Carolan's Concerto with Niall Murphy

Niall Murphy and myself were both playing on Cara Dillon’s Christmas show this year and put together some tunes for an encore. We took a few minutes out to record two of them for my blog earlier this month. The opening tune is probably the best known tune written by Turlough O'Carolan, 1670-1738 who was a blind early Irish harper, composer and singer whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, Carolan is considered by many to be Ireland's national composer.

The second tune is an original which features on an instrumental album featuring Aidan O'Rourke, Mike McGoldrick & John Doyle released earlier this year on the Wren label WRENCD2017. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Banjo-Breakdown-feat-ORourke-McGoldrick/dp/B06XCFLWMN

It's always a real pleasure to play music with Niall as he's the kind of musician that can react instantly to new ideas and have a bit of fun with the tune. Enjoy...