Last week the Chieftains made their fourth visit to Japan and presented an evening of outstanding Celtic music to a packed audience at the Globe in Okubo, Tokyo. This is no news, of course, to anyone familiar with the Chieftains --it would be next to impossible for them to do less. Perhaps it was the exceptional acoustics and atmosphere of the Globe, though, that pushed the performance beyond what one usually expects. (Or maybe the ready supply of Guinness in the lobby had something to do with it.)
The evening started with a short opening set from Canadian harpist and vocalist Loreena Mckennitt, supported by fellow countryman Brian Hughes on guitar. Her four songs included an exquisite rendition of "She Walks Through the Fair" and an interesting musical setting of Prospero's final speech from Shakespeare's "Tempest." Good as she is, though, she might be even better if she concentrated more on releasing the beauty that the songs contain rather than putting beauty into them.
No such reservations need be voiced for the Chieftains. Matt Molloy's flute introduced a slow, Irish air as delicate and unaffected as a gentle breeze. The pace soon picked up, and all of the experience and depth of the 33 years that the band has been together revealed itself in an effortless swing, a wonderful sense of elasticity and good fellowship.
The fellowship was extended in the next number to include Carlos Nunez, a young Galician piper who appeared on stage in full national costume and played with stunning virtuosity and good humour. The Chieftains have half-finished recording a CD of Galician tunes with Nunez, and on this hearing it will certainly be an album to buy. (And if further recommendation is needed, the CD will also have the wonderful Los Lobos playing on it.)
Over the next hour, all the members of the band were highlighted, a memorable moment being leader Paddy Moloney on uilleann pipes duetting heatedly with Nunez, the melodic lines of the pipers darting through the air like swallows. Fiddlers Martin Fay and Sean Keane both had fine features -- Fay with a piece for violin and harp entitled "Wandering Minstrel" and Keane with a startling rearrangement of "Heartbreak Hotel" that the King himself would surely have enjoyed.
Vocalist and bodhran player Kevin Conneff then gave us "Changing your Demeanor," a song set in Hollywood -- not the one in California but a tiny village in Ireland "with two pubs and two graveyards". It's said that Irish music almost always evokes either the joys of Saturday night or the ordeals of the morning after, and this song was definitely from the night before.
Harpist Derek Bell is a virtuoso among virtuosos and a fine pianist to boot, his sparkling charm and wit an amusing contrast to his bank-manager-appearance. His feature was a delicate piece that was, he informed us, "just the thing to relieve poor Martin's hangover." In complete contrast, Molloy whipped up a storm with a furious, extended solo on "Mason's Apron," Bell obviously itching to join in on his harp, but only managing one chorus at the end.
Throughout the evening, we were also treated to spirited -- and breathtaking -- displays of Gaelic dancing. The final number had Nunez, Mckennitt and Hughes joining the Chieftains in a wonderfully infectious reel that brought the whole audience to its feet. The band were brought back for two encores, and then the lights came on and the canned music turned up to indicate that the evening was over. The audience, however, was having none of it -- a rare occurrence in Japan -- and continued to stamp and clap until the musicians returned for yet two more encores.