Customer Reviews

From Clare to Here / Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill

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In my opinion Martin Hayes is one of the greatest Irish fiddlers working today--indeed, one of the finest all-around MUSICIANS working today. His collaborations with Chicago Guitarist Dennis Cahill are legendary among fans of Irish music. What makes him special to me is not only his "roots"--his father is or was a fiddler in a ceili band--but also his amazing inventiveness and his complete immersion and involvement in what he is doing. If you aren't familiar with him, I strongly recommend the CDs Live in Seattle and Under the Moon as two good places to start.

When I discovered this video from Kultur, I bought it in high hopes that it would contain a lot of uncut footage of Martin and Dennis in full form. As a violinist myself, I am always interested in watching other players to see what I can learn from them. Also, I enjoy straight concert videos as a next-best substitute for being there. I was disappointed to discover that this video does not fall into that category. It is more of a documentary, so I will try to be fair and review it is such.

Here is what the documentary consists of: Lots of shots of Seattle, Ireland, quite a bit of talk from Martin, Dennis, and interviews with other Irish or Scottish musicians including Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, Fiddler Alisdair Fraser, and Altan Singer-fiddler Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, and scenes from live performances including the Sebastopol festival in California. All of this is presented through an editing technique of quick cuts (we are just starting to get into the music when we are cut to a shot of Martin talking about the music, for example) that never give the viewer a chance to see a full performance. I can't recall any place in the video where we actually get a full uncut performance of anything! One of the most egregious scenes shows Martin and Dennis finishing a live performance to a standing ovation, leaving the stage, and then quickie interviews with concert-goers who rave on and on about how great and transcendent the concert was. Why don't WE get to see some of the concert?!

The words that Martin, Dennis and the others are certainly important and worth hearing in that they are spoken by people who have spent their lives doing this kind of music. We can learn many valuable things from listening to them. The problem with this video is that we don't get enough of either words OR music. Consequently, the experience is like eating food that tastes good but leaves you unsatisfied and wanting more, after the food is gone. The makers made a decision to create a film which constantly shifts gears and gives us snippets of this and that in the hope that somehow the viewer will put it all together and have a complete picture of Irish music. They should have known better. This video may possibly have appeal for people who don't know anything about Irish music, or music in general, other than that they like it. But for those who are looking for complete performances, or who want a more systematic discussion of Irish music, it will most likely be a disappointment, as it was for me. I hope that Martin and Dennis were not responsible for the way this video was produced. They deserve much, much better treatment.

This is NOT a concert video. There is plenty of footage of Hayes and Cahill performing, but no full sets or slick post-production video. This 1 hour DVD is a great introduction to the music of Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, as well as a documentary about Irish traditional music both in Ireland and in the U.S. with commentary from several well-known Irish performers, writers and fellow musicians.

While mainly focusing on Hayes' music, it explores the evolution of Trad from the early years of his fiddle playing and even before, through his father's association with the great Tulla Ceili Band. Martin explains how he approaches music and feels that, ultimately, music has to be shared, performed and taught,not played alone in a closed room. He states outright that he's not much of a studio musician but that he excels in live performances where the music flows and can change as it blends with Cahill's remarkable guitar playing. There are several scenes where you can see how well these guys work together from a shared sense of what live music should be. They are awesome! Cahill's playing enhances and strengthens Hayes' fiddle playing without overshadowing it or making it feel as if they're competing with each other. While either musician's work would be amazing if played solo, they come together into something "greater than the sum of its parts". This is what live music was meant to be!

The film also looks at the roots of traditional Irish music, how it has spread into a worldwide phenomenon, and where it is likely headed in the near future. We see Irish and Celtic festivals around the world, the people who attend them, and the performers - from headliners playing in the pavillions to kids playing sitting on the curb. Man! What I wouldn't give to have stumbled across Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill sitting in a couple of old wooden chairs on a street corner jamming for anyone who happened by! Now that's loving what you do!!