A traditional torrent of Celtic sound

By Susie Davidson

CORRESPONDENT

It’s Irish Week in Boston and Cambridge; appropriately enough, one of the hottest acts on the international Celtic scene plays the Somerville Theatre this Saturday evening. An ancient harvest festival named for Lugh, the Irish patron of the arts, spawned the moniker of the all-instrumental traditional quintet Lunasa, which has become a musical powerhouse since their 1997 debut album.

Lunasa’s roster, its members hailing from seminal Irish groups, is why. The roots are traditional, the energy rock and roll. The band’s All-Ireland champion fiddler and whistler Sean Smyth, whose solo effort, The Blue Fiddle, debuted in 1993, has played with Donal Lunny, Alan Kelly and The Saw Doctors. Bassist Trevor Hutchinson played in the Waterboys and the Sharon Shannon Band and has recorded with Moving Cloud, Dermot Byrne of Altan, Maire Breatnach and Eileen Ivers. Exceptionally-talented guitarist Donogh Hennessey was also in the Sharon Shannon Band, and has also worked with Brendan Larrissey, Alan Kelly and Mark Crickard as well. He penned Lunasa: The Music 1996-2001, a guidebook to the group’s music, including transcriptions, photos and history.

Flute, whistle and bodhran player Kevin Crawford, who released a 1994 solo debut, ‘D’ Flute Album, is also a member of Moving Cloud, and recorded with Grianan, Raise the Rafters, Joe Derrance and Sean Tyrrell. Lastly, newest member, uilleann piper Cillian Vallely, has toured with Paddy O'Brien, Seamus Connolly and “Riverdance."

The varied spectrum of artists Lunasa has played alongside include South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo and country singer Mary Chapin-Carpenter.

Following their 1997 self-titled debut, Lunasa has toured throughout Australia, North America and Europe. “Their 1999 Overworld was named Album of the Year in both the Irish Echo and Irish Voice, and was listed as one of the most important world albums of the year in the New York Times,” said World Music marketing assistant Mary Curtin, who added that their latest, 2001’s The Merry Sisters of Fate, was named Album of the Year by the Association for Independent Music. Their third, Redwood, recorded over the last year in Northern California and Ireland, is imminent.

A fan’s comments following a May 29, 2001 concert at the Jerusalem Theatre in Israel provide a window as to what Somerville Theatregoers can expect this weekend. “The material made such a strong impression on the audience that many copies of The Merry Sisters Of Fate were sold before, during and after the concert,” said No'am Newman, CIO and Computer Services Manager of Tzora Furniture Industries, who lives on Kibbutz Tzora near Jerusalem with his wife and two children.

“The concert opened dramatically with the sonorous tones of Trevor Hutchinson's upright stick bass; whether bowed or plucked, his playing has a wonderful tone which serves as a firm foundation on which the other members build,” he reported. “Above the bass was Donogh Hennessey, whose acoustic guitar playing tended to the percussive, thus fulfilling the role of drums. Like a drummer, it's Donogh who makes the calls on stage, signaling when to change tunes, and when to stop.”

Newman had high praise for the Smyth, Vallely and Crawford’s melodies, which were layered on top of the rhythmic base, and he found the artists’ foci remarkable. “Whether playing in unison, in harmony or in counterpoint, all three produced magic melodies from their respective instruments, and it was uncanny to see them play in rhythmic unison while each was looking in a different direction,” he said.

In an aside, he noted that despite Crawford’s stage references to Hennessey’s giving up drinking following the learning of a song, in fact, the band members confided to him that they rarely if ever drink.

Perhaps Newman was under the influence of emotional release as well. That day, he learned that during the show, a bomb had been discovered and defused along the road he took to and from the concert. The luck ‘o the Irish may have rubbed off a wee bit.

World Music presents Ireland's Lunasa on Saturday, March 22, at 8 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $25 and $20 and are available at all TicketMaster outlets and the Somerville Theatre box office. For information or to charge tickets, call World Music, 617-876-4275 or TicketMaster, 617-931-2787.