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Author Topic: Steve Cooney on TG4  (Read 509 times)

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Stiamh

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Steve Cooney on TG4
« on: January 14, 2020, 01:30:13 AM »

Sé Mo Laoch: Steve Cooney.

I feel compelled to share news of this outstanding programme that aired yesterday on TG4. There's not more than 10 minutes of melodeon content in the 50 minutes of the show, but what there is is absolutely cracking. More than that, though, I think the entire programme should prove interesting to lovers of traditional music in general, giving a wonderful insight into a very singular man and a highly gifted musician - one whom I was lucky enough to rub shoulders with, and whose brilliance I saw first hand, on a handful of occasions during my time in Oz in the early 1980s.

Make sure to turn on the English subtitles using the icon at the bottom right of the player screen.

Pearse Rossa

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Re: Steve Cooney on TG4
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2020, 01:49:39 AM »

Just watched it now as it happens. It is excellent. I didn't know about his musical notation invention.
That's very interesting indeed. It earned him a PhD!
He is very highly regarded in Ireland of course, and deservedly so.
He knows a bit about Irish history as well.
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smiley

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Re: Steve Cooney on TG4
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2020, 03:03:24 AM »

Wow, what a beautifully sensitive look at Steve Cooney's musical life. Absolutely outstanding viewing.
Who else could've made the connection between Chuck Berry's RnB and West Kerry polkas to such good effect!

Brings back memories of my first trip to Ireland and the pleasant surprise I got when Steve began playing his didge during a Stocktons Wing concert in Kilkenny. Chatting with him afterwards led to an impromptu tenor banjo lesson from Kieran, and a nice feeling of being welcome into the Irish traditional music community.

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Graham Wood

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Re: Steve Cooney on TG4
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2020, 07:13:56 PM »

Thank you for sharing this. The man is a legend, his whole life dedicated to music. It also gives you feel of traditional Irish music with it's history and development and he highlights similarities between how modern music has developed from traditional rhythm and structure.

I've always been fascinated with the history of American Blues and it's origins and how simple instruments were built from everyday materials to produce very distinct sounds. This now gives me an insight into the origins and types of Irish traditional music that will certainly help me develop a feel for it whilst learning to play. It is one thing to play an instrument but it's something else to be able to let it talk to people in such an expressive and emotional way.

You can sit and listen to a piece and say at the end 'That was good', or sit and listen to the same piece and come away with goose bumps and feeling emotional. There is a huge difference and it (to me anyway) is all about the feeling that you put into the music that you play. And Irish traditional music gives you an opportunity to do that. To me music is communication, whether you want to tell a story or just get people up dancing. There's a right way and a wrong way to do it.
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