Reviews

Review of Pure Piping , from “Pay the Reckoning” July 2002.

Although the title intimates that this is a record of solo piping i.e. Pure Piping, an alternative reading of the title, Pure Piping would be equally valid. Rickard has inherited a tradition whose roots are deep in the Irish psyche. He’s in the inner circle of the quasi-mystical brotherhood of pipers, men who make stirring, passionate music from that complex arrangement of reeds, chanter, regulators and bellows whose sound is the quintessence of Irish music.

No mere technician, like his friend Paddy Keenan, Rickard is a true artist, whose piping speaks volumes, whether he’s belting out a fine set of reels or teasing out an achingly slow air, Rickard’s gift of music goes way beyond the notes and he communicates direct to the heart and the soul.

As well as having a few tunes in common, Keenan and Rickard share an ability to take instinctive, highly colourful risks with their piping- wild flurries and runs which captivate the listener. Only truly inspired pipers can sense the opportunity which certain tunes afford to make such intensively personal statements, and only the truly courageous and confident can seize the opportunity once they have sensed them.

Rickard takes the unusual step (for a piper) of playing two Carolan pieces (Carolan’s Concerto and Morgan Magan) as well as an almost Carolan piece ( Planxty Davis). Rarely are such tunes heard on the pipes. And yet, as Rickard demonstrates, they do not sound out of place in the least.

But, unusual and exquisitely well played as these pieces are, it is of course to the dance music which the lover of piping will be drawn, and their listening will be rewarded. Of the three jig sets on the album, Garrett Barry’s/ The Lark in The Morning is the outstanding gem. Rarely have we heard the first jig set get a more characterful rendering or the second a more spirited outing.

The album contains only one reel set- Flax in bloom/The Pinch of Snuff/ Corney is Coming- but that one set conjures up much excitement and intensity.
The Wexford Hornpipe/The High Level Hornpipe is a massive job of piping. The Second Hornpipe is particulary associated with the Northumbrian piper James Hill, provides a test of character and stamina which Rickard passes with flying colours. But the C.D.’s highlight, and indeed a highlight of piping generally is Rickard’s version of the set-dances, The Ace and Deuce of Piping/The Job of Journeywork. On both tunes he displays a sense of timing and control, as well as sheer dexterity, which elevates his performance above mere playing; rather he redefines the tunes, the notes are what the tradition has bequeathed; Rickard’s assured yet delicate touch gives the tunes new shape and substance.

Available from < www.claddaghrecords.com> and well worth the investment!

http//www.paythereckoning.com/reviews.html

Review of ‘’Pure Piping’ Leo Rickard CCF33CD, by Fintan Vallely, Sunday Tribune 31/12/00/.

A rare pleasure to hear such a piping album with the instrument understood in it’s honest self-accompaniment, in spite of marketplace pressure to sell to ephemeral Trad-Pop taste. This Dublin piper has exceptional clarity and strength. The full precision of his triplets, pops, pipping, rolls and decorative tight fingering {notably on ‘Tailor’s Twist’ and ‘Flax in Bloom’} are clearly set against only drones. Somewhat showy and brisk- if galloped in Carolan tunes-playing is passionate, joyous and finley-tuned on flat and concert sets.’Sliabh na mBan with strong regulators employs a weak ending, but ‘Fead an Iolair’ marches’ rhythmic regulator patterning is unusual and dramatic for exploiting the pipes’ full potential.

Fintan Vallely

Since Leo’s first recording, a four track demo called Piping hot, I have been waiting for this fully fledged album. The promise shown in Piping hot has been fulfilled- and how!
In an era of high tech studio effects and arrangements, it is a brave step to record a truly solo album. This is unaccompanied ‘straight from the heart’ uilleann piping at its best. Leo’s technique is second to none and he has the rare gift of using this technique to enhance and embellish, rather than obscure. His interpretations and variations reveal fresh insights in otherwise well-worn tunes.
I have had many a session with Leo since our first encounter at the Bettystown Tionol in 1977 and his music has always excited and inspired me. I have no doubt that anyone who has the good fortune to hear this album will experience the same.’

Martin Nolan.

My friend Leo and I have been neighbours for at least thirty-two years, since he was a child and I was very young! It’s great that he has made this CD , carrying on the piping tradition of his uncle Jimmy Rickard and of course mixed with the style of the Travelling pipers and with his own individual style as well. So here we are on the Howth Peninsula and all over the country looking forward to great music sessions with Leo.
Slainte maith go deo

Barney McKenna.

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