Martin Hayes
Martin Hayes
Green Linnet Records through GLD Music
Reviewed by Gail Lord

Its superb clarity makes this self-titled CD easy on the ears, but after albums and concerts of robust Irish music I had to listen to it three times to fully appreciate Martin Hayes' style of fiddle playing.

This style comes from Hayes being born into a musical family in County Clare, an area in the west of Ireland known for its slow yet lyrical sound.

Hayes has a most impressive background. Apart from playing with his father, P.J. Hayes, in the famous Tulla Ceili Band he has featured on several recordings and won the Special Merit Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music, presented by the president of Ireland.

Now usually based in Chicago, Martin Hayes has been on radio and television in Ireland and the United States. This is his first solo album.

While in Australia Hayes played at the Port Fairy, Brunswick and National folk festivals and various hotels. I missed him at the Three Weeds due to a cold.

It was refreshing to read Hayes' comments from Ireland's RTE Guide: “I've heard a lot about a mythic `something' in Irish blood, but I believe that Irish music lends itself to a certain kind of experience, wherever you come from ... music is universal.”

Hayes enjoys teaching whenever he can and conducted workshops in Canberra and Leichhardt. I hope that future visits will occur and venture to other states.

Guitarist Randal Bays is excellent accompanying Hayes, and Jim Chapman joins in on piano for “The Britches” and Tommy Coen's “Reel/The Swallow”.

Though the performance is technically brilliant, I felt that Hayes was not fully expressing himself on all of the tracks. However, I did enjoy this enticing, uncluttered performance.

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
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