Danu

[David Dalton]

I first sent this on Feb. 19 from coranto.ucs.mun.ca but
for some odd reason (perhaps censorship) close to a
hundred of my posts from there from Feb. 2 on have not
gotten outside that newsserver (I just e-mailed newsadmin
Randy Dodge again about that, and exceptions seem to be
posts to moderated groups and posts crossposted to nf.*
groups, but anyway this is posted via groups.google.com ).
The point of that is that the "last night" below refers to
Feb. 18, the day after my birthday.

----------------------------------------------------

So last night I won as a door prize two tickets to
the Irish band Danu here on March 10.   So what
are they like, e.g., compared to Altan?  What
instrumentation and vocals do they have?  Do
any of them follow celtic pagan spirituality
as the band name might indicate?   What CD(s)
by them do you recommend most?

Anyway that was a nice 40th (Tuesday) birthday
surprise, though I might have bought tickets
anyway but it isn't the same in a soft seater
theatre as in a pub, I would say.

David

[Cristoir]

DANÚ are an Irish traditional music group based in Ring, Co. Waterford,
Ireland, made up of seven traditional musicians, hailing from counties
Waterford, Dublin, Kerry and Donegal. One of them is Donal Clancy (son
of Liam Clancy of Clancy Brothers fame). For more on the band, see their
website: www.danu.net

As near as I can determine (I've seen them several times) they don't
practice pagan spirituality any more than De Danaan (whose name also
derives from the name Danu) did. Their musical style is akin to Teada
(http://www.ceolproductions.com/cds2.html#). If you are looking for "New
Age" sounding vocals -- like Clannad or Loreena McKevitt, you won't find
them with Danu. Whether in English or Irish (they sing in both
languages), the singing is straight ahead, without affections and
without special effects. No breathiness, no spaciness, no synthesizers.

I've seen them twice already, and will see them again on March 16th. I
recommend them highly. But if you like Clannad and dislike the
Chieftains, you won't like them.

Both Danu and Teada's sites contain links to sound files. You might want
to check them out before you go.

Chris Brennan

Post by David Dalton
I first sent this on Feb. 19 from coranto.ucs.mun.ca but
for some odd reason (perhaps censorship) close to a
hundred of my posts from there from Feb. 2 on have not
gotten outside that newsserver (I just e-mailed newsadmin
Randy Dodge again about that, and exceptions seem to be
posts to moderated groups and posts crossposted to nf.*
groups, but anyway this is posted via groups.google.com ).
The point of that is that the "last night" below refers to
Feb. 18, the day after my birthday.
----------------------------------------------------
So last night I won as a door prize two tickets to
the Irish band Danu here on March 10. So what
are they like, e.g., compared to Altan? What
instrumentation and vocals do they have? Do
any of them follow celtic pagan spirituality
as the band name might indicate? What CD(s)
by them do you recommend most?
Anyway that was a nice 40th (Tuesday) birthday
surprise, though I might have bought tickets
anyway but it isn't the same in a soft seater
theatre as in a pub, I would say.
David

[Nic Caciappo]

Post by Cristoir
DANÚ are an Irish traditional music group based in Ring, Co. Waterford,
Ireland, made up of seven traditional musicians, hailing from counties
Waterford, Dublin, Kerry and Donegal. One of them is Donal Clancy (son
of Liam Clancy of Clancy Brothers fame). For more on the band, see their
website: www.danu.net
As near as I can determine (I've seen them several times) they don't
practice pagan spirituality any more than De Danaan (whose name also
derives from the name Danu) did. Their musical style is akin to Teada
(http://www.ceolproductions.com/cds2.html#).

It has occured to me that the original writer may not know who Teada is, so
I will offer that I believe that Danu remind me of a young Chieftains. I
believe this because the instrumentation is similar. Although Danu are
driven by the excellent box playing by Benny McCarthy, it's their bodhran
player Donnchadh Gough who might command the most attention in a live show
because not only is Donnchadh one of the top 2 or 3 bodhran players in the
world he is also an excellent uillean piper. Danu also have a brilliant
flute player in Tom Doorley. THese guys are young hotshot that will be a
round for a long time. They have a new singer however, a woman(!) and her
voice reminds me a bit of Dolores Keene. There are differences between Danu
and The Cheiftains, but Danu are the closest thing to it. One good thing
though that will be different about Danu is that they will never have those
stupid concept album with pop stars like the Chieftians have.

Teada is another excellent group up and coming. To mention them in the same
breath as Danu and The Cheiftains shows how good they are as well. Oisin
MacDiarmada is an incredible young fiddler. I also like the fact that they
have a banjo player. We are very fortunate to have some new bands like Danu
and Teada carry on.

NC