In April 2017, Irish concertina player Cormac Begley released his first solo debut album. While the self-titled solo release had been a long time coming, it was worth the wait. Begley, who comes from a line of well-known West-Kerry musicians and singers, said, “I wanted to produce a solo concertina album using the full range of concertinas from bass, baritone, treble to piccolo, and to highlight some of the instrument’s possibilities spanning across seven octaves.”
He did exactly that, and the results were extraordinary. Every sound plays its part, from the air flowing past the vibrating reeds to the clattering of the buttons and the deep breathing bellows; his music has a fresh contemporary feel despite being an album of traditional tunes. Begley’s playing is considered, rather than fanciful and showy but, as reviewed here, in a live setting he is a mesmerising performer. In 2019, he took to the stage of the National Piping Centre for Glasgow’s Celtic Connections armed with around 8 or 9 concertinas.
…it was clear that each one was going to have a fascinating story to tell, as he opened with a fine set of polkas he described as ‘Kerry Battle Tunes’. Cormac’s dynamic and expressive playing style has an irresistible lure, combine that with his passion for sharing [knowledge of] his instruments and his gift for telling a tale, and you have a perfect recipe for a great performance. Neil McFadyen, Folk Radio
Thankfully, we have not had too long to wait for a follow-up. His new album ‘B’ looks as good as it sounds. He says:
This album, entitled ‘B’, is my second solo album. ‘B’ also stands for ‘Bass’, ‘Baile’, ‘Beaglaoich’, ‘Begley’, ‘Blueprint’ and a list of insults in both the Irish and English language! For this album, I set out to explore the sound potentials of the Bass and Baritone concertina range. With this record being the first solo Bass concertina album of any musical genre, I felt it was important to share and highlight the possibilities of the instrument on a single album.
Watch him performing To War (Jig) on bass concertina – “This is a tune I composed a few years ago as a birthday present for my godson, Soren. Soren is a Viking name meaning ‘God of War’ and I named this tune ‘To War’ or ‘Chun Cogaidh’. It’s a command given to those who are left with no other option other than to fight. I wanted to play a descriptive piece on the concertina relating to the intensity of battle and to explore the use of drones and the breath and buttons as percussion to the tune. These latter sounds in particular remind me of medieval battle.”
The album is available to order now via Bandcamp. Talking about the album’s design, he adds:
This hexagonal album cover is bigger in size than my debut solo album. I asked the west Kerry artist, Dómhnal Ó Bric, to design the fretwork on the front cover of the album. With help from Denis Powell and Pat Lawless, the design was cut into wood and engraved into metal. This fretwork contains within it a number of images and stories from Baile an Rua Bhroic, Paróiste Mordhach and Corca Dhuibhne (i.e., the Dingle Peninsula).
Order ‘B’ here: https://cormacbegley.bandcamp.com/album/b
He is in a solo concert at the London Irish Centre on May 26th.
For full tour dates visit: https://www.cormacbegley.com/tour-dates.html