Frankie Gavin Receives Masters
Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh
National University of Ireland,
Galway
19 October, 2009
FRANKIE GAVIN
Admission to Degree of Master of Music, honoris causa
Text of the Introductory Address delivered by Dr Lillis Ó Laoire
Á Uachtaráin, a mhuintir na hOllscoile agus a dhaoine uaisle ...
Is mór an onóir dom Frankie Gavin, ceoltóir, cumadóir agus fear cóirithe ceoil den scoth a chur in bhur láthair inniu. Tá Frankie Gavin molta dá mbeinnse i mo thost. Is éacht é an saothar atá déanta ag Frankie Gavin ar son an cheoil traidisiúnta in Éirinn agus thar lear. Go deimhin, síneann a thionchar ceoil ar fud ranna rua na cruinne.
Frankie Gavin's brilliant musical career is grounded in his loyalty to his native Galway, where he continues to live today. The threads of place and people run throughout his work and his approach to the music. Born in Corrandulla, in the radius of Cnoc Meá, in historical Maigh Seola, where Mrs. Costello collected Gaelic songs, and where, earlier, Raftery accompanied his own compositions on the fiddle, and Conneely played for George Petrie, Frankie Gavin was heir to a rich musical heritage, which he grasped with both hands at the age of four when he began to play traditional music. The prodigious talent developed quickly and, with his family, he entertained JFK in Salthill in 1963, a prophetic engagement with the Irish-American diaspora. Taking up flute at 15, he reached another milestone by 17, winning 1st place in both under 18 flute and fiddle competitions at the 1973 All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Listowel. The victor flourished.
As today, the Galway music scene provided a vibrant environment for players, with a greater influx of students to the city following the O'Malley dispensation in education. In those halcyon days, the Cellar Bar became a mecca for the student population, many going to hear the sessions in which Frankie played with other local musicians. Relocating to Hughes' Bar in Spiddal, that same year saw the formation of De Dannan, one of the most enduring and outstanding groups in the annals of Irish traditional music. With Alec Finn, Charlie Piggott, Johnny (Ringo) McDonagh, the late Mickey Finn and Gavin's near neighbour from Caherlistrane, Dolores Keane, as singer, an unprecedented and unique sound emerged, based firmly on Frankie's skill as virtuoso fiddler and consummate arranger of the material. Other luminaries too, such as Máirtín O'Connor and Mary Black were members over the years.
Their debut 1975 LP revealed crisp, spirited instrumental sets sparkling with wit and vivacity, casting the music in a mould that enthralled listeners. Concentration on the instrumental tradition did not exclude a passion for song. Dolores Keane's distinctive, clotted cream vocals on ‘The Rambling Irishman' learned from Len Graham, imbue the song with a distinctive Connacht blas, subtly enhanced by Alec Finn's unobtrusive bouzouki, with Gavin's own perfectly judged fiddle and whistle additions. It was a potent, if understated mix that gained wide airplay. The scene was set. Another 15 albums followed. Díol suntais speisialta é The Mist Covered Mountain (1980), ar ghlac Tom Pháidín Tom Ó Coistealbha, as An Spidéal, agus Seán Chóilín Ó Conaire as Ros Muc, páirt ann.
Since Chief Francis O'Neill's time in Chicago, America has played a pivotal role in Irish traditional music. Frankie Gavin was deeply affected by the variety and vitality of Irish music there during the 1976 US bicentennial celebrations. Embracing diverse styles of Irish-American music with characteristic verve led to a rediscovery of forgotten vaudevillians such as The Flanagan brothers, whom De Dannan celebrated on the LP Star Spangled Molly (1978), with soaring lead vocals from Maura O'Connell. This seminal album inculcated itself into the nation's consciousness. The American turn in Irish music is also apparent on Frankie Goes to Town (1989), one of his 6 solo albums, described as:"filled with his echoing bouncy bow strokes, [it] demonstrates the centrality of his fiddling to De Dannan's recognizable sound over the years."
Frankie Gavin's musical love affair with America has taken in Klezmer and Gospel on Half Set in Harlem (1991), for example, where he challenges the boundaries of tradition, recognizing that popular and traditional musics have close affinities that need not result in cultural greyout. His unshakeable conviction regarding the tradition's integrity shines through each cross-cultural, cross-musical collaboration. Covers of the Beatles ‘Hey Jude' and ‘Let it Be' (1980); his duets with maestro Stephane Grapelli on Jigs and Jazz (1993); or his instrumental adaptation (1996) of Queen's iconic Bohemian Rhapsody exemplify a distinctive traditional Irish sound. All of these achievements underscore the strength and flexibility of the true voice of Irish music in the hands of an ingenious and innovative master, following in the footsteps of Coleman, Killoran, Morrison and Maguire.
PRAEHONORABILIS PRAESES, TOTAQUE UNIVERSITAS:
Praesento vobis hunc meum filium, quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse quae admittatur, honoris causa, ad gradum Magesterii in Musica, idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.