For the Sake of Old Decency

Hervé Cantal is a French nice flute and whistle player I met (…lot of … ) years ago from time to time when I went in Paris, in sessions and in some other playing occasions. He recorded this CD end of 1995 with other musicians he played with in Paris at that time. I had no news of him since, but his CD is with no doubt one of the ones I’d keep with me on a deserted island 😀
I am still not easy to comment a CD, and quite less to do it in an langage which is not mine 😉 … but well, I like this recording for its simplicity and its cool feeling, and I retrieve in it main parts of the spirit of the music that I founded with “older” musicians in Ireland and in the recordings…
(what is not to say that I dislike the other ways of Irish music … 😉
I was surprised to find that the CD is still available :
http://www.albumtrad.com/fr/herve-cantal/00809-for-the-sake-of-old-decency.xhtml

Here are the booklet notes :

"Musicians :
Hervé Cantal : flute, whistle, clarke whistle
Denis Kersual : uilleann pipes
Vincent Blin : melodeon
John Maguire : vocal
Gérard Tauzin : guitar
Jean-Christophe LeQuerré

Irish music has been adopted little by little over the past thirty years in France. The number of French musicians and interest in general are going from strength to strength. This music which was originally traditional and the passed through the “folk” stage has now become “world music” and is widely broadcast. Can we talk about Irish “traditional” music and what is more in France? Having discovered this music through Plenty and The Chieftains, I was then attracted by what we call traditional musicians i.e. those who play at home daily, in the pub or wherever. The play on their own as well which has been created over two centuries in Ireland and afterwards in other places (USA, UK, …) is what we call “Irish traditional music”. It is this approach to music rather than respect for a regional tradition which I wanted to talk about: instrumental solos and duets, sometimes accompanied. This is the reason why this CD is not a “flute record” but more so the presentation of tunes which come from counties and musicians that I like a lot. You will come across the counties of Clare and Galway as mell as musicians like Lucy Farr quoted frequently.

So I asked to known, or not, musicians playing this music for long to join me in this recording.
Professionals or amateur like me, we all share the same feeling about Irish music.
I wish that this recording allow you to appreciate a music which is both personal and faithful to a tradition in a wider sense in which I hope many of you will recognize yourself.
H. Cantal"

Ooops, some typing mistakes and f…“automatic corrections” ones that I didn’t notice :
2nd line: “… traditional and ‘then’ passed through the ”folk“ stage …”
5th line: “Plenty and The Chieftains” is not a new, or old, band ! it would have been: “…‘Planxty’ and The Chieftains … ”, you would have corrected 😉
6th line and a full 7th line disappeared: “… ‘They’ play on their own as well as with neighbours or people they have just come across. So a music which has been created …”
11th line “… of Clare and Galway as ‘well’ as musicians …”
last line "… will recognize ‘themselves’.
--
H. Cantal"

Sorry …