Search - Various Artists :: Traditional Irish Music in America: Chicago

Chicago has been a major, if not the major, center of traditional Irish music in America since at least the 1890s. Those were the days when Francis O'Neill, the superintendent of the Chicago police force and compiler of the famous tune books that bear his name, found a place in the department for promising fiddlers and pipers. In the mid-'70s, Mick Moloney and folklorist Miles Krassen received a grant from the NEA to record the music of Irish immigrants in America, and the quality and breadth of music they found in Chicago can be seen as a testament to Chief O'Neill and his efforts to preserve and disseminate the music of Ireland. The performers include some of the finest traditional performers of the 20th century, including uilleann piper Joe Shannon, fiddler Liz Carroll, singer Maida Sugrue, and James Keane Sr. and his son James Keane Jr. Even though these recordings were made in living rooms and around kitchen tables, the sound quality is excellent and the playing is inspiring. Many of the players here have gone on to have careers as professional musicians, but they would have to work very hard to equal the spontaneity and charm they exhibit on these field recordings. --Michael Simmons