some hip-hop with Living Colour's Vernon Reid.
The other members of Solás are the Irish-born vocalist Karan Casey, whose academic career included classical studies in Dublin and jazz in New York; fiddler Winifred Horan, who also comes from a classical background studying at the New England Conservatory of Music; guitarist John Doyle, also a founding member of Chanting House; and accordionist/keyboard player John Williams, an American-born player who also won All-Ireland competition titles four times.
Together they bring a combination of youthful enthusiasm, stunning instrumental virtuosity, and eclecticism without losing allegiance to the traditions. Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers continues their winning combination of traditional material with imaginative performances that capture all that is great about Irish music, while avoiding the Uillean bagpipes and scratchy fiddles that may turn some Celtic neophyte listeners off.
With Egan being such a multi-instrumentalist, playing pennywhistle, flute, banjo, mandolin, guitar, and the Irish bodhrán drum, Solás brings a lot of interesting sonic textures to bear, within the context of traditional music. But as they did on their last album, they also sneak a little synthesizer in on one track, which traditional groups from the other side of the Atlantic have been doing unapologetically for the past few years.
Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers follows a similar pattern as Solás' first album -- a majority of the material is traditional instrumental, with a variety of jigs and reels, along with one slow air, and six of the thirteen tracks featuring the superb vocals of Karan Casey, leaving many wishing more of the album were vocal.
The CD begins with The Wind That Shakes the Barley, one of the vocals, a traditional song about one of the various Irish political conflicts, in this case, the 1798 United Irishmen's uprising. The piece is a minor key, and the group's little rhythmic twists give the arrangement an occasional Eastern European flavor. The result is typical of Solás' remarkable musicianship. <<>>
The first of the instrumentals is a set of reels -- reels are the Irish tunes in a two-beat time, as opposed the six-beat rhythms of jigs. The three parts are called The Big Reel of Ballyncally, The High Hill, by a contemporary composer, Ed Reavy, and Flash Away the Pressing Gang. The pieces are nicely arranged with the slower reel in the middle, and the ending selection being especially strong. Egan is featured on the banjo prominently. <<>>
As on their debut album, Solás includes one piece sung in Irish. Aliliú Na Gamhna is a pretty song about a herdsman's daughter going about her job of milking the cows. <<>>
A good example of the group's eclecticism comes on another medley of reels, including Paddy Taylor's, McFadden's Handsome Daughter, The Narrowback, Frank's Reel and Esther's Reel. The first reel is given a subtly funky rhythmic approach <<>> before the group takes off into an irresistible Irish whirlwind. <<>>
This album is a sequel to Solás' debut in several ways, including covering some of the same song topics -- subjects that have made for good musical tales over the years. One such topic given a second approach is that of a sly robber. Last time it was The Newry Highwayman, about a kind of Robin Hood character. This album's scoundrel comes on the song, The Maid on the Shore, about a women who attracted the eye of sailors who pulled in their ship, and took her onboard. She plied her trade of singing to and then robbing the unsuspecting sailors. <<>>
Another of the vocal highlights is The Unquiet Grave. The unusual lyrics are about a young man communing with the ghost of his lover at her grave. <<>>
Of the two sets of jigs on this album, the more lively and engaging is a medley of traditional tunes, Tom Busky's, James O'Byrne's, and The Four Posts of the Bed. Again, the musicianship is breathtaking. <<>>
One of the most beautiful songs is a contemporary composition by singer-songwriter Sidney Carter called Vanished Like the Snow, about how often heroic women get written out of the history books. <<>>
The album ends with another traditional song on a topic covered on Solás' first album. Adieu Lovely Nancy is the story of a love affair riven by the young man's travelling exploits. On the last album, he was a soldier off to fight, while his true love offered to help. This time he is a sailor, and there is a similar offer. This time, though, she stays home and dies of a broken heart before the sailor can return. <<>>
Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers, the new second release by the Philadelphia-based Irish-American quintet Solás -- which by the way means "light" in Irish -- is another outstanding effort by arguably the finest young traditional Irish group on the scene. Their combination of appreciation for the traditions, balanced by a certain degree of stylistic adventurousness, and unquestioned virtuosic musicianship makes this album one that the growing number of Celtic music fans will not want to miss. The arrangement of the album with its mix of material ranging from reels to pretty songs, is also outstanding. But I suspect that there will be many who might wish for more of Ms. Casey's beautiful vocals.
This is very much a sequel to their self-titled debut album, with the same producer, Johnny Cunningham who did another outstanding job capturing the group's musicianship, and even some of the same song topics. I also have a similar sonic complaint about this CD as its predecessor -- too much audio compression in the mastering, robbing a lot of the dynamic range and expressiveness of the acoustic instruments.
With groups like Solás around, no one need worry about traditional Irish music dying out.
This is George Graham.
http://georgegraham.com/solas2.html
Vanished Like The Snow
Tell me, where did Helen go?
This is where she had her dwelling
She has vanished like the snow
Where there is no way of telling
This is where she had her dwelling
And the while they come and they go
Where there is no way of telling
She has vanished like the snow
What became of Heloise?
Abelard, he was her lover
Once they lived in Saint-Denis
Where they've gone, I can't discover
Abelard, he was her lover
All the while they come and they go
Where they've gone I can't discover
They have vanished like the snow
Joan came riding from the rain
Everybody knows the story
England burned her in the rain
Theirs the shame and hers the glory
Everybody knows the story
All the while they come and they go
England's shame and France's glory
When she vanished like the snow
Where's the times and where's the places?
That is what I'd like to know
For they gloried in their graces
When they vanished like the snow
Adieu Lovely Nancy
"Adieu, lovely Nancy, for now I must leave you
To the far-off West Indies I'm bound for to steer
But let my long journey be of no trouble to you
For my love, I'll return in the course of a year"
"Talk not of leaving me here, lovely Jimmy
Talk not of leaving me here on the shore
You know very well your long absence will grieve me
As you sail the wild ocean where the wild billows roar
I'll cut off my ringlets all curly and yellow
I'll dress in the coats of a young cabin boy
And when we are out on that dark, rolling ocean
I will always be near you, my pride and my joy"
"Your lily-white hands, they could not handle the cables
Your lily-white feet to the top mast could not go
And the cold winter storms, well, you could not endure them
Stay at home, lovely Nancy, where the the wild winds won't blow"
As Jimmy set a-sailing, lovely Nancy stood a-wailing
The tears from her eyes in great torrents did a-flow
As she stood on the beach, oh her hands she was wringing
Crying, "Oh and alas, will I e'er see you more?"
As Jimmy was a-walking on the quays of Philadelphia
The thoughts of his true love, they filled him with pride
He said, "Nancy, lovely Nancy, if I had you here, love
How happy I'd be for to make you my bride"
So Jimmy wrote a letter to his own lovely Nancy
Saying, "If you have proved constant, well, I will prove true"
Oh but Nancy was dying, for her poor heart was broken
Oh the day that he left her, forever he'd rue
Come all of you young maidens, I pray, take a warning
And don't trust a sailor boy or any of his kind
For first they will court you and then they'll deceive you
For their love, it is tempestuous as the wavering wind
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
I sat within a valley green
I sat me with my true love
My sad heart strove the two between
The old love and the new love
The old for her, the new
That made me think on Ireland dearly
When soft the wind blew down the glen
And it shook the golden barley
'Twas hard the woeful words to frame
'Twas worse the tie that bound us
But harder still to bear the shame
Of foreign chains around us
And so I said, "The mountain glen
I'll seek it morning early
And join the bold United Men
While soft wind shakes the barley"
While sad I kissed away her tears
My fond arms around her flinging
The foeman's shot burst on our ears
From out the wild wood ringing
The bullet pierced my true love's side
In life's young spring so early
And on my breast in blood she died
While soft wind shakes the barley
Then blood for blood without remorse
I've taken to Oulard Hollow
I laid my true love's clay cold corpse
Where I full soon will follow
And 'round her grave I wander here
Now night and morning early
With a breaking heart whene'er I hear
The wind that shakes the barley
Aililiú Na Gamhna
Is iníon d'aoire mé I'm a herdsman's daughter
Féinig gan amhras Sure enough
Do bhíodh ina cónaí Who once lived
Cois taobh na Leamhna Down by the banks of the Laune
Bhí bothán agam féin ann I had a cabin there
Is fuinneog i gceann de A window in the gable
Fad a bhíodh an bainne ag téamh agam While I heated the milk
'Sea ghlaofainn ar na gamhna I called in the calves
Chorus:
Aililiú na gamhna Aililiú the calves
Na gamhna bána The pretty calves
Aililiú na gamhna Aililiú the calves
Na gamhna b'iad a b'fhearr liom I loved them the best
Aililiú na gamhna Aililiú the calves
Na gamhna geala bána The fine pretty calves
Na gamhna maidin shamhraidh Dancing in the meadow
Ag damhsa ar na bánta On a clear summer's morning
Faightear dom cana Get me a can
Is faightear dom bhuarach And get me a ladle
Is faightear dom soitheach Get me a vessel
Ina gcuirfead mo chuid uachtair To take all the cream
Ceolta sí na cruinne bheith The magic music of the world
Á síorchur i m'chluasa Always around me
Ba bhinne liomsa géimneach na mbó But sweeter still the cattle
Ag teacht chun buaile Lowing to the parlor
(Chorus)
Rachaimid ar an aonach Let us go to the fair
Is ceannóimid gamhna And buy us some calves
Is cuirfimid ar féar iad Put them to grass out
Amach ins na gleannta Above in the valleys
Íosfaidh siad an féar They'll eat all the grass
Is barr an aitinn ghallda And the tufts of the strange gorse
Is tiocfaidh siad abhaile chun And come home for the milk
An bhainne i gcóir an tSamhraidh At the start of the summer
(Chorus twice)
The Unquiet Grave
Cold blows the wind upon my true love
Soft falls the gentle rain
I never had but one true love
And in Greenwood she lies slain
I'd lose much for my true love
As any young man may
I'll sit and I'll mourn all on your grave
For twelve months and a day
When the twelfth month and a day had passed
The ghost began to speak
"Who is it that sits all on my grave
And will not let me sleep?"
"'Tis I, 'tis I, thine own true love
That sits all on your grave
I ask of one kiss from your sweet lips
And that is all that I crave"
"My lips, they are as clay, my love
My breath is earthy strong
And if you should kiss my clay-cold lips
Your time, 'twould not be long"
"Look down in the yonder garden fair
Love, where we used to walk
The fairest flower that ever bloomed
Has withered and too the stalk"
"The stalk, it has withered and dried, my love
So will our hearts decay
So make yourself content, my love
'Til death calls you away"
The Maid On The Shore
There was a fair maid and she lived all alone
She lived all alone on the shore
No one could she find for to calm her sweet mind
But to wander alone on the shore, shore, shore
To wander alond on the shore
There was a brave captain who sailed a fine ship
And the weather being steady and fair
"I shall die, I shall die," this dear captain did cry
"If I can't have that maid on the shore, shore, shore
If I can't have that maid on the shore"
After many persuasions they brought her on board
He seated her down on his chair
He invited her down to his cabin below
Farewell to all sorrow and care
Farewell to all sorrow and care
"I'll sing you a song," this fair maid did cry
This captain was weeping for joy
She sang it so sweetly, so soft and completely
She sang the captain and sailors to sleep
Captain and sailors to sleep
She robbed them of jewels, she robbed them of wealth
She robbed them of costly fine fare
The captain's broadsword she used as an oar
She rowed her way back to the shore, shore, shore
She rowed her way back to the shore
Oh the men, they were mad and the men, they were sad
They were deeply sunk down in despair
To see her go away with her booty so gay
The rings and her things and her fine fare
The rings and her things and her fine fare
"Well, don't be so sad and sunk down in despair
And you should have known me before
I sang you to sleep and I robbed you of wealth
Well, again I'm a maid on the shore, shore, shore
Again I'm a maid on the shore"