Cuz: A Tribute to Terry ‘Cuz’ Teahan

Imeartas Records IMCD004, 2013

Niamh Ni Charra ~ http://www.niamhnicharra.com/

http://claddaghrecords.com/WWW/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3580

"Terry ‘Cuz’ Teahan emigrated from Kerry to Chicago in 1928 and spent the next 6 decades playing and passing on the music of Sliabh Luachra to generations of musicians. Shortly before his death, he made a tape full of rare tunes and his own compositions for a very young Niamh, now a multi-award-winning performer.

Drawing on the tape for inspiration and material, this album is a tribute to Cuz and his music and along with Niamh’s concertina, fiddle and voice, features top class guest artists from Ireland and America, all of whom had a connection to Cuz.":

Niamh Ni Charra - fiddle, concertina, viola, vocals
Seamus Begley - button accordion, vocals
Donal Murphy - button accordion
Jimmy Keane - piano accordion
Liz Carroll - fiddle
Nicky McAuliffe - fiddle
Mick Moloney - banjo
Cathall King - flute
Anne McAuliffe - flute
Donogh Hennessy - guitar
Tommy O’Sullivan - guitar
Matt Griffin - guitar
Dominic Keogh - bodhran
Tony O’ Flaherty - djembe, piano, percussion


I love the music of Terry ‘Cuz’ Teahan, and that someone has had the appreciation to dedicate an album to the man is enough to get a nod of equal appreciation from me, but, I’ve yet to have the pleasure of an earful of this one, and I’m unfamiliar with the music of Niamh Ni Charra, but good on her for this. In the absence of direct knowledge, other than fragments of MP3s, here’s the opinion of others, two reviews:

Rod Stradling - 18.3.13 - with some extracts -
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/charra3.htm

Posted by Tony Lawless on March 26, 2013 -
http://tradconnect.com/profiles/blogs/album-review-niamh-ni-charra-cuz-a-tribute-to-terry-cuz-teahan

American Public Radio - “Cuz and the recognition this brings to Mr. Teahan is long overdue. Thank goodness, the woman who pulled all this together is a stunningly gifted musician and archivist. This is one of the best. Ever. Good on Cuz, and good on Niamh!”

https://thesession.org/recordings/3058

😉 - for more listens see the ‘comments’ for her other albums, or do a search…

As someone who listened quite a bit to Cuz Teehan and had the pleasure of meeting him at a fleadh cheoil in buncrana with piano box player Jimmy keane way back in the 70s, I think it is wonderful that this master musician has been commerated at long last. However, while much of the music is quite good and pleasing to the ear in this album, it leaves very little, if anything, to remind anyone of Cuz’s music and ear. The playing on this album is much brisker and faster than cuz or most of his comtemporaries. The rhythm of Cuz’s music has also been altered to become almost unrecogniseable to how Cuz played. While it is great that he has finally been commorated and I would like to congratulate Niamh on this fantastic achievement, it is, in my opinion, rather a poor tribute.

I would rate it 3 stars.

It might not be Cuz as remembered by some, but it’s great music none the less. Perhaps like the difference between a novel and a movie. There’s a lot of Cuz Teahan here. You change things to suit the people involved. It’s Kerry all over- early 21st. Century Kerry. But it’s still pure-drop.
Niamh Ní Charra is a great musician- tasty above all else. Her phrasing, musically -- concertina and fiddle -- and vocally, is simple, pure and heartfelt. The musicians she is playing with on this CD are also wonderful. Many of them knew Cuz, but that isn’t the point. They make great music together.
In case you haven’t guessed, I love this CD. It’s both a lovely tribute and a CD beautifully played and filled with with great tunes.