How It’s New York: The name of the band is Pride of New York
How It’s Irish: And they play Irish music. What a supergroup this is: Joanie Madden, Billy McComiskey, Brian Conway, and Felix Dolan.
The Pride of New York are playing at the Irish Club in East Haven tonight, 7:30 p.m.
If you can’t make the concert, you can (and should!( get the CD– and check out the video we’ve got!
A couple of years ago during Catskills Irish Arts Week, Pride of New York
I stood in the crowded hall with WFUV’s Kathleen Biggins, wondering aloud what was it– and there was definitely something– that made them sound so New York.
“Chutzpah,” Kathleen answered without blinking an eye. Technically we could file this under Jirish then too, eh?
I was lucky enough to ring in the New Year with Brian at a wonderful session at the home of New Jersey Symphony clarinet player Andy Lamy (he plays whistle, but also shares a tune on that clarinet, which is a delight), and to play at a session at Druid’s a couple of weeks ago celebrating Billy McComiskey’s birthday. We’ll try to get some pics and video up from those too! Meanwhile:
Here’s some info about them from their Compass Records page:
JOANIE MADDEN (flute, whistle)
Daughter of button accordionist Joe Madden, was the first U.S.-born competitor to win the All-Ireland senior tin whistle title (1984) and is also an All-Ireland champion on flute. She has recorded a dozen albums with Cherish the Ladies, a group she co-founded in 1985 and still leads.BRENDAN DOLAN (keyboards)
Son of pianist Felix Dolan, is one of the most respected and inventive keyboardists in Irish music today. He appears on Brian Conway’s Consider the Source and Billy McComiskey’s Outside the Box, as well as Live at Mona’s with Patrick Ourceau and Eamon O’Leary and the Irish American music projects of Mick Moloney.
BILLY McCOMISKEY (accordion)
The 1986 All-Ireland senior button accordion champion, has recorded three albums with the Irish Tradition (a trio featuring Brendan Mulvihill and Andy O’Brien) and two with Trian (a trio featuring Liz Carroll and Dáithí Sproule), as well as two solo CDs for Green Linnet / Compass.BRIAN CONWAY (fiddle)
The 1986 All-Ireland senior fiddle champion, has several recordings to his credit. They include two solo releases, First Through the Gate in 2002 and Consider the Source in 2008, and two trio albums, The Apple in Winter (with Tony DeMarco and Caesar Pacifici) in 1981 and A Tribute to Andy McGann (with Joe Burke and Felix Dolan) in 2000.
