Re: Irish fiddler Martin Hayes

On Jun 18, 2:22 pm, JimK <jkezwind@comcastDOTnet> wrote:
I'm going to a concert Saturday featuring Martin Hayes, who is widely
regarded to be one of, if not the finest Irish fiddlers in the world.
My local paper ran an article about him on Sunday and I found his
views about music to be very reminiscent of Garcia. He spoke about
winning numerous national fiddle competitions when he was growing up:

"I think I was good at the competitions because I didn't concentrate
on what so many other people did, which was technique and virtuosity,"
he says. "For better or worse, I had decided that even if it was a
competition, it would be about music and feeling." That may not be
something you can measure quantitatively, he says, "but people respond
to it."

It is a personal ethic and attitude that he has maintained in his
music to this day.

Proficiency may be required to play well, Hayes concedes. "But music
isn't about techniques. It's about transcendence and feeling and being
transported somewhere. It's about seeing the world in a slightly
different way, even if only for a short period of time."
----------------------

Talking about performing live:

Hayes is particularly renowned for his live performances, in which his
lilting, traditional melodies can run for up to 20 or 30 minutes
apiece, scaling a mountain range of moods from melancholic to
euphoric, and bounding from one mournful refrain to the next as though
gamboling across Irish bogs.

"Music is a primal thing," he says. "It has to be connected to your
heart and soul. You have to just play with your whole being and try
not to make it a cerebral exercise."
------------

On the difference between art and entertainment:

"There is a difference between entertainment and art. They're not the
same thing," Hayes declares. "Something that's a piece of art asks
something of the listener, of the viewer. It asks you to do something.
It asks you to come toward it. Entertainment says, 'Be still. Be
passive. I'll throw all the candy at you.'"
---------------------

I particularly liked his comment about music being transcendental and
transporting you to a different place, which calls to mind Mickey
Hart's statement about how the Dead weren't in the music business,
they were in the transportation business.

I've only really gotten into Irish music over the last several years
at the encouragement of a friend who's a devotee. I'm glad I did
because there are some amazing musicians playing Irish music. I've
seen Hayes once before, and he puts on an amazing show.

JimK

Thanks for the tip!
.

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