“Dan Breen’s” is a reel I love playing very much. I learned it from a session with Yvonne Casey, Terry Bingham and Stéphane Germain. There’s a great version of this tune on the album “The Kilmore Fancy” by Catherine & John McEvoy as well.
Below is a video from a few years back, as I recorded this tune for a “30 Tune-a-day” challenge.
X:1
T:Dan Breen’s
R:Reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Ador
|:e2dB A2AG|EAAG ABcd|eBdB ABAG|EGGF GABd:||
|:e2ge edBd|e~A3 e~A3|e2ge edBd|d2ef g2fg:||
“Tommy Peoples’” is one of the first reels I ever learned. It is associated with the great fiddle player and composer Tommy Peoples, even though he didn’t actually write this particular tune. I also associate this tune with the playing of Kevin Crawford, who recorded is as the opening tune of his amazing album “In Good Company”.
This is a very famous reel associated with Joe Cooley, the great accordion player from Peterswell in Co. Galway. The original title of this tune was “The Tulla Reel” I believe, but it has been known as “Cooley’s Reel” for a long time now, and it is very often followed by “The Wise Maid”.
“The Heather Breeze” is one of the most common reel in sessions across Ireland. It is a very old tune which I have learned through sessions, but I associate it with Micho Russell and his brothers Packie and Gussie. They recorded it on the album “The Russell Family”.
