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Review by David de la Barre for Chiff & FippleA Dossan of Heather: Irish traditional music from Packie Manus Byrne of Donegal for tin whistle, fiddle or fluteI confess that I had never heard of Packie Manus Byrne until I was asked to review this book. Having perused its pages and listened to the accompanying CD I feel that I have missed something very special. Packie is a whistle player from Donegal (also a traditional singer, actor story teller, & comedian). He has been referred to as "a living cultural treasure". The way that editor Stephen Jones brilliantly communicates Packie's thoughts, feelings, and knowledge about traditional music one would have to agree. I have found that some books have an introduction that is stale & boring.This is definitely not one of those books. The introduction was in factquite engaging. In the first seven pages Stephen Jones draws the reader into Packie's background and influences, sources & types of tunes, etc. After this the reader is then warned that the following six or so pages are filled with "more technical discussion of the tunes and of Packie's whistle style." The editor advises, "Readers who find their eyes glazing over as they read on are invited to get out their instrument and skip to the tunes and accompanying stories". Personally I found those following pages very interesting with talk of ornamentation technique, tempos, what keys and modes the tunes are in, etc. Having a bit of background on a tune, for me, often enhances the enjoyment and appreciation for it. "A Dossan of Heather" is rife with this having very many anecdotes and stories about particular tunes or types of tunes. It also features a tasteful amount of photographs and drawings. The book comes with a CD that has on it 22 tracks with 32 of the 85 tunes in the book. I was disappointed that there is no information about the CD other than tune titles and where they can be found in the book (an oversight by the publisher it seems). One might assume it is Packie playing whistle on the CD when in fact it is Jean Duval, who edited and transcribed all the music in the book, and Stephen Jones. For those interested, the complete CD information (including mp3 samples) together with other info. about Packie can be found at http://www.rogermillington.com. Another very minor flaw is that the treble seems just a tad high in the mix. Nevertheless I find the CD a pure delight to listen to. The tunes are great and it all has a very down home, warm and honest feel. There are a number of "must learn" tunes on it. Notably, for this whistle player, the first tune "Captain Taylor's March" is one of them. The melody is very contagious. Also track 21, which is thefirst tune in the book, "Forgetting the Lesson" is a wonderful jig. For you slow air junkies (that's me) there are gems such as "An Bothán" (beautifully rendered by Stephen Jones on a Low F whistle) and "The Glen Finn Lass". The book is filled with a wide variety of tunes. There are jigs, highlands, airs, hornpipes & germans, reels, slip jigs, marches, polkas, mazurkas, and waltzes. There are many tunes composed by Packie as well as a fair number of others that probably you will not find anywhere else. Stephen Jones has accurately described this book about Packie Manus Byrne and his music as a "time capsule". I also think of it as a small box of treasure. This wonderful book/CD set can be purchased from our friend Thom Larson at The Whistle Shop or amazon.com. or directly from the publisher Mel Bay. "A Dossan of Heather" would be a valuable addition to any whistle player's book/CD library. |