''EastWind'' is an album by Andy Irvine and

Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him an ...

, showcasing a fusion of

Irish folk music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irel ...

with traditional

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

and Macedonian music. Produced by Irvine and

Bill Whelan Bill Whelan (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, ''Riverdance'', was a seven-minute display of tradi ...

, who also contributed keyboards and piano, it was widely regarded as revolutionary at recording. The extensive line-up included Nikola Parov on Bulgarian instruments (

gadulka The gadulka ( bg, гъдулка) is a traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument. Alternate spellings are "gǎdulka", "gudulka" and "g'dulka". Its name comes from a root meaning "to make noise, hum or buzz". The gadulka is an integral part o ...

kaval The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and Anatolia (including Turkey and Armenia). The ka ...

gaida A gaida is a bagpipe from Southeastern Europe. Southern European bagpipes known as ''gaida'' include: the , , (), () () or (), ''(')'', , also . Construction Bag Gaida bags are generally of sheep or goat hide. Different regions have ...

) & Greek

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

Máirtín O'Connor Máirtín O'Connor is an Irish button accordionist from Galway, Ireland, who began playing at the age of nine, and whose career has seen him as a member of many traditional music groups that include Skylark, Midnight Well, De Dannan, and ...

(accordion), Noel Eccles & Paul Moran (percussion), Tony Molloy (bass), Carl Geraghty & Kenneth Edge (saxophones),

John Sheahan John Sheahan (born 19 May 1939) is an Irish musician and composer. He joined The Dubliners in 1964 and played with them until 2012 when The Dubliners' name was retired following the death of founding member Barney McKenna. Early years and m ...

(fiddle),

Anthony Drennan Anthony "Anto" Drennan (born on 1 November 1958) is an English-born Irish guitarist noted for his involvement with the Corrs, Genesis and Mike + the Mechanics among others. Drennan is from a musical Irish family and was born in Luton, England ...

(guitar),

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (; 10 December 1950 – 7 November 2018) was an Irish musician, composer, academic and educationalist. Biography Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin was a pianist, composer, recording artist and academic; he held the Pro ...

(piano),

Márta Sebestyén Márta Sebestyén (; born 19 August 1957) is a Hungarian folk vocalist, composer and actress. Early life Sebestyén was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economis ...

(vocals) and

Rita Connolly Rita Connolly is a singer who has lived and worked in Ireland. She is primarily known for her work with composer Shaun Davey who wrote a song cycle for her called ''Granuaile'' based on the 16th-century pirate queen Gráinne O'Malley as well as ...

(backing vocals). In an interview with

Folk Roots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occa ...

in August 1992,''Eastern Promise'', in ''Folk Roots'' No.110, August 1992. Irvine stated: "We finished it eighteen months ago but (...) John Cook at Tara wanted to try the avenue of big companies." The album was eventually released on the Tara label itself in mid-1992.''Reviews'', in ''Folk Roots'' No.108, June 1992. Subsequently, Irvine and Parov were joined by Rens van der Zalm and toured together in Europe as the 'East Wind Trio',''Transnational...'', in ''Folk Roots'' No.295/296, Jan/Feb 2008. and then again in the US during 1996, Retrieved on 5 May 2015. prior to forming the band Mozaik in 2002, which covers several of this album's tracks.

Overview

Andy Irvine noted that the album was originally conceived as a

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

album, and only changed direction "somewhere along the line" during production. The album opens with "Chetvorno Horo", a Bulgarian dance tune in time (3–2–2) played by the whole band, with chord progressions underpinning melodic phrases played in unison by Irvine (

) and O'Connor (accordion). Then comes "Mechkin Kamen" ("The Bear's Rock"), a slow Macedonian song sung by Sebestyén, with backing vocals by Connolly. "Dance of Suleiman" is a fast Macedonian dance tune in the 'kopanitsa' rhythm of (2–2–3–2–2) and based on "Sulejmanovo Oro", a 1978 recording by Dutch ethnomusicologist Wouter Swets and his folk group Čalgija.Sleeve notes from ''Mozaik – Live from the Powerhouse'', Compass Records 743782, 2004.''Čalgija – Music from the Balkans and Anatolia'', Stoof/Munich & Fonos/Het Nederlands Muziekarchief MU 7429, 1978. "Illyrian Dawn" is a Bulgarian slow air, with Spillane on low whistle first, then on uilleann pipes, accompanied by Whelan on keyboards. "Pride of Macedonia" is a collection of melodies in time. "Antice" is another Macedonian tune, in time, recorded by Swets and Čalgija in 1978. "Two Steps to the Bar" is the witty title of the next track, a fast dance tune in the 'paidushka' rhythm of (2–3). Sebestyén sings again on the next piece, "Kadana", a slow song that girls in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

of Bulgaria would sing about the problems and prohibitions of love affairs in their communities. The album closes with "Hard on the Heels", a re-working of "Smeceno Horo" (meaning "broken dance") which Irvine first recorded with

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars ...

on '' After The Break''. It is introduced slowly by Ó Súilleabháinin (piano), then various combinations of instruments from the whole band proceed with playing the entire piece, which begins in time ( + ) and , then continues in two different rhythms.

Reception and influence

The album was released to critical acclaim. Richard Foss of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

retrospectively wrote that "though many Celtic musicians have been interested by the exotic rhythms of Bulgarian and Macedonian music, this CD is one of the only instances in which the fusion sounds both natural and exciting," and he "highly recommended" the album. Ken Hyder's favourable review in the September 1992 issue of ''

Hi-Fi News and Record Review ''Hi-Fi News & Record Review'' is a British monthly magazine, published by AV Tech Media Ltd, which reviews audiophile-oriented sound-reproduction and recording equipment, and includes information on new products and developments in audio. It i ...

'' said that "Davy Spillane's fans will love it; as will all those who fondly remember Andy Irvine's work with

. A musical adventure which succeeds brilliantly." This project would have a profound influence on the future genesis of the highly successful ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

'':

Track listing

# "Chetvorno Horo" – 3:48 # "The Bear's Rock" – 3:31 # "Dance of Suleiman" – 5:30 # "Illyrian Dawn" – 3:25 # "Pride of Macedonia" – 3:17 # "Antice" – 5:42 # "Two Steps to the Bar" – 4:07 # "Kadana" – 5:42 # "Hard on the Heels" – 5:53

Personnel

* Andy Irvine –

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

–

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Make ...

*Nikola Parov –

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Tony Molloy – bass *Paul Moran –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Noel Eccles – percussion *

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

*Carl Garaghty –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

– piano *

– vocals *

– backing vocals *Produced by Bill Whelan *Executive producer – Andy Irvine *Recorded at Westland Studios, Dublin *Engineered by Philip Begley

References

Record Label Catalogue 2010
{{Authority control 1992 albums Andy Irvine (musician) albums Davy Spillane albums World music albums Celtic fusion albums