Jimmy Keane is a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-born English musician of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

origin and a specialist

piano accordion A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro ...

player. In addition to his solo career, in the 1980s he was part of the folk trio Moloney, O'Connell & Keane, then in ensemble

Green Fields of America The Green Fields of America is an ensemble that performs and promotes Irish traditional music in the United States. It was formed in 1977 in Philadelphia, led by musician and folklorist Mick Moloney. They perform Irish and Irish-American culture ...

. In the 1990s, he was in Aengus and formed the group bohola with Pat Broaders and Seán Cleland. He has recorded and produced a number of albums.

Career

Keane was born to

-speaking parents originating from

Connemara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...

and

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

. His father Jimmy Keane was an old style sean-nós singer. Both of his parents encouraged him to take up

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

. Playing the piano accordion, he won five consecutive All-Ireland titles and many accolades. In the 1970s, he started his professional career with fellow All-Ireland fiddle champion

Liz Carroll Liz Carroll (born September 19, 1956) is an American fiddler and composer. She is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship Award. Carroll and collaborator Irish guitarist John Doyle were nominated for a Gr ...

in Chicago and the duo was named All-Ireland Senior Duet Champion in 1975. In the early 1980s, he joined with guitarist and singer-songwriter

Robbie O'Connell Robbie O'Connell (born 1951) is an Irish singer songwriter who performs solo, as well as with The Green Fields of America. He also appears with Dónal Clancy (cousin), Dan Milner, and fiddler Rose Clancy. O'Connell has also toured and recorded ...

and banjoist and singer

Mick Moloney Michael Moloney (15 November 1944 – 27 July 2022) was an Irish-born American musician and scholar. He was the artistic director of several major arts tours and co-founded Green Fields of America. Early life Moloney was born in Limerick, Ire ...

to form Moloney, O'Connell & Keane, releasing two albums: ''There Were Roses'' in 1985 (including the first recording of the iconic Irish song "

There Were Roses "There Were Roses" is an Irish folk song based on a true story. It was written by the Northern Ireland folk singer and songwriter Tommy Sands. It was first recorded in 1985 by Robbie O'Connell, Mick Moloney and Jimmy Keane as the title track of ...

" penned by the Irish folk singer-songwriter

Tommy Sands Thomas Adrian Sands (born August 27, 1937) is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as a child, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on ''Kraft Television Theater'' in January 19 ...

and ''Kilkelly'' in 1987, including O'Connell's signature song "

Kilkelly Kilkelly () is a small village in Kilmovee civil parish, County Mayo, Ireland. It is just south of Ireland West Airport Knock on the N17, a national primary road running between Galway and Sligo. History Built heritage Evidence of ancient settl ...

". In the mid-1980s, he became part of the revamped

an ensemble which performs and promotes

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell, fiddler

Eileen Ivers Eileen Ivers (born July 13, 1965) is an American fiddler. Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents, grew up in the Bronx and attended St. Barnabas High School. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of ni ...

(from Riverdance), multi-instrumentalist

Seamus Egan Seamus may refer to: * Séamus, a male first name of Gaelic origin Film and television * Seamus (''Family Guy''), a character on the television series ''Family Guy'' * Seamus, a pigeon in '' Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore'' * Seamus Mc ...

(from Solas) and Donny & Eileen Golden, recording an album called ''The Green Fields of America: Live in Concert'' in 1989. During the late 1980s, Keane collaborated with guitarist Dennis Cahill (of Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill fame). In the mid-1990s, Keane and O'Connell formed the group Aengus and recorded ''All on a Christmas Morning'' for the RCA Victor label. Keane founded the group bohola in 1999 with Pat Broaders (

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 ...

dord The word ''dord'' is a dictionary error in lexicography. It was accidentally created, as a ghost word, by the staff of G. and C. Merriam Company (now part of Merriam-Webster) in the '' New International Dictionary'', second edition (1934). That ...

and vocal) and Seán Cleland (

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

). bohola released several albums on the Shanachie and bohola music labels, performing traditional Irish tunes and songs as well as more contemporarily composed tunes and songs of the same genre. The 2008 bohola release, ''Jimmy Keane & Pat Broaders'' was awarded "Celtic Album of the Year" from Just Plain Folks and "Vocal/Instrumental Album of the Year". Keane won "Male Musician of the Year" from the ''Irish American News'' (2010), "Male Musician of the Decade" by Live Ireland and the ''Irish American News'' (2011). Keane was also featured in the BBC TV series and compilation recording ''Bringing It All Back Home'', and was featured on the soundtrack and recording for the PBS documentary ''Out of Ireland''. He also co-wrote the soundtrack for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

documentary ''Irish Chicago''.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Jimmy Living people English accordionists English folk musicians English people of Irish descent Year of birth missing (living people) Green Linnet Records artists