By Robin O’Brien Hiteshew
On Thursday, November 16, the Philadelphia Ceili Group presented a solo concert by fiddle player Kevin Burke at the Irish Center. It marked the first time in twelve years Kevin has appeared in Philadelphia. Attendance was approximately 135 in the fireside room of the center and it was clear that they were there to see Kevin. Most knew his playing from the various bands Kevin played with through the past forty years.
Kevin played a selection of tunes from that period starting with a selection of slides he got from his friend Jacky Daly. He was in excellent form and his playing was every bit as good as the audience has come to expect. The sound by Jeremy Birenbaum was outstanding and you could hear every triplet and other ornaments in the tunes he played.
In between tunes Kevin told anecdotes and stories about the tunes and experiences he had in meeting musicians of earlier generations that he received tunes from that he now plays. He also played selections of tunes as an homage to friends notably Micheal Dhomhnaill and fiddle player Johhny Cunningham of Silly Wizard who lived in the Philadelphia area for a time. The evening ended with an encore with Kevin playing two tunes recorded by Sligo fiddle player Michael Coleman, “Bonny Kate and Jennie’s Chickens”. He even sang a song he composed, a rare event.
The audience throughout was completely attentive and as I looked around there were faces of many I’ve known through the years, including a number of musicians. I also noted there were several children in the audience who I surmise are young musicians themselves. Kudos to the Ceili Group for continuing to present concerts of great traditional musicians in Philadelphia.
