Description
The Boston-born son of Irish immigrants, Joe is among the finest button accordionists in the history of Celtic music. He is also a somewhat elusive legend in the genre. Winner of NEA National Heritage Fellowship, this album captures him at his best.
"Nothing short of miraculous". Earle Hitchner.
"Joe Derrane is absolutely as good as it gets. He's a role model, a lifelong inspiration, and a gentleman to the bone." Billy McComiskey.
After recording during the 1940s and '50s, he disappeared from the traditional music circuit for thirty-five years, popping up again in 1994 at the Irish Folk Festival at Wolf Trap. Since his career's resurgence he has proved wrong F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous quote "there are no second acts in American lives". Over the past 16 years, Derrane has written 22 tunes and his current writing and recorded output is the most imaginative and inventive of his career. In 2004 Derrane received one of the highest honours for a traditional musician: the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship.
GROVE LANE showcases Derrane at the height of his creativity on the button accordion. The album was recorded at Derrane's home on GROVE LANE in Massachusetts - the home he and his wife Anne shared for 53 years before her passing in 2008 - over a series of sessions with acoustic guitarist John McGann. Notable tracks include the original tango "Tango Derrane" and the romantic ode "Waltzing with Anne" written in memory of his late wife. GROVE LANE firmly establishes Derrane as one of the great masters of-the button accordion. No one sounds like Joe Derrane or has as significant an impact on the rising generation of aspiring button accordion virtuosos.
The Slate Roof/The Prayer Reel/ Toss the Feathers (Reels); The Lost Jig/Breakfast with Jerry/ Jackie Daly's (Jigs); Tango Derrane; The Bantry Lasses/ Molly on the Shore (Reels); The Autograph/The Low Level (Hornpipes); Paddy Reynolds' Dream/ Russell's Mountain (Jigs); Fancy Free (Schottische)/ Grove Lane(Barndance); Return to Miltown/Kit O'Connor's/ Jackson's (Reels); Mac's Fancy/The Monaghan; Waltzing with Anne; Youghal Quay/Brosnan's/ I'm Waiting for You (Reels); Gan Ainm/The Mooncoin (Jigs).