I’ve got Seán Keegan and Macdara Ó Faoláin's “Keegan's Fancy: Traditional Music on the Mandola and Bouzouki,” in the media yoke this week. Keegan, mandola, the leader here, is an outstanding musician and Ó Faoláin, bouzouki, a musician of similar standing, makes him a perfect partner. Both are very well respected in the world of traditional music, and together they’ve given us an album that showcases what they do best. If traditional music played on stringed instruments is your thing, this album is not to be missed.
Seán Keegan.
Multi-instrumentalist Keegan was born in London to parents from Longford and Leitrim and studied with the legendary Brendan Mulkere. He studied classical mandolin at Trinity College of Music, where he met fellow Mulkere student Lamond Gillespie, which led to Keegan recording Gillespie, John Blake and Mick Leahy for their critically acclaimed debut album, “Traditional Irish Music from London.” Later, Keegan pursued a master’s at the Centre for Computational Musicology and Computer Music at the University of Limerick and after lectured at the CCMCM as well as UL’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.
Keegan’s had extensive performing experience, at places such as the Barbican, Wigmore Hall, and Shakespeare's Globe. He also soloed under Sir Colin Davis in Mozart's “Don Giovanni,” and in 2015 was part of the RTÉ All Star Céilí Band at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. He released his debut solo album “A Bird Never Flew on One Wing” in 2022, and currently lectures on the BA (Hons) in Audio & Music Production at Dundalk Institute of Technology.
In addition, Keegan’s built an extensive career as a sound engineer and producer over the years, working on a wide range of critically acclaimed commercial albums of traditional Irish music and song, including those by the Yanks; Charlie Lennon; Seán Potts; Tommy Peoples; Matt Molloy & John Carty; Jesse Smith, Sean Gavin & John Blake; Cormac Begley & Liam O’Connor; Kevin Crawford, Dylan Foley, and Patrick Doocey; Seamus Tansey and a host of others.
Ó Faoláin is also a multi-instrumentalist as well as an instrument maker from An Rinn, Co. Waterford. He graduated with honors from the Cork School of Music before going on to build one of the most impressive CVs of any young musician in the tradition. A native Irish speaker, he was a founding member of the group Nuadán, has recorded with an outstanding range of artists including Derek Hickey, the Friel Sisters, Nell Ní Chróinín, Cormac McCarthy, Victoria Adiiye, and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. He also performs in a group with banjoist Páraic Mac Donnchadha and uilleann piper Pádraic Keane, whose 2023 album “Beo” I think is just a fabulously enveloping bit of music. In 2024, Ó Faoláin was named Young Musician of the Year at the TG4 Gradam Ceoil, which was around the same time he released “Do Shamhlaigh Mé Tír Nua…,’ his debut EP. He followed that with his first full-length solo album “Ar Thaobh Chill an Fhuarthainn” last year.
The mandola is an interesting and unusual choice here – offhand, I can’t think of any albums on which it’s a featured instrument, making this a fairly novel collection. But it’s a wonderful instrument and it works beautifully with the bouzouki. Between Keegan and Ó Faoláin, there’s a lovely lightness in the music that gives the album its character. The reel track “Blackberry Blossom / …” is a brilliant opening. Taken at a moderate pace, the tunes feature flashes of brilliance in Keegan’s playing that sit nicely with Ó Faoláin’s character-filled backing, but it’s the lift the two bring that makes the track, and every track here, work. You find the same kind of life in tracks like “Never Was Piping So Gay / …,” “Ships are Sailing / …,” and especially “Keegan’s Fancy / …,” where Keegan’s melody playing is very finely executed.
The album also includes some slower tunes, including “Rodney’s Glory,” “O’Carolan’s Draught “ and “Sí Bheag Sí Mhór.” All three will delight listeners because in them, the lyricality in Keegan’s playing really shines. Ó Faoláin is very dialed in here as well, with the texture in his backing adding an extra vitality to Keegan’s playing. But all three tunes were composed by the great harper Turlouch O’Carolan and as I listen I’m reminded of Mick Moloney’s take on O’Carolan’s “Loftus Jones,” a seminal recording for mandolin players. Keegan’s mandolin-family interpretation of O’Carolan’s music reflects the Moloney line very well.
“Keegan's Fancy” is a lovely album. The playing here is very warm and inviting, with Keegan’s superb technique and sensitive approach articulating wonderfully with Ó Faoláin’s strong, tasteful backing. Yes, the combination of mandola and bouzouki is unusual, but it’s one that I think will charm listeners. Although their music is very different, I think this album will appeal to fans of Sweeney's Men and Planxty. It’ll also find favor with fans of “The Morning Star,” the great album by Marla Fibish & Jimmy Crowley. Definitely recommended! To learn more and to purchase, visit here.
