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SternART
Apr-21-2005, 11:47am
Another stellar show last night at Berkeley's Freght & Salvage. Irish fiddle virtuoso Martin Hayes and American guitarist Dennis Cahill possess a rare musical kinship, there are few duos I've witnessed that have such a keen sense of musical partnership. Chick Corea/GaryBurton, Jarma Kaukonnen/Jack Cassidy, Bela Fleck/Jerry Douglas, Anger/Marshall & Grisman/Rice come to mind.....Hayes & Cahill totally captivated the Freight audience, as if we were in a trance. The musicians play seated & tap out rhythm, with their feet, in unison. The audience, so quiet you could hear the proverbial pin drop, but all tapping in unison, created a wonderful, but quiet, percussion section. Hayes must know a zillion Irish melodies & plays them in a medley, no... more like a stream on conciousness fashion, as he strings together 20 minute long sections of music, before stopping & trying to remember what he played. Cahill has a unique minimalist approach to comping, but it perfectly suits the musicical partnership. He played mandolin on a few tunes, harmonizing or twinning the melody, and had one spotlight tune where he played melody on guitar, but he mostly drives the bus with his percussive, fragments of chords rhythm style. The music just flowed out of Hayes, sometimes building up to incredible rhythmic bowing in support of the melody, taking each chorus higher & higher. I'm not familiar enough with the tunes to know if he is all quotations of these tunes, or if he is improvising, or playing or weaving sections of them together, but the melodies just flow out of him, always sounding fresh & new as if he is making them up, but at the same time sounding strangely familiar. I play like this in my dreams!

layers5
Apr-21-2005, 1:30pm
I'm a fiddler and play many of the tunes Martin plays. It may sound like he's improvising but he's not, at least not melodically. With rhythm and dynamics, he is. Wonderful medlies he comes up with!

jmcgann
Apr-21-2005, 4:10pm
Yeah, these guys really bring life to the music. I had the pleasure of backing Martin on a gig about 13 years ago, and it was a really wonderful experience. He's one of those rare responsive melody players that "gets in the bubble" with you, and really responds (i.e. listens) in a way that you are co-conspiring to make music together. Some people do their best to tune out the accompanist, which is a drag beyond words.

Dennis is a fantastic foil for Martin, and they have played together for quite awhile, so they have the Vulcan Mind Meld to the Nth degree! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Apr-21-2005, 5:12pm
Sounds like a great time. Im always looking for shows like that to go to.

POB
Apr-22-2005, 3:30am
I have to echo John's comments on Martin Hayes treating his accompanist as a musical partner rather than as some sort of prop. (Except that I've never had the pleasure of playing with the man...oh well). Every time I've seen him play live, it's brought me joy to see him, as John says, "get in the bubble" with Cahill. To me, as an accompanist, that level of interaction is the goal. (To be able to play as well as Cahill would be kinda nice too!)

When Martin Hayes first album (featuring the rather excellent Randall Bays on guitar) came out back in the early 90s, it was a total breath of fresh air. At the time, there had been a plethora of "mainstream" Irish traditional albums released over here with big production, armies of guest musicians and manic speed. This was nice, up to a point, but it was all starting to sound the same (traditional music all sounding the same???). It seemed that everyone was playing on everyone else's album. Then Hayes's eponymous debut arrived (I affectionately call it "Purple Hayes" because the CD was purple) and he was playing sloooow and lonesome and the backing was wonderfully minimalist. It knocked me sideways.

RolandTumble
Apr-23-2005, 10:49am
While back I saw Hayes & Cahill open for Dervish. Shoulda been the other way 'round--Dervish was fun, but....

he-day
Apr-25-2005, 1:47pm
Hi all, Maido John,

There is the radio station called KPIG in Freedom, CA. They have a studio live show in every Sunday morning. The show is usually shared with three or four different bands. I had a chance to play with a local band at this show yesterday, but I didn’t know who the other bands were. #After we played on the air I came back to the green room. Martin Hayes was sitting there and waiting for his slot. I was like “Wow”. I was going to get my mando case there, but I almost grabbed his fiddle case, then he gave me an evil look. lol #

Hide Kawatsure
Santa Cruz, CA

whistler
May-07-2005, 9:52am
It is worth mentioning, this being a mandolin website, that Dennis Cahill is an outstanding mandolin player in his own right.


he-day: "...then he gave me an evil look..."

Somehow, I can't imagine Martin Hayes looking evil.