Concert Preview: MéirtÃn O'Connor Trio Bringing 'A Great Sense Of Adventure' To Meeting House Performance
The Máirtín O’Connor Trio have toured the world with legendary Irish singer Christy Moore, with Australian guitar master Tony Emmanuel, and with the beloved fiddler Martin Hayes’ Masters of Tradition ensemble. They have played to full capacity audiences in venues such as Lincoln Center and UCLA’s Royce Hall.
On Friday, April 10 at 8:00, Fairfield County’s own Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society will bring the trio — Mr O’Connor, Cathal Hayden and Seamie O’Dowd — to Newtown Meeting House for the first date of a nine-day East Coast tour.
Máirtín O’Connor is one of Ireland’s great players on the button accordion, capable of pulling every possible sonic flavor from the instrument, giving a soulful, delicate sensitive treatment to slow airs and a driving rhythmic pulse to jigs, reels, and other dance tunes. A native of Galway, he started on the accordion at nine years of age, inspired by his paternal grandparents, both of whom played the instrument.
A central musician in Riverdance and a veteran of De Dannan, Skylark, and Boys of the Lough, he has also worked with international rock stars, including Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Elvis Costello, Rod Stewart, and The Waterboys.
He is a respected composer as well as a player. In February of this year he was honored with the Irish-language television channel TG4’s Gradam Ceoil (Musician of the Year), one of the most important awards in Irish traditional music.
“What makes working in this trio unique,” Mr O’Connor told me, “is the synergy that happens. A lot of people have commented over the years that from an audience point of view, if you close your eyes, it’s hard to imagine that the collective sound is made by just three people.”
Cathal Hayden, from County Tyrone in the north of Ireland, is an All-Ireland Champion on fiddle and tenor banjo. The son and grandson of fiddlers, he grew up in a region steeped in traditional music.
A member of the band Four Men and a Dog, he has also worked with, among many others, the piper Paddy Keenan and the guitarist Arty McGlynn. Deeply rooted in his native Irish music, he engages with swing, bluegrass, and other outside influences to create his own unique sound.
Seamie O’Dowd, on guitar and vocals, comes from a family immersed in the music of southern County Sligo. He began playing fiddle at eight, and by his 18th birthday he was already well known as a singer and multi-instrumentalist. Long a member of Dervish, he has also collaborated with Planxty’s piper Liam O’Flynn and flutist Matt Molloy of the Chieftains.
Mr O’Connor and Mr O’Dowd first played together in a lunchtime concert, arranged by the flute player Sean Maloney, at a Sligo college.
“Seamie and I met for the first time about a half hour before the concert, got a set together, and had a great gig,” Mr O’Connor recalled.
Their musical partnership went on from there. They first played as a trio with Mr Hayden at a memorial service for the late Finn Corrigan, who worked with the band Dervish. They have released two albums together: Crossroads (2009) and Going Places (2012).
“For me it’s a great pleasure to play with two such consummate musicians,” Mr O’Connor said. “There’s always a great sense of adventure.”
When someone who has shared stages and recording studios with so many of the world’s finest musicians, in a variety of genres, speaks in those terms, it’s clear that something special is going on.
“If there’s anything I’d like the audience to leave with at the end of the night,” Mr O’Connor said, “it’s a feeling of being uplifted by the music.”
I feel confident that Mr O’Connor’s hopes will be more than satisfied.
Traditional Irish concerts at The Meeting House have a history of selling out, and reservations are recommended. Tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children under 16. Visit the Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society website (www.shamrockirishmusic.org) or call 203-362-5912 to reserve a seat.