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CHRIS McGRATH on fiddle and concertina, brings a treasure trove of tunes, the needed life to the breath of a truly exhilarating session. With a masters degree in Music from Brown University, Chris is teacher of fiddle and math. Chris discovered Irish music after many years of classical violin training. It has been the saving grace of his leanings toward the precipitous glory of traditional Irish music. In 1989 he moved to Ireland, spending two years in Galway as well as time in Co. Clare and Co. Down. Discovering the language of loss and gain in the music and finding the richness becoming a lifelong addiction, Chris continuously processes more of the thousands of tunes passed down through the hundreds of years of the sharing of musical tradition. He has been playing with The Maple Leaf ensemble in Boston for the last few years. Jimmy is a popular leader of the best Irish music sessions to be found in and around New England. Guitarist MICHAEL SHORROCK has been playing professionally since the age of 17 touring in blues bands. In 1981 he joined forces with Patrick Sky and toured the states extensively for 5 years and released 3 albums with Shannachie Records. He toured Ireland in 1983 with Sky and Tom Paxton and ended up in Doolin, County Clare, where he met Eoin O'Neill, Bouzouki player and leader of the Ceili Bandits. Eoin has been Michael's major influence on the Bouzouki. Michael has recorded for John Sayles movies at Mason Daring Studios with Mark Roberts, and was on the "All Hands Around" CD with Roger Burridge. Originally from Philadelphia, TED DAVIS began learning music at an early age from his mother and father. After their relocation to the Boston area, he took up the guitar, eventually earning a jazz performance degree from the University of Southern Maine. He then spent a year at University College Cork, where he developed a great love for traditional music. He began playing at sessions with local musicians, and eventually accompanied groups and soloists in the Student Concert Series' at Cork's Lobby Bar and at England's Bracknell festival. Since returning to the States he has become actively involved in the Boston sessions scene. MYRON BRETHOLZ, from Takoma Park, Maryland (just outside Washington, DC), has lent his talents as a percussionist to over forty recordings, including albums by Jimmy Noonan, Danny Doyle, Elke Baker, Brave Combo, the Irish Tradition, Ensemble Galilei, Magpie, Bonnie Rideout, and numerous other artists. He has also produced, performed with, and staged shows by some of the brightest lights in Irish music, among which are Altan, Niamh Parsons and the Loose Connections, and the Rights of Man tribute album on Green Linnet. Myron has also taught bodhran and rhythm bones at many workshops throughout the United States and Canada over the past fifteen years, including Boston College's Gaelic Roots and the Augusta Heritage Workshops in West Virginia, and at present he is the Artistic Director of Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York, at which he previously taught. In March 2000, Myron was privileged to receive a Maryland State Arts Council grant for solo instrumental performance.
"The new album "The Maple Leaf" by Boston flute player Jimmy Noonan with fiddler and concertina player Chris McGrath is now available and it's fantastic. Excellent playing, lots of good tunes, and a tremendously satisfying rhythm that will lift you into the stratosphere. I've listened to this CD about five times so far and each time it just gets better and better... highly recommended!" |
