In 2017, West-Kerry bass, baritone, treble and piccolo concertina player Cormac Begley introduced us to his family of instruments through his self-titled solo debut album. So uniquely individual are these instruments that in Begley’s hands, they do take on a life of their own as he immerses his heart and soul into his playing.
Only in the case of very few musicians does one become aware of a music that draws on the essence of life itself, the mountains and the seas and the people who moulded this world before us. Cormac Begley is one such musician. Mary Mac Namara
Back in May, Begley played Dublin’s Sugar Club with fiddle/viola player Liam O’Connor whose solo album The Loom is equally worth exploring – voted Trad Album of the Year in 2017 by the Irish Times no less. Together they are a mesmerising duo to watch and videographer Robert J. Maguire was recently on hand to capture some of the magic. Together they reinforce the notion that we are in a golden age of Irish traditional music.
Watch them performing Craig’s pipes and the Foxhunter reel on bass concertina and viola. It’s one of the most entertaining duets we’ve seen in a long time, so naturally enough it’s also our Tune of the Day.