Tony MacMahon (18 April 1939 – 8 October 2021) was an Irish

button accordion A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons. This differs from the piano accordion, which has piano-style keys. Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs categorize it as a free reed aero ...

player and radio and television broadcaster. Tony MacMahon

MacMahon's chief early inspiration, accordionist

Joe Cooley Joe Cooley (1924–20 December 1973) was an Irish musician known for his traditional accordion music. Biography Cooley was born in Peterswell, County Galway in 1924. Both his parents were melodeon players, and Joe began playing accordi ...

, was a frequent caller at the MacMahon home in Ennis, Co. Clare from 1949 until 1954, when Cooley left Ireland for the United States of America. MacMahon has described the memory of Cooley's music as being "embedded in his DNA.". In 1957, MacMahon moved to Dublin to train as a teacher, where he came into contact with accordionist

Sonny Brogan Patrick Joseph "Sonny" Brogan (4 July 1906 – 1 January 1965) was an Irish accordion player from the 1930s to the 1960s, and was one of Ireland's most popular traditional musicians.Ceol:A Journal of Irish Music (Vol1, No2, Published 1963) He wa ...

and fiddler John Kelly. Travelling in North America in 1964, in both New York and Dublin, he shared a flat with piper and singer

Seamus Ennis 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 ...

, whom he credited as an important influence on his playing of

slow air ''Slow Air'' is the fourth studio album by London-based dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characte ...

s. MacMahon played the accordion in the "press-and-draw" style of his mentor Joe Cooley. He was regarded as an exceptionally powerful performer, particularly of slow airs, and has been described as an "iconic figure in traditional music circles". His own attitude to his music, and his chosen instrument, could be ambivalent, however: "I wouldn’t regard my own music either as traditional or indeed anything to write home about. ..For longer than I care to remember, I have hacked my way through tunes of beauty and tenderness on stage." MacMahon enjoyed a long career with

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

, first as a presenter of traditional-music TV programmes, then as a radio producer (he initiated the long-running programme ''The Long Note''), and returning to television with ''The Pure Drop'' and ''Come West Along the Road''. ''The Green Linnet'' was a 1979 television series documenting MacMahon's travels through Western Europe with banjoist

Barney McKenna Bernard Noël "Banjo Barney" McKenna (16 December 1939 – 5 April 2012) was an Irish musician and a founding member of The Dubliners. He played the tenor banjo, violin, mandolin, and melodeon. He was most renowned as a banjo player. Biograph ...

in a green Citroën 2CV van (nicknamed The Green Linnet). MacMahon retired from RTÉ in 1998. MacMahon frequently voiced strong criticism of modern trends in the performance of Irish traditional music, and of growing commercialism in particular. His address to the 1996 Crossroads Conference provides a summary of his views. In 2014, MacMahon announced he was unable to continue public performances due to

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

. However, in a November 2015 interview on RTÉ radio, he stated that after further tests, the diagnosis of Parkinson's had been found to be incorrect. MacMahon died on 8 October 2021.

Discography

* Traditional Irish Accordion. 1972 - CD re-release 2005. * I gCnoc na Grai (In Knocknagree) (with Noel Hill, concertina). 1985 - CD re-release 1992. * Aislingí Ceoil (Music Of Dreams) (with Noel Hill, concertina, and Iarla Ó Lionáird, voice). 1993. * MacMahon from Clare. 2001. * Scaoil Amach an Pocaide - Live in Spiddal (with Steve Cooney, guitar). 2014. * Farewell to Music. 2016.

References

Source

''The Companion to Irish Traditional Music'', ed. Fintan Vallely, New York University Press, 1999; .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macmahon, Tony 1939 births 2021 deaths Musicians from County Clare Irish folk musicians Irish accordionists The Bothy Band members 21st-century accordionists

Discography

See also

References

Source

External links