Many of the current generation of uilleann pipers were drawn to the instrument after hearing the likes of The Bothy Band’s Paddy Keenan and Planxty’s much-missed Liam O’Flynn. Leonard Barry is no exception. The Pipe in the Hob, a jig included on Littoral, his new album, was the first tune Leonard heard on the pipes performed by Paddy Keenan with The Bothy Band (they recorded it on 1977’s Out Of The Wind Into The Sun and the 1979 Afterhours live in Paris album). Littoral means ‘relating to or situated on the shore’, and the album’s title reflects both Leonard’s youth in the townland of Kilmoyley in North Kerry and his current home on the Sligo coast.
Leonard Barry leaves himself plenty of time between releases; Littoral is his third solo album, preceded by New Road in 2013 and Mind the Pipes in 2002. Between the first and second albums, he took a break from full-time music, working for a homeless support charity in Dublin. Leonard returned to the music after New Road, forming a band of the same name with Seamie O’Dowd, Rick Epping and Andy Morrow, releasing the album Stonewalls and Street Lights in 2016, followed in 2019 by Hurry the Jug, a collaboration with Sligo musicians Declan Folan and Shane McGowan. As a sought-after ullieann piper he has shared stages with Lisa O’Neill, Kevin Burke and Daoiri Farrell and one of his recent collaborations was with Scottish piping legend Allan MacDonald in a band with Iain MacFarlane, Finlay MacDonald, and Ali Hutton – their performance at Celtic Connections last year is reviewed here.
A close weave between Leonard’s pipes and Andy Morrow’s fiddle, laid over Shane McGowan’s background guitar rhythm, gives a bright, unusually brassy sound on the album’s opening set of slip jigs – The Munster Rake/The Arra Mountains/Last Night’s Fun. Kevin Burke guests on fiddle and Dervish’s Michael Holmes on bouzouki on a set of three slides – Bedford Cross/The Knocknaboul/Johnny Mick Paddy Fahy of East Galway Dinny’s – have that distinctive Sliabh Luachra sound (a district in Leonard’s native Kerry); the first is associated with the fiddle player Terry ‘Cuz’ Teahan and the others Leonard learned from button accordionist Johnny O’leary. There is a rule somewhere that piping albums should include at least one slow air, and, in this case, it’s a wonderfully evocative performance of the tune Aisling Ghael, which is the air to a beautiful song from Cul Aodha in the Muscrai Gaeltacht of Co Cork. I’d happily have listened to a couple more slow airs.
Littoral is produced by Michael McGoldrick, who also picks up his flute for a couple of tracks. The Road to Monalae/Rigney’s/Paddy Fahy’s is a lovely set of unhurried reels, the first from Sligo flute player and singer Colm O’Donnell (from his 1999 album Farewell to Evening Dances), the second Leonard heard from Joe Burke, the late great accordion player from Co. Galway, and the third composed by fiddler Paddy Fahy of East Galway. A set of, again relatively leisurely, jigs puts together the aforementioned The Pipe in the Hob with The Fly in the Porter and The Stolen Purse – Seamie O’Dowd playing restrained bouzouki; you have to adore the titles of these tunes alone.
On a couple of sets of reels and a set of jigs, the fiddle and flute take a rest and Leonard’s piping is revealed in all its glory, some with guitar and bouzouki accompaniment, and he’s really flying on one of the reel sets – Comronalty/The Mills are Grinding – the first tune composed by Breton flautist Michel Bonamay and the second an East Galway tune first recorded by the Ballinakill Traditional Dance Players in the 1920s. Two waltzes – La Valse de Pasteriaux/La Polverita Fiera – are a highlight amongst so many great tunes. The first tune was composed by Breton fiddle player Jacky Molard for Pennoù Skoulm’s brilliant first album Fest-Noz, and the second by L.E McCullough of the US, provided by John Carty. It’s one of two tracks that has cellist Alice Allen on, and she adds striking depth to a completely absorbing set of tunes.
The choice of music on Littoral demonstrates the breadth of traditional music Leonards has absorbed, from the slides and jigs of Sliabh Luachra in his native Kerry and surrounding areas to reels of Sligo and the West coast. It features tunes first documented in the early 1800s alongside contemporary compositions by some of Irish music’s stalwarts, such as Tommy Peoples and John Dwyer from West Cork, many not usually associated with the piping repertoire. In his playing, you can hear the inspiration not only from the greats of the 1970s explosion in Irish traditional groups but both the likes of Finbar Furey from the decade before and from further back in the piping tradition, to Seamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome, Willie Clancy, and Johnny Doran.
Littoral is a masterclass in uilleann piping, with top-notch, varied accompaniment and production. It showcases the wealth of influences on Leonard’s playing, his considerable skill and his deep knowledge of the instrument. Uilleann piping albums don’t come along often, and ones this good are rare.
In Session: The Old Pensioner Set
Leonard Barry launches Littoral with Michael McGoldrick, Andy Morrow, Seamie O’Dowd, Ali Hutton and Alice Allen at Celtic Connections on Sunday, 28th January (details here). Leonard, Andy and Seamie will be touring Littoral in March and April, including dates in Kilkenny, Sligo, Sheffield, Belper, Sale and London.
Website: https://leonardbarrymusic.com/
Bandcamp: https://leonardbarry.bandcamp.com/