IMN : Updates for Altan

Superb and Stylish New Album From Altan

IMN

April 16th, 2012

From The Donegal Democrat

Superb and Stylish New Album From Altan

Like all good things it was worth waiting for. Top traditional music group Altan recently released their first studio album in almost seven years to widespread and critical acclaim.

Entitled ‘The Poison Glen – Gleann Nimhe’, it captures the heart of soul of this genre with all the glorious subtlety and sweeping majesty that the title suggests. Each of the 13-tracks on offer has a unique and genuine quality that make you sit up and want more. Gleann Nimhe is their thirteenth album.’Gleann Nimhe’, meaning the “Poisoned Glen”, is, as we all know, in Dunlewey.

The track are: A Fig for a Kiss (Slip Jigs); Cailín Deas Crúite na mBó (Song); The Pretty Young Girls from Ardara Set (Highlands and Reels); The Blackest Crow (Song); Tommy Potts Slip (Jig); The House at the Corner; Seolta Geala (Song); The New Rigged Ship; Eddie Curran’s (Reels); Caitlín Triall (Song); The Wheels of the World (Slow Reel); The Lancers (Jigs); Lily of the West (Song) and An Ghealóg (Song).

Altan has been together for 3O years, and this album is a return to the simpler sound of earlier recordings, after their work with the Concert Orchestra.

To read more click here#

Altan Coming to Portsmouth Music Hall

IMN

February 29th, 2012

From Portsmouth Patch

Altan Coming to Music Hall
By: Kathleen Soldati

Altan, the most talked-about traditional group to emerge from Ireland, comes to The Music Hall’s Historic Theater on Friday, March 9 at 8 p.m. just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Tickets for the show are on sale now at The Music Hall box office.

The award winning group plays the music of Donegal, Northern Ireland and Scotland, ranging from touching old Irish songs to hard hitting reels and jigs. Propelled by the acclaimed vocals of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and backed by double fiddle, flute, guitar, accordion, and bouzouki, the band seamlessly blends dazzling instrumental prowess with gorgeously delicate vocals.

For the past 25 years, Altan has been committed to bringing the beauty of traditional music to contemporary audiences. While preserving its longstanding roots, they recognize that Irish traditional music is effectively a modern music. According to The Sunday Tribune, Dublin, “The appeal of Altan centres on the fact that they see no differences or divisions in music. As such, they have managed to cross the all-important cultural barriers between folk and world and rock music.”

To read more click here

The Poison Glen

IMN

February 28th, 2012

From World Music Central

Renowned Irish Group Altan to Release The Poison Glen in March

Legendary Irish music band Altan will be releasing The Poison Glen (Gleann Nimhe) on February 28th in the United States, March 9th in Ireland and March 12th in the UK.
The Poison Glen is reminiscent to earlier classic albums such as The Red Crow and Horse with a Heart, and the instrumental prowess of Ciaran Tourish (fiddle), Dermot Byrne (accordion), Mark Kelly (guitar), Ciarán Curran (bouzouki) and Daithi Sproule (guitar) alternately shines on sets of sprightly jigs, driving reels and gorgeous airs, and interweaves with Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s ethereal vocals. Standout tracks on the album include “The House on the Corner”, “The Lily of the West” and “The Wheels of the World.”

Altan is still one of Ireland’s leading bands. After 30 years together, they are still making music as exciting and relevant as when they first started.

USA Tour

3 March – The Cedar – Minneapolis, MN
4 March – The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI
6 March – Barns at Wolftrap – Vienna, VA
7 March – Sellersville Theater – Sellersville, PA
8 March – City Winery – New York City, NY
9 March – The Music Hall – Portsmouth, NH
10 March – Somerville Theatre – Somerville, MA

To read more click here

New Album From Great Irish Band Altan

IMN

February 27th, 2012

From AnnArbor.com

New album finally at hand, great Irish band Altan playing The Ark
By: Kevin Ransom

It’s probably safe to say that Altan is the greatest trad-Irish band of the last 20 years or so.

However, they don’t always hew strictly to tradition. While many of their songs are sung in Gaelic, many others are in English. And they sometimes perform Celti-fied versions of songs from other genres, like American folk music, and on some of their wistful ballads and airs, they’re not shy about employing a more ambient-Celtic production style if they feel that the song calls for it—almost always to wonderful effect.

Altan long ago earned its rep as an Irish supergroup, given how supremely talented the individual members are. And the first among equals is Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, whose ethereal vocals often lend the ballads a haunting quality.

To read more click here

A Fresh Sound From Altan

IMN

February 20th, 2012

From Donegal News

A Fresh Sound From Altan
By: Sean P. Feeny

Following the success of their album 25th Anniversary Celebration with the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra Altan are back with a brand new release.

Gleann Nimhe (The Poison Glen) was recorded right here in Donegal at The Steeples Studios in Ramelton by renowned musician and producer Billy Robinson and additional recordings by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s long time collaborator, Manus Lunny at Stúideo na Mara, An Bhráid.

The new album features a collection a brand new slip jigs, reels, both newly arranged and originals, and plenty of brand new songs from the Irish trad supergroup.

To read more click here

Confirmed Tourdates As Of February 17th, 2012

IMN

March 8th, 2013: Zankel Hall New York, NY USA
March 22nd, 2013: Leighton Concert Hall Norte Dame, IN USA [Altan with the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra]
March 23rd, 2013: Mayo Civic Center Theater Rochester, MN USA [Altan]

Altan Returns With New Album, US Tour

IMN

January 31st, 2012

From Irish Emigrant

Altan Returns With New Album, US Tour

Legendary Irish folk act Altan return to the limelight with a new album in February and a tour of the US, France and Norway.

Altan’s tenth studio album, Gleann Nimhe – The Poison Glen, will be a return to the outfit’s roots and will feature a more organic sound, with less reliance on guest appearances.

“We went back to the roots of the six members of the band, with only Harry Bradley and Jim Higgins as guests on this one,” vocalist and founding member Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh told The Journal of Music.

“I also wanted to have the voice more to the fore in terms of the sound, less produced so that we could bring the music into the listener’s room a little more.”

To read more click here

PREVIEW: Celebrate St. Patrick's Day With Altan

IMN

March 17th, 2011

From The Day

The Garde Welcomes The Irish Band Altan
By: Kristina Dorsey

Irish musicians must live for March. Everyone goes all crazy for the Emerald Isle around St. Patrick’s Day, and that means lots of potential gigs for Gaelic bands.

That said, not all Irish bands are created equal. Altan is rather renowned. The Boston Globe touted it as “the hottest group in the Celtic realm.” The Irish government even issued an official Altan postage stamp five years ago.

Among the highlights of the band’s 25-year history: seeing their 1990 release “The Red Crow” become the first of their three albums to win the Celtic/British Isles Album of the Year award from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufactures; and having their 1994 album “Island Angel” become Billboard’s fourth best-selling world-music album of the year.

Oh, and they’ve got a reputation for being killer in concert, as you’ll see if you go to their Sunday concert at the Garde Arts Center.

To read more click here

REVIEW Altan's "25th Anniversary" Album (Washington Post)

IMN

March 23rd, 2010

(From The Washington Post)

By: Geoffrey Himes
Published: March 12, 2010

Pairing a folk string band with a classical orchestra is often a bad idea: The cohesiveness of the large ensemble can clash with the assertiveness of the small. But when the R.T.E Concert Orchestra, Ireland’s public-radio house orchestra, backs that country’s great folk band Altan on “25th Anniversary Celebration,” they blend unexpectedly well. That’s because precision harmonies are essential to Altan’s music, and the orchestra expands that signature sound without distorting it.

The group, which has worked with a classical string quartet, asked Irish composer Fiachra Trench to flesh out his chamber-music arrangements for a full orchestra. He does so quite tastefully, always allowing the folk quintet to own the foreground at the beginning of each song and bringing up the strings and woodwinds later to broaden the band’s musical ideas. The nine songs and six instrumental tracks — two-thirds traditional and all previously recorded — provide a sumptuous tour of the band’s quarter-century history.

It helps that Altan’s leader, Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, is the Alison Krauss of Ireland — a talented fiddler and once-in-a-generation singer. When Ni Mhaonaigh warbles the slow air “I Wish My Love Was a Red Red Rose,” her soprano mirrors the lushness of the orchestra behind her and the yearning desire of the song’s lover.

To read the article online click here

REVIEW Altan @ Troy Music Hall

IMN

March 13th, 2010

(From the Schenectady Daily Gazette)

By: Geraldine Freedman
Published: March 13, 2010

The celebrated Irish traditional band Altan played Friday night at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in a pre-St. Patrick’s Day concert that thrilled a large crowd filled with a devoted following. The concert, which was part of an almost four-week U.S. tour, marked the band’s 25th anniversary.

Fiddler/vocalist and co-founder Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, fiddler Ciaran Tourish, bouzouki player Ciaran Curran, accordionist Dermot Byrne and guitarist/vocalist Daithi Sproule, who is the only band member who lives in America, have accumulated high honors over the years ranging from having an official Irish postage stamp and making very successful world tours to playing for presidents and selling thousands of recordings. The fame is well deserved.

Based just on Friday night’s performance, the band produced a robust sound with energy levels that never slackened. The band’s high level of technical expertise and the players’ delightfully thick brogue allowed them to create an illusory atmosphere redolent of the best Irish pubs.

Many of the tunes they played came from Donegal — even Altan is the name of a mysterious lake behind Errigal Mountain in Donegal. Some tunes band members wrote. Reels and jigs predominated with their traditional style of repetitive motifs that tend to hypnotize before they all suddenly end. Sometimes they started slowly and then picked up steam and volume. This caused audience members to stamp their feet and clap their hands in time. Most tunes, especially the very quick ones, got delighted whoops and loud applause. These instrumentals included “Highland Man,” “Cliffs of Glen,” “Old Cuffe Street,” “Silver Slipper,” “The Roseville” and “Danny Meehans.”

When Mhaonaigh sang, she told funny anecdotes as to where she found the song. Although everyone was miked, Mhaonaigh managed to alter the quality of her voice to suit the songs, which were all strophic (different lyrics, same music) and often in Gaelic. For “As I Roved Out,” her voice was a light soprano. In “A Love Song,” it was like a dramatic clarion. Her “I Wish My Love Was a Red, Red Rose” with Sproule was a sweet ballad. Sproule also sang a few, which he wrote. They were sunny with discernible melodies filagreed with traditional ornamentation.

In the second half, they opened with “Is the Big Man Within?” and “Tilly Finn’s” in which Byrne was especially hot. “Dark Haired Lass” got audience members dancing in the aisles. “Come ye by Atholl” was followed with each member taking a solo. Byrne’s and Mhaonaigh’s solos got wild applause.

The show ended with several reels in which sparks flew, followed by a fast song for an encore.

To read the article online click here

REVIEW Altan's "25th Anniversary" Album

IMN

March 5th, 2010

(From Irish Central)
By: Paul Keating

When you are 25 years on the road, no matter how good you are, you have to come up with some new ways to help widen your appeal or at least enhance what you have done that allowed you to stay in the game that long. Just go and ask Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains.

Even though, Altan — the quintessential contemporary trad band — has a live stage presence second to none and a driving sound and enchanting vocals by founder Mairead ni Mhaonaigh that have pleased audiences around the world for a quarter of a century, it helps to try a new approach.

And so a new CD has just come out, Altan: 25th Anniversary Celebration with the RTE Concert Orchestra, carrying 15 tracks of Altan favorites from various albums over the years recorded with a larger orchestra which illuminates the brilliance that has characterized their long distinguished career . . .

Their anniversary CD under license to Compass Records came about as a collaboration with Irish composer and arranger Fiachra Trench, who was aware of Altan’s music already and created orchestrations that would enable them to perform with larger classical ensembles and symphonies.

The end result was arrangements that more than emphasized the harmonious sound of their music and added more color to their repertoire. That joint venture was largely assisted with a generous grant from the Arts Council of Ireland and later funding from Foras na Gaeilge to produce the ambitious undertaking of recording with the RTE Concert Orchestra that brings out the full flavor of Altan without any dilution of its core traditional roots.

To read the full article click here

Altan Frontwoman Garners Awards

IMN

January 29th, 2010

Altan lead singer and fiddler Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh has been earning high praise in her native Ireland. Just last night, Mhaonaigh was named Donegal’s Person of the Year for 2009. She has also been nominated for a prestigious Meteor Ireland Music Award in the “Best Folk/Traditional” category. Previous Meteor Award winners include U2, Snow Patrol, and James Morrison.

Mairéad and Altan will celebrate 25 years together with a new album and a US tour in March 2010.

For more information about the Meteor Awards and a full list of this year’s nominees click here

Altan: 25th Anniversary Album Releases in March 2010

IMN

January 22nd, 2010

Altan 25th Anniversary Celebration
with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Releases: March 2, 2010

This year marks traditional Irish band Altan’s 25th anniversary and they are releasing a new album to commemorate the event. In recent years Altan have been exploring and experimenting with their music using orchestral arrangements of their most popular pieces. The arrangements have been scored by the highly respected arranger, Fiachra Trench and have been performed with the Ulster Orchestra, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra and with the Royal Scottish Opera Orchestra. “25th Anniversary Celebration” features 15 of these orchestral arrangements, recorded in Dublin with The RTÉ Concert Orchestra and conducted by David Brophy.

The album is currently available for preorder from Compass Records here
For more information about the album click here

New Video of Altan Performing with the Ulster Orchestra

IMN

June 12th, 2009

In Summer of 2009, Altan makes a welcomed return in concert with newly scored pieces to be premiered with the the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Renowned as superb live performers, Altan, have been bringing their award winning sound to millions of people both at home and abroad for over two decades. Through their various collaborations with traditional and non-traditional artists including Dolly Parton, Enya and Alison Krauss, and their critically acclaimed recordings, they have cemented their position as a band at the forefront of Irish traditional music. 2010 marks the group’s 25th anniversary, which will see a number of highly anticipated symphonic performances stateside.

Watch a video of Altan performing with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast here

IMN Showcase Schedule

IMN

January 6th, 2009

The following artists will be showcasing at this year’s Arts Presenters Conference.

Saturday January 10th 7:00pm & 9:00pm
Altan, Alison Brown Quintet, & Jenny Scheinman (vocal show)
Irish Arts Center – 553 West 51st Street, New York, NY
RSVP to: alex@imnworld.com

Friday January 9th 6:30pm Jenny Scheinman (instrumental show) le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY Free to APAP badge-holders/registrants - RSVP to <a href="mailto:jayimnworld.com”>jay@imnworld.com

Wednesday January 7th Sunday January 11th 8:30pm & 11:00pm nightly Dave Holland Octet Birdland Jazz Club 315 West 44th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) New York, NY. Free to APAP badge-holders/registrants - RSVP to <a href="mailto:aleximnworld.com”>alex@imnworld.com – please specify which show you would like to attend

Saturday January 10th 8:00pm
Jason Moran and the Bandwagon
Winter Jazz Fest le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY RSVP Required - Complimentary Showcase Festival Pass for APAP Members who RSVP to <a href="mailto:rsvpwinterjazzfest.com”>rsvp@winterjazzfest.com.

Sunday January 11th 4:00pm-6:00pm
SFJAZZ Collective (open rehearsal)
Jazz at Lincoln Center – Noble Studio Broadway @ 60th Street, 11th floor, Time Warner Building, New York, NY