Maurice O’Keeffe’s polka

My friend, the box player Jacques Brouyer learned a couple of polkas in Keaskeam (Sliabh Luachra) few years ago from the playing of Maurice O’Keefe.
This is the first one.
Hope you’ll enjoy them.
Anyone has a title?
Best Regards.
Pierre

Thanks. I don’t remember hearing this one before. I just learned it. It’s such a simple melody that I had it memorized by the 4th time through. (Whether I’ll still have it an hour from now is another question.)

# Posted by dwhsoas - March 1st, 2014
https://thesession.org/discussions/33434

However, I’ve given this transposition following Pierre’s lead. As it was in dwhsoas’ discussion the 3rd & 7th measures of both parts would be | dG FA | - rather than the direct transposition I’ve given following Pierre’s setting ~ | dA FA |…

Other possibilities in G…

‘ff’ ~ 😏

http://mauriceokeeffe.org/

& a little bit from that website about “himself” (& a few listens too):
http://mauriceokeeffe.org/#/about-maurice/4525651493

Maurice was born the 5th child to Francis and Molly O’Keeffe on 5th September 1919.

He still lives in the house he was born in, in Kiskeam Co. Cork - right in the heart of Sliabh Luachra. In 2011 Peg, his wife of 63 years, passed away just one week before the Easter Maurice O’Keeffe Festival weekend. Maurice, and indeed the rest of the family, were brave enough to carry on with the festival, even though it left them no time to grieve.

Peg wouldn’t just have wanted that the festival go ahead - she would have demanded it! R.I.P.

Maurice has for many years now been a fiddler of great repute and reknown, well known by both lovers of traditional music, and by the musicians themselves. Although he has probably appeared on many a CD and TV show, he has never gone down the road of commercial recording himself. Instead he has opted to adopt the traditional stance of the masters of old - passing down his tunes to those who come by his house to play with him, or who accompany him to the village for a session in one of the pubs there. He has spent many an hour in his “studio” - his small kitchen. Here, he has recorded cassette tapes on his domestic tape player. They have been sent all over the world for no other reward than the joy of the music and the knowledge that he is passing it on to the generations who must carry it along when he is gone.

You can find some music from the first concert held during the Easter Weekend of 2002, the very first year of the annual Maurice O’Keefe festival, if you click on the “Music” link in the menu. Click then on “Album 1” to get to the music player or files to download if you so prefer.

Album 1: http://mauriceokeeffe.org/#/album-1/4525651509
These are tracks taken from the live recording of the first Easter Weekend concert. The links above allow you to download the tracks to your own computer if you wish, or just open them and listen on line.

Clip 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mceHoB2ZBQ

play video

Clip 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZd5gZEoqKs

play video

From the playing of Tim Browne & Paudy Scully.

They learned it from a recording they received from Maurice O’Keeffe, who wanted this tune, among others, to be passed on.