March 14, 2009

" Danny Boy ", by Keith Jarrett



Take a lovely tune ( " Londonderry Air " ), bring to it lyrics by Frederick Weatherly ( an English lawyer! ), blend them together, and the result is this signature Irish tune. But it's long since jumped the shores of Ireland.

With it's themes of loss, and the love of family and between the generations, " Danny Boy " strikes a resonant chord in Asia. It ( as is " Sally Gardens " ) is well known in Japan and Korea.

But here, there are no lyrics, and we strip it down to " Londonderry Air ", as performed by Keith Jarrett. The great jazz pianist had suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome which kept him housebound for long periods of time.

But he got a bit better, well enough to do these 2002 concerts in Tokyo. I don't think that he's overemoting here. He may be struggling physically and emotionally, and he really knows what this most tune, and what the here unspoken words mean.

To the entire tribe, and I cast a fairly wide net when I say that - Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it St Patty's day again? :-)

Unknown said...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everybody

Anonymous said...

Wish we were all gathering with the Monaghan crowd on 43rd (?) street today, with Uncle B leading the way...