I'm in the habit of taking long walks in the evenings when I'm traveling. While in Seattle recently, I was taking a nice walk in downtown Kirkland and heard the sounds of live jazz coming from somewhere. I followed the sounds of the music and found they were coming from an Irish pub named, Wilde Rover.
I walked in around 8:30 and have to say sat spellbound until I left at 11:30. It wasn't only because of the wonderful Irish stew or the draft Guiness, which were pretty good all by themselves, but because a violinist playing on stage was blowing everybody's sock's off ... the place was packed needless to say. Not only did he play the traditional Irish jigs, but at times, he put a synthesizer on his violin .... and .. well .... WOW! One has to hear it to really appreciate the sound. Just Wonderful !
At the break, I went up and introduced myself and asked him who he was. A very down to earth, nice guy, who told me a little about himself and whose name was Geoffrey Castle. He said he performs at the Wilde Rover every Monday night. It was a really hard sell to get me to buy three cd's of his too. (sarcasm alert :)
I feel fortunate for this experience and will go to hear him every time I'm in the Seattle area.
BTW. Click here to see his website.
The three cd.s I purchased were:
* Mist on the Mountain
This cd is traditional to transitional Irish violin music. The whole album was recorded using only one violin. I was a little incredulous about this when I first listened to the album ... but then I watched the video below of his song "Float Downstream" and realized how he does it. Pretty ingenious. I'll give you a hint: Watch his feet. The video builds and builds until the last 30 seconds he just goes to town. The album's music is masterful and well done. Enjoy.
* Underhill's Angel
Very Traditional Holiday music Irish style. Sensitively and nicely done. Very sweet sounding.
* Street's of Inwood
Transitional Irish sound mixed with cool vibes of contemporary.
All in all, I loved his music. YouTube shows a lot more of his videos.
Thanks for visiting my page,
Gregory Yodis
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