Arts, Entertainment & Media

RIMINI MEETING/ The Chieftains, a living tradition discovering the world

Redazione

venerdì 26 agosto 2011

“I have always found that Italian people have a great love of Irish music. At home, perhaps, we are so used to the music that it doesn’t strike us in the same way”. John Waters, pillar of Irish music journalism, begins his story to ilsussidiario.net in this way. “When the discussion was started about who should come from Ireland to Rimini, the obvious answer was the Chieftains because they are the greatest and most long-running. 50 years and 50 albums. They are a phenomenon beyond any other in Ireland. Their custodianship of the music was extraordinary in that time. They have taken the tradition and brought it on all kinds of adventures in the world and, in that way, have really informed us in Ireland about that tradition and created alliances with all kinds of other cultures, so it was not a very difficult decision. Then, I was in Starbucks one day thinking about how I would get Paddy Moloney’s telephone number and I turned around and there he was. It was that simple. It was an event, an encounter in Starbucks! Once you decide something, and it is right, then it happens. That is the answer.”

Your music, though it contains many other genres, obviously has Irish tradition at the core. What is the importance of the tradition for you?
Traditional music is us. Anything else is a step down the ladder. It is very important that we play our music, and people respond to it. You don’t have to be Irish. As a famous actress once said, it is “music that gets you in the gut”.
I remember playing in Milan for the first time, in 1979, and the audience didn’t understand my garbage, but they recognized the tunes and, when we would start playing, everyone would get excited. After that we came back many times, including the big concert where we played Funiculi Funicula with Pavorotti U2.

So, in your case, the tradition is open to other influences?
Having made so many traditional albums, maybe 30, and winning some Grammys (six total), we started to have invitations to appear with other people as special guests. People like Mick Jaggar, Paul McCartney in 1972, James Galway and Van Morrison.
Our last project was the Mexican album, San Patricio, and, given the European influence on the Mexican music in the 19th century, including Irish music, it was a great project. We matched some of our music and did a bit of fusion. Tonight we will play a polka which a lot of people think is an Irish polka, but it is actually Mexican. Music is so important; it is such a great folk art that we can spread the wealth for the last fifty years and get to various countries, and it still happens to this day. The music itself is so alive.

Is this tradition still alive in Ireland?

I would say yes, the tradition is alive, in part because of the Chieftains, who brought traditional music out of the little enclaves it was in to a wider public. With the so-called folk revival in the 60s, with Bob and Pete Seeger, people started looking to their own traditional roots. In parts of Ireland, for example, where Matt comes from in the West, there was no revival necessary. However, in Dublin, many Irish had lost that connection.
I suppose the revival really started seriously in 1950 with Seán Ó Riada when the Comhaltas were established and they started what they call Fleadh Cheoils, music festivals, and I remember being at the first one, when I was still wearing short trousers, and there were only 200 people. Today you get almost a million people in the period of a week. There are many summer schools all over the country that teach young people to play and keep the tradition alive, and now there is a whole Irish television station teaching Irish music.

“I think—Waters intervenes—that if everything about Ireland were as successful as its music, we would rule the world. The music is really a powerful symbol and a kind of prophecy of what is possible in the culture. I think that there is an important distinction to be made, which Don Giussani, the priest who founded the movement this Meeting comes out of, made clear between tradition and traditionalism. Tradition is the wisdom of inheritance. It is something living. Traditionalism is the obsession that comes with preserving this, keeping it safe and free of all other influences, which is a terrible thing. I think the Chieftains show this very well because, in Ireland, we have had this tendency toward purification, and not just in music. Because our culture was interrupted, it is as though we have to try to find it again, capture it and put it in a box and keep it safe. I think it really took courage to resist this tendency and say, as Giussani said, you need tradition but you also need freedom. This is the story of the Chieftains, in my opinion: tradition and freedom combined in a celebration of life.
Our life is here in the music, our dance. You cannot resist such a thing, whether you are old or young. That is the answer. I think in the modern world there is despair about values, and we bemoan young people’s lack of this and that, but young people do not lack the fundamental forces which have governed us from the beginning: desire and attraction, forces which are irresistible. When something is real, they will embrace it.”

After nearly 50 years of music, what are you looking for now when you make new albums and where will you go next?

We are working on a poetry album now that is coming out next month. We finally got one of our oldest living poets, John Montague, who was poet laureate for some time into the studio. I put a lot of pipe and tin whistle on it, and the Chieftains did a very nice track on the album.

We are also planning a new adventure, which I cannot explain too much because I have not signed anyone yet, but the plan is to engage with younger, successful international young bands are connected with a tradition. They perform music that is like our music, so we want to touch base with these people who are so excited and honored at having been asked to play. It will be the Chieftain’s 50 year celebration, and we want to connect with some of the younger groups who are making tremendous efforts at getting away from things like rap, some of which is way too coarse, and turning towards melody, tradition and roots. I think there are many good groups out there that are doing this. Hopefully we can get together.

(Maria Bond)