Track Listing. 1. Reels: The Tinker's Daughter / The Coalminer / The Master's Return 2. Jigs: Apples in Winter / The Maid on the Green 3. Reels: The Reel of Mullinavat / The Whistling Postman / The Chattering Magpie 4. Hornpipes: Joe Cooley's / Cronin's 5. Reels: Traver's / The Jolly Tinker / The Woman of the House 6. Waltz: Bell Harbour Hills 7. Jigs: The Knights of St Patrick / The Killimor 8. Reels: The Bell Harbour Reel / The Pullet / The Boys of Portaferry 9. Air: Peaceful Corcomroe 10. Hornpipes: Sliabh na mBan / The Home Ruler 11. Reels: The Parcel of Land / The Kilfenora Reel 12. Jigs: Katie's Fancy / The Boys of the Town 13. Reels: The Maid Behind the Bar / The Holy Land / The Rainy Day 14. Waltz: The Green Hills of Clare 15. Jigs: The Clogher Rose / The Bride's Favourite 16. The Congress Reel / Come West Along the Road / The Dawn Click on underscored titles to hear sound samples with Real Player.

We are delighted to announce our release of this recording.

New Album by Legendary Clare Concertina-Player

Chris Droney:
Down From Bell Harbour
CICD 161.

The Clare People
"this is a most delightful confirmation of the north Clare concertina maestro's wonderful musicianship". Colm O'Murchu

Chris's music spans the generations, and I can honestly say that it is as fresh today as it was in the 1950s. There is no mistaking the music of Chris Droney. Kieran Hanrahan, RTÉ Radio

Down from Bell Harbour is the third solo album from legendary Clareman Chris Droney, who has been playing music for seventy-three years, delighting traditional music enthusiasts and dancers alike. With tasteful accompaniment from Jacinta McEvoy, Down from Bell Harbour is one of the finest ever collections of traditional Irish concertina music.

There is no doubt but that the Droney name has been firmly carved into the annals of traditional Irish music by this humble and gifted exponent. The toast of local house dances during his teenage years, he later became All-Ireland Senior Concertina Champion nine times, and played with several well-known céilí bands during a prolific career that has spanned several generations. He has performed on stages from Canada to Camden Town, while music lovers from Japan to North America have been warmly welcomed into the Droney home after seeking out the concertina maestro. Chris still plays regularly with The Four Courts céilí band, throughout Ireland and abroad.

In 1962 the world was treated to its first solo recording by Droney, The Flowing Tide. This was followed in 1995 by the long awaited and much acclaimed The Fertile Rock. Now, ten years on, this veteran musician has produced a third solo album - arguably his greatest. A feast of rich and pure traditional music, it will coax listeners into a world of yesteryears, while its rhythmic pulse is sure to inspire dancers everywhere.

The CD includes jigs, reels, hornpipes and waltzes, as well as Chris's own composition, the slow air 'Peaceful Corcomroe'.

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"Chris Droney was an icon of Irish Ttraditional music in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. As a youth growing up in Ennis, I was always aware of the great Chris Droney from Bell Harbour.

My father was one of his greatest admirers, and I often heard Robbie McMahon perform his famous Fleadh song, which refers to Chris's prowess on the 'matchbox'.

In my work with KTt Radio over the last twelve years, I have had access to the archives and came across a celebrated recording made by the renowned broadcaster Ciaran Mac Mathuna in 1956. It features Chris, playing the finest music with his own father James. I, in turn, recorded Chris and his son Francis in Doolin in 1996.

Chris's music spans the generations, and I can honestly say that it is as fresh today as it was in the 1950s. There's no mistaking the music of Chris Droney. Being a modest man himself, he finds praise hard to cope with, but he deserves all the accolades that come his way.

The reels, jigs and hornpipes on this recording take me back to a great era in concertina playing, but Chris's own composition 'Peaceful Corcomroe' gives us a glimpse of the elegance and grace that's in the man and his music.

He is accompanied with great empathy on piano and guitar by a soul mate in Jacinta McEvoy, herself an accomplished concertina player.Long may Chris Droney travel 'Down from Bell Harbour"! - Kieran Hanrahan, Ceili House, RTE

The legendary Chris Droney has been playing music for seventy-three years. Following in the footsteps of his father James and grandfather Michael he began playing the concertina at the tender age of eight. For the most part, he was self-taught, his father only intervening when mistakes were made, or whan short cuts were being takeni Chris recalls hours spent in the kitchen of the Droney home, without light or electricity, as he learned and practised tunes as a child.

During his late teens there were no pubs, dance halls, fleadhanna or feiseanna, and house gatherings were the order of the day. Bell Harbour House - the house in which Chris was born and still lives - was a popular venue for these gatherings, and it was there that the annual Wren Dance was generally held. Chris's early repertoire was made up of tunes played at these late-night dances by his father and grandfather on concertina, and uncle Michael on fiddle. Other early musical influences came from renowned local fiddler Peter Maher and his [eighteen siblings - all of whom played music on a wide array of instruments! The neighbouring Linnane family were also musicians, and while Chris's four brothers did not embrace the music in the same way, three of them could play a few tunes on concertina.

It was Chris, however, that made the concertina forever synonymous with the Droney name. He became Senior All-Ireland Concertina Champion nine times in the 1950s and 1960s, and has played in several well-known ceili bands down through the years, including the Bell Harbour Ceili Band in the early 1950s, and the Ballinakill, Aughrim Slopes, Kincora and Kilfenora Ceili Bands at various intervals. He has played with the Four Courts Ceili Band throughout Ireland and abroad for the past eighteen years.

With Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann he toured Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, The Isle of Man and Newfoundland, as well as entertaining Irish communities from Camden Town to North America. His home audiences have been no less impressive, including the late Cardinal OFiach, and the Emperor and Empress of Japan. In recent years, he has found himself gigging on Caribbean cruises!

Chris has also made three fine solo recordings. In 1962 his first solo album, The Flowing Tide, marked the rise of one of the greats of traditional Irish music. Amazingly, this album was recorded a few short hours before Chris jumped on a plane returning from New York to Ireland! In 1995, more than thirty years later, Chris recorded The Fertile Rock, his second and much acclaimed solo album, with CI6 lar-Chonnachta. Now, ten years on, he has produced yet another musical feast for fans throughout the world.

Irish music lovers will long be indebted to Chris for this wonderful collection of music in the north Clare style, and more particularly in the Droney style (now boasting five generations of concertina music!). Borne out of the house dances of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Chris's music is most definitely that of the Dance - lively, vibrant and rhythmic to the core. In the words of his old friend, Cavan fiddler Antoin Mac Gabhann: 'The rhythm of the music is wed to the dance, putting the beat right under the feet of the dancers. One can picture the couples in a figure of the Caledonian set gliding in and out on the cushion of rhythm that Chris provides. Chris has inherited and developed his own settings of tunes in such a way that they sit easily on the concertina, and that is what gives his music its own natural flow. In his playing the rhythm of the tune takes priority ... The embellishment is sparing and is tailored to enhance the rhythm, not to intrude on it'.

Fittingly, this latest offering follows the great honour recently bestowed upon Chris by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann - the distinction of EIGSE at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Clonmel in 2004. This Lifetime Achievement Award encapsulated the institution that is Chris Droney: 'Your unique style of playing has not only enhanced our great respect for Clare music-making, but it has continued to energize the feet of Irish set dancers down through the years'.
Gurafada buan e!

Jacinta McEvoy is an experienced accompanist on guitar and piano and brings to this recording her trademark lively style. A regular at the Four Seasons Pub Capel St, Dublin) with 1980s group Kelp, Jacinta also appeared on numerous TV and radio broadcasts, including, among others, Bring Down the Lamp and The Pure Drop.

While living Birmingham in the 1990s, Jacinta's distinctive style of accompaniment was much in demand, particularly as piano player with the Ivy Leaf Ceili Band throughout the UK. She accompanied husband John on his debut album Returning in 1998 and recently accompanied sister-in-law Catherine McEvoy in the much acclaimed Liberty Hall Sessions, broadcast by RTE Radio 1. In addition to her talents as an accompanist, Jacinta is also an accomplished concertina player.

The guitar and piano accompaniment of Jacinta McEvoy complements and enhancit the unique north Clare style of Chris Droney, and their pairing on this landmark recording will delight both seasoned enthusiasts and casual listeners alike.

Press Reaction

LiveIreland.com
The label, Clo-lar-Chonnachta has also given us” Down From Bell Harbour” from the magical, Chris Droney. It is not enough to say he plays the concertina. Closer to say he owns the concertina. This is a follow-up to his highly regarded, “The Fertile Rock” of 1995on Clo-lar Chonnachta. It is even better. Chris is a mature man, and has been a star in traditional music for decades. He is also one of those rare breeds who ages perfectly. He is just getting better and better. Good friend, Alan O’Leary of Copperplate Distribution in London sent us this album a little while ago, and we finally had the opportunity to have a real listen recently. We were knocked down. This is a true Irish traditional musician in all the best sense that term implies. Listen. It is ALL here. An enjoyable textbook of the real deal. We love this album, and we suspect that, if ever fortunate enough to meet Chris, we would love the man, too. Perfection. Rating: Four Harps Bill Margeson

The Folk Diary
This veteran of County Clare concertina playing made his first recordings in the 1950s and his previous solo album was released in 1995. You might think that recordings of a man who has been playing his instrument for 73 years (!) might reveal a dotard old codger well past his best.

Far from it! Every track on this album fairly sparkles with the beauty and elegance in the playing. He has that rare gift of being able to sound relaxed even when he is playing at a fast pace so that there is always a feeling of space in his music.

His accompanist on guitar and piano is Jacinta McEvoy plays in an admirably underplayed and sensitive manner that adds to the uncluttered feel of the whole. Chris is representative of a passing generation of modest country Irishmen who played their music with a great charm and vivacity and that makes this lovely album all the more important. Vic Smith

The Living Tradition May/June.06
As soon as you start to listen to this record, one thing leaps out and socks you squarely between the eyes: Chris Droney is a DANCE musician. The lift, the nicely considered pace of the tunes, the lack of ornamentation for ornamentation's sake as well as the rock-solid rhythm, couple with the most delicate lift and poise shout it to the rooftops.

He is not just a dance musician, but a MASTER dance musician. Chris Droney plays anglo-concertina in such a way that the tune, whilst important, is never allowed to get in the way of producing a wonderful danceable result. He romps through a selection of jigs, reels and hornpipes with rare aplomb, leavening it with a couple of waltzes, a hornpipe or two and a beautiful slow air of his own composition.

He is accompanied by Jacinta MacEvoy who, rather than aiming to be part of a duo - interacting with the lead instrument, is content to sit at the feet of the master and ensure that her accompaniments serve only to set off the playing of the soloist. Apart from preferring the slow air to be solo, this is excellent support playing.

Chris Droney plays as a man in his prime - the fact that he has been playing for over seventy years seems hardly credible, as does the fact that this is only his fourth album. Let's hope that we see and hear much more of him. Paul Burgess


Irish Music Magazine March 06
Of the many names associated with concertina music from Clare, Chris Droney's is among the most respected, certainly amongst living musicians.

His Fertile Rock album, released over a decade ago, was soon a sought-after reference for many tunes. Though the years have perhaps reduced his nimbleness, Down From Bell Harbour shows Chris Droney's passionate feeling for the music of West Clare. His playing is full of soul, heart and guts: what more could a body want?

There are too many grand old tunes here to mention, but some of them stand out as highlights. Katie's Fancy and The Boys of the Town are two old style jigs, well known, played here with a delightful lift and bounce, and none of the racing tempos which pervade many recordings.

Chris takes a similarly relaxed approach to the classic hornpipes Sliabh na mBan and The Home Ruler, and slows the tempo even further for a couple of waltzes. For once, reels are in the minority: only seven out of sixteen tracks, but this man is well up to the demands of The Reel of Mullinavat and The Kilfenora Reel.

The combination of The Knights of Saint Patrick and The Killimor Jig is another delight, and the final set of reels makes a powerful climax to an album which is best summarized by the tune which ends the opening track: The Master's Return. Alex Monaghan

The Clare People
The opening set of Chris Droney's latest recording includes the Vincent Broderick tune 'The Master's Return'. It would be a fitting titles for the entire CD if Droney had a taste for self-aggrandizement (which he doesn't) because this is a most delightful confirmation of the north Clare concertina maestro's wonderful musicianship.

You can't but smile at the ease and fluidity of the playing; at the style that comes with a lifetime of top-class music-making and the confidence of touch and sleight of hand of an artist.

In the self-penned composition 'Peaceful Corcomroe', Droney's elegance of touch extends to composition, and in Jacinta McEvoy's sensitive backing there is a lesson in understatement for anyone hoping to augment Irish dance music, rather than wrestle it to the ground.

Down from Bell Harbour is an unfailing delight, buy it for the car, or, better still, buy it for yourself! Colm Ó Murchú

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