Up Against the Flat Irons

Eliot Grasso

 

(The Ace and Deuce of Piping, Vol 1)

(Na Piobairi Uilleann NPUCD014)

 

by Johannes Schiefner

published in An Piobaire Volume 4, No. 41, Iuil/July 2007, pp. 6-7

 

The Flatirons, an impressive mountain chain near Boulder, Colorado, were the inspiration for the title track of this unusual album of solo uilleann piping by Eliot Grasso.

 

Produced by Na Piobairi Uilleann, this is the first in an upcoming series of new recordings featuring the individual styles of contemporary uilleann pipers.

 

Eliot, who I had the pleasure to meet only recently during the Spring Tionol of the German Uilleann Piping Society DUPG on Burg Fuersteneck, hails from Baltimore, Maryland. He comes from a family of active Irish Traditional musicians and has been exposed to music more or less all of his life. After learning a variety of instruments (piano, flute, whistle)--that he mastered to an already considerable extent while still a schoolchild--he took up the pipes at the age of twelve. He cites local piper Paul Levin and Kieran O’Hare as his teachers in his early formative years. Names like Séamus Ennis, Liam O’Flynn, Robbie Hannan, Gay McKeon as well as tutors John O’Brien, Sean Potts, and Tommy Martin are mentioned as guiding influences after Eliot visited Ireland for the first time to study at Scoil Eigse.

 

Eliot, besides coming across as a very measured, sophisticated kind of person, developed an impressive, highly ornamented style already in his youth. He certainly possesses the gift of superior musicality combined with a phenomenal manual aptitude. He has obviously used a very disciplined and well-structured approach on his way to mastering his instrument.

 

On the recording he plays a set pitched in “B” by Andreas Rogge from Tuebingen, Germany, which combines the typical aspects of Andreas’ flat sets--a charming, yet clear cut tone, with a considerable amount of growl or bite from mid-range and lower harmonics. There is a nice balance between chanter and regulators.

 

The sheer virtuosity of his performance is stunning, which is also very well represented on the recording at hand. During his recital at the German Spring Tionol, one could sense his total captivation of the audience. One simply could not but concentrate and follow him very closely moving through myriads of tunes, making use of subtle nuances, interesting modulatory notes outside of the usual piping scales and bringing about an almost hypnotic effect. There is inventiveness and variation in his music in abundance.

 

While sticking to the Ennis idea of combination of legato playing and closed piping in the sense of a “midd-of-the-road” style, Eliot’s articulation is extremely precise with very nice tight triplets of various sorts. However his music has a constant flow and a joyful fluency with a huge number of twiddly, bubbly ornamental bits strewn in. For the sake of modulation Eliot makes extensive use of the chanter’s keys thus enhancing the sonic possibilities of his instrument--an approach, that is both fascinating when he plays an E-dorian tune in D-dorian instead (Track 2.1) and may leave room for discussion when used in jazzy runs and outside notes. I would have attributed the extensive use of scale modulation mainly to accordions so far, so Eliot’s step in that direction may need getting accustomed to, not only for my ears.

 

Playing tempo is usually on the faster side, whereby his timing is notably leaned forward, giving his music a somewhat stirring effect. This particular aspect together with the other aforementioned style characteristics, as well as the interest in Donegal tunes, lets another great contemporary player come to mind--I can hear a huge amount of Robbie Hannan’s influence in Eliot’s playing. I remember a tape of a radio recital given by Robbie in the late 80s that sounds amazingly similar in style and execution. However, growing to today’s maturity, , Eliot has been able to put a very individual stamp on his music and has indeed created his own distinct personal style.

 

Besides a well chosen and tasteful selection of interesting traditional tunes there are a few from the feather of Eliot himself, but also from Kirk Lynch and from fiddle player Jerry Holland.

 

As usually the case with such tunes, it is left to the listeners’ tastes and view to become acquainted with them. I must admit that not everything there is my kettle of fish, but it has to be said that some of Eliot’s compositions, from a technical point of view, contain significant technical challenges that he masters with ease.

 

Last but not least--the impact of the brilliant recording quality should be mentioned. This album is an overall amazing achievement. I find Eliot’s playing highly intellectual in this first instance, with an emphasis on subtlety and fine-woven structures. He has no time for blatant or frantic experiments.

 

Enjoy listening!