John O'Regan noted in RocknReel Magazine, "In Irish music there are legends and legends
and then there's Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan's playing is now at its peak." Paddy's
fiery, unfettered and improvisational style can be traced to his Pavee or Irish gypsy/traveler upbringing, through his family
where his father and grandfather were both pipers and the influence of the traveling pipers, including the great Johnny Doran.
Until you have seen Paddy Keenan live in concert, it is impossible
to express the energy and mood with which he plays his instrument. Without the supreme command of the uilleann pipes,
he would not be able to so clearly transcend the usual expectations of this difficult and unique instrument. Hearing
only his recorded music, it is easy to believe that there has been some studio trickery that pulls so much melody with harmonic
back-up from the chanter and drones of his pipes. Paddy is a perfectionist when it comes
to his playing, the tuning of his instrument and the choosing of his preferred accompanists. He has played with some
of the greatest musicians in the world. If you are lucky, you may see one or more unexpected friends show up at a concert
and many have accompanied him on his CDs.
The Irish uillean ("elbow")
pipes have a much softer and pleasant sound than the Scottish highland pipes, and they have become a signature instrument
of Irish traditional music. Very, very hard to play, the uillean pipes are not for dilettante musicians. Paddy Keenan, original
member of the legendary Bothy Band, shows off this instrument at its best. Paddy combines nearly
unbelievable virtuosity on the pipes with a rare musical gift, and the combination is as good as Irish music gets.
--San Francisco Celtic Music Society
"Paddy Keenan has consistently been one of the enigmas of Irish traditional music. Na Keen Affair
is the first recorded evidence for 14 years that Keenan is still untouchable." - Colin Harper - Q Magazine
"Paddy Keenan has few peers in the world
of traditional Irish music. For over 30 years, he has focused on a simple but rarely attained goal:
to present the music in its purest essence." --Tim O'Brien
"Paddy Keenan is one of the leading lights in Irish traditional
music, he is an inspiration to an entire generation of Irish musicians; his piping comes from the most authentic lineage."
--Irish Fiddler, Martin Hayes
Creating more music than the heart can hold, Paddy Keenan's playing is unique.
His ability to exceed the mere physical constrains of the most fiendishly-devised musical instrument that mankind has ever
artificed is the stuff of legend. That his music transcends even the great Celtic tradition and is enjoyed by people
of all creeds and nations is all to his greater credit. - Bill Watkins, Author, "Scotland is not for the Squeamish"
Paddy Keenan is generally acknowledged
as the most accomplished and innovative Uilleann piper performing today, and is acclaimed as being among the best of the pipers
who have ever lived. He is also a founding member of the legendary Bothy Band, the greatest of the Irish
traditional groups that arose in the seventies and they were undoubtedly one of the greatest contemporary Irish lineups that
have been heard, they were dubbed "the most important Celtic band in the rock era."
Paddy Keenan is generally acknowledged as the most accomplished and innovative Uilleann
piper performing today, and is acclaimed as being among the best of the pipers who have ever lived. He
is also a founding member of the legendary Bothy Band, the greatest of the Irish traditional groups that arose in the seventies
and they were undoubtedly one of the greatest contemporary Irish lineups that have been heard, they were dubbed "the
most important Celtic band in the rock era."
Paddy has appeared on many albums and CDs throughout the years. There are the famed Bothy Band
CDs which still remain on many Top 10 Lists of the all-time Irish music albums. Paddy recorded 6 albums
with the Bothy Band and four on his own. He has also appeared on 22 compilations. Movie
appearances and soundtrack credits: Traveler (1997) starring Bill Paxton, Mark Wahlberg et al.
In September 2002, in Ireland,
Paddy was the winner of the coveted TG4 Gradam Ceoil 2002 Award for Musician of the Year "for his pioneering work
on the music of the Uilleann pipes over the past 30 years ;for his widespread influence on young musicians; and for the allegiance
that he has always shown to his unique musical and cultural heritage."
Excerpt
from "Traditional Irish Music" by Tómas O'Canainn: "The author has never before encountered such a complete
piper. There seems to be no aspect of uilleann piping in which he is not expert. His
chanter playing has all the fluid movement that one associates with the traveling pipers of a previous generation.
Close and open fingering come equally easily to him and the double or treble rolling so typical of Johnny Doran is
possibly the most significant and characteristic aspect of his chanter playing.
Paddy himself is responsible for a number of piping innovations. Possibly
the most controversial among pipers is his introduction of a very fast treble or double treble on the back D note of the chanter,
not unlike the bowed treble that the fiddler gets on the open string. The reaction of many pipers to this
is that it is just not traditional piping. While this is certainly true, it nevertheless remains a fact
that the piper was unable to perform any very convincing decoration on the back D note before the introduction of this Keenan
treble. It may be argued against its use that the basis of good piping decoration is variety in the successive
notes used in decorations, as witness the traditional rolls, cutting and cranning used by all pipers. None
the less, the very same arguments could be used against trebling on the fiddle. It seems to the author
that Keenan's inventiveness here has filled a gap in piping technique and has created a piping decoration which is already
taking its place in the tradition.
Additional Information on the Uillean Pipes
Native
to Ireland and England, uilleann pipes (pronounced ill'-in) date back about 300 years to the beginning of the
18th century and probably share some common ancestry with Scots lowland pipes and other bellows blown pipes of the region.
The design of the pipes as we know them today, with three drones and three regulators, stabilized around the start of the
19th century. Uilleann pipes did not survive in England and have become a purely Irish instrument. Yet they nearly became
extinct and were saved by the efforts of the Taylor brothers and Captain Francis O'Neill in Chicago in the early 20th
century, and later in Ireland by Leo Rowsome, Séamus Ennis, Johnny Doran and Willie Clancy and others who helped promote
the instrument up through the 1960s. Today uilleann pipes are enjoying a continued revival in Ireland,
North America and Europe and are more popular than ever, yet they remain extremely rare when compared to other instruments.
Are they loud?
Uilleann pipes are normally no louder
than a fiddle or accordion and sometimes much quieter, depending on the pitch, the style of the player (how the pipes are
adjusted) and the particular instrument.
Are they bagpipes?
Technically, yes. But they have nothing in common with the famous Highland
Bagpipes, or "bagpipe," which everyone associates with kilts and parades and all the paraphernalia. For example,
uilleann pipers do not wear kilts. Nor do they parade. The Great Highland Bagpipes are a martial instrument meant strictly
for the out of doors and have virtually no direct relation to uilleann pipes.
What's the difference between the Bagpipes and Uilleann Pipes?
Highland
Bagpipes are played standing, uilleann pipes are played sitting. Highland Bagpipes are for the outdoors,
uilleann pipes are for indoor playing. Highland Bagpipes are a military instrument. Uilleann
pipes are a social instrument. The Highland bagpipes are usually taught according to strict methods with
standardized ornamentation and learned by rote from written music and judged in competitions. By contrast,
uilleann pipes are free of such standardization and are played in a wide variety of styles; individual players create their
own versions of tunes and their own use of ornamentation, which will vary from player to player. Finally,
uilleann pipers don't normally learn from sheet music but learn by ear within their tradition.
How do the uilleann pipes compare with other bagpipes?
Among the hundreds
of bagpipes that were once in existence, as well as those that survive today, uilleann pipes are the most evolved and the
most complex. They play two full octaves, unlike any other bagpipe, and are capable of self accompaniment
and chords, the drones are also capable of being switched off and on even while being played. Uilleann pipes are very difficult to play. The difficulties of
learning uilleann pipes are typically partly mechanical. With two full octaves and many idiosyncrasies, they are a daunting
musical challenge to master. Until recently, it was also difficult to obtain a set of uilleann pipes.
Uilleann pipes play two full octaves and are capable of all the
half-steps
between, unlike any other form of bagpipe in the world.
Very few musical instruments in the world enjoy
so much praise for their beauty, myth and extraordinary sound as the Uilleann Pipes. Those addicted to the uilleann pipes
describe them as beautiful, complex, ancient, mysterious, and even a hive of honeyed sound. Evolving
through centuries, loved by gentry and travelling musicians alike, banned by foreign forces and at stages becoming virtually
extinct, the Uilleann Pipes are still one of the most amazing musical instruments ever developed.
