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Dublin to Rio, & Points in Between
An Evening of Traditional Irish, Folk & Jazz Music
Performers
Traditional Irish folk songs, characterised by bright tones and uptempo rhythms, will be interspersed with instrumental jigs and reels, and played on four-string banjo and Irish bouzouki. American folk songs and ballads will feature traditional melodies and complex vocal harmonies; mellow Brazilian Jazz and Bossa Nova will combine lyrical, soulful vocals with syncopated acoustic instrumentation.
The first half of the evening will attempt to reproduce the experience of a traditional Irish music session. A group of musicians sit in a circle and take turns to begin a “set” or medley of several tunes that the others quickly join in. Sometimes the titles or keys are shouted out mid-set, but often the tunes simply begin. The established repertoire is expansive, and an accomplished Irish musician may know a few hundred by heart. (Chicago Chief of Police Francis O’Neill famously collected 1,001 of these tunes in his now revered book The Dance Music of Ireland.) Each tune is typically played three times, but other musicians must carefully watch for body language, musical “signals”, or the shouting of “hup!” to indicate that a switch to the next tune is imminent. Once a set has been completed, the “lead” passes to the next musician.
The second half of the evening will introduce Bossa Nova, a soft samba based on traditional Brazilian music and rhythms, American jazz, and Portuguese lyrics.
The evening will not only include music, but also folk history, musical side-notes, and a fascinating journey into various cultural forms.
In collaboration with:
Performers
Chad Elwell
The son of Chicago-based musicians, Chad Elwell grew up playing piano and French horn, before eventually shifting his focus to the guitar, mandolin, banjo, and Irish bouzouki. A high school physics teacher by day, Chad delights in teaching his students how to build (and play) their own instruments using everyday household products.
An avid traveller, Chad began his teaching career at an international school in Austria. It was during his six years living in Vienna, a city with such a rich musical history, that he began to perform and write his own music. Around this time, a stranger on a train invited him to join an Irish session at a local pub, thus beginning his love affair with Irish traditional music. He can frequently be found performing in pubs and other venues across the greater Chicagoland area.
Besides Irish and folk music, he also composes his own songs and dabbles in jazz and Brazilian music.
Nayantara Abraham
Nayantara Abraham was born into a musical family in Bangalore and found herself the (initially reluctant) owner of a child size guitar at age 8. As a vocalist and guitarist, she became involved in various bands (Chutney Marys, Pink Freud) throughout her college life in Bangalore.
A lifelong lover of jazz and swing, she developed a deep interest in Bossa Nova and other forms of Brazilian music when she moved to Chicago in 2008. She also plays bouzouki and piano as a result of her most recent foray into Irish traditional music.
