A Keane appreciation

While in Swannanoa, Liz Knowles recommended the music of Seán Keane, fiddler extraordinaire and longtime member of the legendary Irish band The Chieftains, as someone to listen to and emulate. He recorded a solo CD in 1975, called Gusty's Frolics, which is a tour-de-force in Irish fiddling. I found a copy in Dublin and listened to it many times as I drove home, captivated with his playing style: powerful, silky smooth, and marvelously precise. Seán Keane is now my favorite Irish fiddler. If I can ever play half as well, I will be delighted.

At Swannanoa, I had a chance to sit down and converse at length with Seán's younger brother James. James Keane is a living legend in Irish music, but as down-to-earth and pleasant a fellow as you will ever meet. James is a highly celebrated button accordion player and a walking encyclopedia of Irish music. Liz Knowles told me that he has a loose leaf binder, hundreds of pages thick. Each page contains dozens of tunes with only a brief space allotted for each, identifying its name and first few notes (written in James' own invented notation since he doesn't read music). These first few notes are all James requires to recall the entire tune. A math degree isn't necessary to get some idea of the number of tunes he knows. I have not met a kinder, more talented, or more consummate gentleman than James Keane.