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| | Reviews | | | | Corran Hill Review -
Siobhan Long
South Sligo multi- instrumentalist Carmel Gunning has much to say on her fifth CD, Corran Hill. Director of the Queen Maeve Summer School, Gunnings palete stretches from Scottish ballads(Erin Gra Mo Chroi) to classic slow airs and a pair of original tunes, rooted in her home place. Her voice is well-suited to some of her song choices, particularly her version of The Geevagh Prisoners and An Greasai Brog.
However, her choice of the Joe Heaney classic, Donal Og, is a bold one that challenges her vocals, and suffers from and underinvestment of emotion, and Katy Daly is a song worn ragged by Dessie O'Halloran's devil - may - care treatment. Siobhan Long, The Irish times. | | | | Corran Hill Review
Tom Keller
Carmel Gunning is a tin whistle and flute player and traditional singer from Geevagh in South Sligo, Ireland. She has taught music and song over the years, among her pupils are Liam Kelly of Dervish. She runs Queen Maeve Int. Summer School - has also written two books on irish music and songs. You can imagine that she also is a more than apt performer. Indeed, Carmel went repeatedly into the recording studion Her fifith album "Corran Hill" is a mix of traditional and newly written tunes and songs. There are five instrumental tracks including a fling, a slow air, a barn dance, reels and jigs. The title tune is an original compositin, Corran Hill - is the highest peak in the Geevagh Mountains. There are seven traditional songs in English and Irish, the English ones are "Erin Gra Mo Chroi", "Around St. James Well","Katie Daly", "The Exile Far Away" and"The Geevagh Prisoners", the Gaelic are "An Greasai Brog" and "Donal Og". Carmel Gunning seems to have anything, a commanding voice, strong lungs and quick fingers, and a taste for great songs and tunes. | | | | Corran Hill Review
By Fred McCormick
Readers of Music Traditions will not, I suspect, be terribly familiar with the name of Carmel Gunning. If so, that is a pity for she is one of the finest whistle players in Ireland, as well as being a first class flute player , singer, composer, teacher and music school director. In short she is a tireless worker for Irish Music.
If Ive counted correctly this is Carmel 4th solo CD, and it does more to showcase her range of talents - including the teaching - than any of its predecessors. Of the songs, we hear two in Irish; an unaccompanied "Donal Og", and a delightful rendering of the childrens song "An Greasai Brog"(The Shoemaker). There are no translations of either song unfortunately, although Donal Og is widely known both in English and Irish. An Greasai Brog is less commonly encountered(though not one suspects among Gaelic Speaking schoolchildren), but a version of the song turns up on Topic TSCD5I8D; Seosamh OHeanai, "The Road to Connemara" and you can find a translation of it at www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/heaney3htm.
The topography of her native Sligo informs a large part of what Carmel Gunning does, and this disc is no exception. As well as two self composed taunes, bothe name after local landmarks, three of the five songs in English are by local song makers. Of these, two are place name songs, a genre which does not always earn plaudits for poetic quality. However, while the sentiments of these two are fairly routine, they are textually very commendable. You would need a lot more than two songs to give vent to the beauties of Sligo!
The other local song is a ballad called "The Geevagh Prisoners", which relates the arrest in 1908 if ten Geevagh men for obstructing the delivery of farm eviction notices. Im in two minds about this one. While songs of landlordism bear crucial witness to Britain's appalling record in Ireland, it could have told its story more effectively had some of the less important detail been removed.
So to the instrumentals. It is probaboly as a tin whistle player that Carmel Gunnng is best known, and the tin whistle playing here demonstrates how good she is. Her tone is never less than crystal clear; her rhythm is bouncy and sure footed; the pleasingly sharp finger work is reinforced by what jazz musicians indecorously call slap tonguing; and there are plenty of tasteful melodic variations to keep the ear engaged. There are two sets of tunes played on the flute, and I admit to feeling dubious when I saw that the air "An Chulfhionn" was amongst them. Surely, I thought, a less venerable warhorse would have been more appropriate. In fact it is played with such delicacy and restraint that I was reminded of the late Paddy Taylor's prowess at playing slow airs. And the way the tune morphed into "The Stack of Barley" simply reinforced the impression.
I mentioned Carmels teaching earlier, and it shows up in the form of a solo guest appearance by one of her pupils; Orlaith McAuliffe from London. The two reels she plays, Jeans and Colonel Frazer, are my only experience of hearing Ms McAuliffe. But stunning as this track is, it seemed to me somewhat stronger on virtuosity than emotion. Even so, I'd guess that the rigours of life will seep into her playing with time, and I look forward to hearing a lot more from this remarkable young player in the future.
The disc contains a pleasing balance of accompanied and unaccompanied tracks. Moreover, in a genre where accompaniements are all too often formulaic and distractive,the ones here are so varied and imaginative that I almost wish they could have been issued as a supplement to the main CD. Fred McCormick - 9th July 2008. | | | | Lakes of Sligo Review
From Teroir Magazine.
Carmel Gunning's recently released Tin Whistle album has arrived at a very appropriate time. As Andy Conroy, the famous Roscommon piper was heard to remark, "the music has become harmogenised". Carmel has a novel approach to nearly every tune and brings a freshness and lightness long overdue. Even hackeyed tunes like the Connaughman's Rambles and the Sligo Maid are transformed with a different approach with original variations. Her techniques to toungeing, piping and grace notes are skilfully applied.
The music she plays in a matured and confident manner. It's quite common for musicians to attempt to play tunes beyond their style and capabilities, not so with Carmel, who, although a master, still plays within a comfortable range with music that suits her style and personality. This talented lady is an accomplished singer and composer, as well as a dynamic musician. The compilation on this album is sure to please, combining old Sligo favourites like "The Pigeon on the Gate", and "The Devils of Dublin", with bright new compositions. The strong stirring dance music interspaced with tastefully rendered songs, with rich ornamentations, makes for a very pleasurable album. The title tune originally recorded by Paddy Killoran's band in the 1920's, is a great favourite and is itself a lovely melody.
Sligo has in the past produced great virtuoso musicians unequalled by any other county. Carmel's album follows in that great tradition
| | | | Lakes of Sligo Review
By Fintan Vallely.
GREAT chuckling Tin Whistle from one of it's longest standing exponents. Rich voiced, a cappella song balances, and slight guitar accompaniment sets-off ornament driven rhythm. Fabulous use of held notes and stuttering toung articulation on jigs and reels contrasts with a 'Carolan's Concerto' and Gunning's own tunes like 'Fiddler of Dooney' and 'Ailbhe Kate' are solid, good pieces. By contrast the choice of 'Bean Dubh' as an air, and also the song 'Sligo Maid', though hackneyed, but rarely heard al fresco, is excellent and appropriate, and 'House of Hamill' a terrific tribute to composer Reavy.
| | | | Lakes of Sligo Review
By Don Meade Irish Voice Newspaper, NYC - U.S.A.
Carmel Gunning has been one of Ireland's most accomplished tin whistle players for many years. A native of famously musical south County Sligo, Carmel is highly regarded by her fellow traditional musicians for her fast-paced modern whistle style. She has also worked hard to pass on the Sligo musical tradition to younger players and last August celebrated her 25th anniversary as a music teacher. Alumni of her Queen Maeve School of Music include flute and whistle masters Liam Kelly (of the group Dervish) and June Ní Chormaic.
Gunning's reputation in the wider world should be boosted by the release of her first solo recording, The Lakes of Sligo, which features four unaccompanied songs as well as 14 tracks of virtuosic tin whistle playing.
Before the 1970s, the tin whistle was often dismissed as little more than a toy – an instrument to start children on before they "graduated" to the concert flute or uilleann pipes. In the right hands, however, this deceptively simple instrument can be an extraordinarily expressive vehicle for Irish dance tunes and slow airs.
No modern tin whistler can escape comparison to Mary Bergin, and Carmel's playing will indeed remind listeners of the Dublin-born star. If anything, however, Gunning plays reels with a more insistent headlong drive. Her ornamentation is also more diverse, featuring many tongued triplets in imitation of the bowed embellishments popular among Sligo fiddlers.
The tunes on The Lakes of Sligo include such Sligo classics as "The Boys of Ballisodare" "The Sligo Maid" and "Tom Ward's Downfall," several uncredited tunes from the late Philadelphia composer Ed Reavy and a couple of Carmel's own original compositions. Altan guitarist Mark Kelly and bodhrán standout Robbie Walsh make excellent contributions to this long overdue solo debut.
Email: carmelgunning@gmail.com
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