Up Against the Flatirons
NPUCD014
In October 2006, at the recommendation of Robbie Hannan, Gay McKeon invited Eliot Grasso to record a fifty-minute album of unaccompanied uilleann piping for the Na Píobairí Uilleann catalogue.
Grasso’s recording is Volume I of what will be a continuous series of recorded piping masters entitled
“The Ace and Deuce of Piping.” Up Against the Flatirons was recorded in 2007 at the University of Limerick. Read review in An Piobaire here.
Track Listing:
1. Jigs: Old Hag You Have Killed Me / The Butcher’s March / The Gander in the Pratie Hole
2. Reels: The Bearhaven Lassies / Farewell to Erin
3. Hornpipes: The Wicklow Hornpipe / The Fern House †
4. Jigs: Gerdy Commane’s / An Buachaill Dreoite / McGreevy’s
5. Reels: Sporting Nell / Kitty the Hare / The Scowling Wife
6. Jigs: Brendan Mulvihill’s Jig / The Trip to Belfast †
7. Air: The Green Fields of Canada
8. Jigs: Up Against the Flatirons † / What, No Watermelon? §
9. Reels: Jenny Picking Cockles / The Flowers of Limerick
10. Jigs: An Páistín Fionn / The Walls of Liscarroll / Lakeview Drive ‡
11. Hornpipes: Chief O’Neill’s Favourite / The New Century
12. Jigs: Paddy Clancy’s / Welcome Home Gráinne
13. Set Dance: The Ace and Deuce of Piping
14. Reels: Mother and Child Reel / Farewell to Connacht
† composed by Eliot Grasso
§ composed by Kirk Lynch
‡ composed by Jerry Holland
Dublin Press Release - May 25, 2007...
‘Up Against the Flatirons’
A recording of Uilleann piping by Eliot Grasso
Volume 1 of Na Píobairí Uilleann’s Ace and Deuce of Piping Series
Na Píobairí Uilleann is delighted to present Up Against the Flatirons, a solo recording of uilleann piping by gifted young piper Eliot Grasso, the first CD in NPU’s new ‘Ace and Deuce of Piping’ series.
Eliot Grasso is an exciting young virtuoso performer from Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. Still only 24, he is a master of technique and precision, having been influenced since his earliest days by the playing of Kieran O’Hare and Robbie Hannan.
It is timely that the launch of Up Against the Flatirons should coincide with the publication of the collection of Séamus Ennis’ music as the influence of Ennis’ technique on Eliot’s playing is evident throughout this recording.
However, while these influences can be easily discerned, Eliot has developed his own unique, complex style and he performs a number of his own compositions on this CD, including the eponymous Up Against the Flatirons.
The dynamic strains of Donegal fiddling can also to be heard in Eliot’s playing, the staccato bow hand mirrored in his intricate fingering and use of variation. He performs on pipes pitched in B made by Andreas Rogge in Germany.
About Eliot Grasso
Eliot Grasso was born into a musical family in Baltimore in 1983. His father Mark is a fiddle player and Eliot was introduced to Irish music from a young age, taking lessons initially on the whistle and flute. He was introduced to piping by the late Paul Levin and then Kieran O’Hare, the latter had a profound influence on Eliot’s playing. Having competed at the 1996 Fleadh Cheoil in New York, he travelled to Ireland for the first time to study at the Scoil Éigse which strengthened his interest in Irish traditional music and piping. Eliot became a regular visitor to Ireland subsequently and received tuition from Robbie Hannan, Tommy Martin, John O’Brien and Seán Potts. Having performed on NPU’s New Dawn, he produced his first solo recording as an 18-year-old Standing Room Only followed by North By NorthWest where he performed with Dave Cory. Eliot Grasso is also a talented classical pianist and organist and is currently a student of Ethnomusicology in Limerick.