Mountain climbers

The Chieftains are Ireland's premier musical ambassadors

by Jim Macnie

Passion, virtuosity and joy are all a part of the Chieftains musical world. But as the years go on, it's likely the band's essence can be summarized with another word: diversity. Though many listeners know the ensemble as master musicians who have earned themselves a global reputation by interpreting traditional Irish music, the band has long had myriad interests. They've revitalized Spanish folk tunes, collaborated with countless pop and rock stars, provided engrossing soundtracks for several Hollywood films, shared the stage with 150 Buddhist monks, and sowed the seeds for that bounty of Celtic choreography, Riverdance. Along the way, they've won Grammy after Grammy after Grammy. Tin whistles, fiddles, pipes and bodhrans? Sure. But big ideas, too.

"All that stuff," grins chief Chieftain Paddy Maloney, "has been part of our mission." Maloney is a founding member of the venerable ensemble, as well as its genial straw boss. He echoes the sentiments of his esteemed bandmates in describing the directions taken by the Chieftains over the years. "The goal is simple -- putting people in touch with the rich Irish culture. It's what God put us here to do," assures Maloney. "I've personally had the urge to spread the word since I was in my teens and heard the Clancy Brothers making a name for themselves. There are people who think that Irish music starts and finishes with Mother McCrea and the other tearjerkers. Those tunes are fine in their own way, but great Irish music encompasses much more, and deserves as large an audience as possible. We've made a mountain of work as a band, but there's still an awful lot to go."

Last year that mountain became a bit taller. The Chieftains began 1998 with one of their most highly visible and roundly celebrated projects ever, the soundtrack to the PBS documentary, Long Journey Home. Director Thomas Lennon's film was an enthralling portrait of the hardships and victories experienced by Irish immigrants in the new world. Maloney was the executive producer of the film's music, designing the tone of tracks cut with singers such as Vince Gill, Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor, and Mary Black. Each illustrates the various emotions comprising Lennon's tale. Elvis Costello wrote the title tune.

"I thought he'd write the words and I'd get a choir or something to sing it," chuckles Maloney. "But he asked me flat-out: `What about me? Shouldn't I sing it?' It was perfect."

Perfect too is Maloney is own arrangements for the thematic material which accentuates many of the films visuals. Using traditional melodies, he created a score that was keenly interpreted by the Irish Film Orchestra. "The idea is to broaden the effect," Maloney explains. "They're very old songs that have gone through different stages and are now orchestrated pieces. At the kick-off party I played the main tune the way I heard my grandfather play it when I was young. It goes to show that no matter what you do with a 90-piece orchestra, you can go back to your old tin whistle."

Collaborations have become the Chieftains' stock-in-trade. During the hippie era they jammed with trad Indian musicians. In '83 they went to the Orient and raised the roof with Chinese players. The public has been entranced ever since they united with flutist James Galway back in the '70s. Irish music seems to be quite a pliable sound.

"Touring the world with good old Jimmy Galway was exciting for us," says Maloney, "but of course that spirit of sharing was always there. We were working with Paul McCartney and Mike McGear back in 1971."

Irish Heartbeat, the band's 1988 partnership with Van Morrison, is heralded as one of best confluences between traditional and pop attitudes. In 1995 The Long Black Veil became the highest charting record of the group's career. It also won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for Morrison's performance on "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" ("Shenandoah," Morrison's Long Journey Home track, earned the band's latest Grammy, won two weeks ago). Long Black Veil's participants needed little introduction: Sting, Mick Jagger, Mark Knopfler, Sinéad O'Connor, Ry Cooder, and Marianne Faithful all helped out.

The record's success leads the way for the latest Chieftains disc, Tears of Stone (RCA Victor), which recruits an all-woman cast to express its feelings on the subject of love. "Some tunes are sad, some are happy and some are funny," says Maloney. "That's the way love goes, you know?" O'Connor joins forces with Joan Osborne, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Loreena McKennitt, and the Rankin Family.

"Joan Osborne's got lots of soul," assures Maloney. "She had tears in her eyes at the end of the session." The disc opens with an Irish girls choir, and a Yeats poem being read by Brenda Fricker, the Oscar-winning mother of Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot.

Maloney explains that his ideas about uniting singer and song are born in the gut. "I just have a strong feeling for how a particular match-up will sound," he says. "And though I try to offer the artist a choice, I usually wind up suggesting things. Sometimes I sing the song and what might be done with it to them on the telephone. Sinéad and I must have gone over 40 songs for Long Black Veil.

"I love challenges," he continues. "Of course, there's always that moment of wondering, `Did I make the right decision? Is this artist right for the record?' Who would have thought that Sinead would be able to sing so well with a band like ours? But she's the best, very heavy. Same thing with Sting; we did `Mo Ghile Mear' in his front parlor . . . and the rapport was obvious. It was like having a party."

The Chieftains' art of collaboration is accepted by many, but not all. "There have been some begrudgers in the press," recalls Maloney. "A guy wrote something about Long Black Veil and really got the old knife in. With some people there's a `How dare you?' type of feel. But many see the point; it was never meant to be purely traditional stuff."

Odd hook-ups have always been part of the band's agenda. About 30 years ago in London they shared a bill with a troupe of Indian musicians -- after the gig, they all wound up jamming. "It was a right session," recalls Maloney. "We got going with a sitar and a little Indian organ and tablas. But that was too far afield for the times; no one would really allow you to play in public with such a thing."

The Chieftains don't need any outside help generating electricity on stage. Comprised of virtuosos, their esprit de corps is legendary. Recently they've begun to deliberate about a no-guests disc, a move back to the essence of their musicianship.

"The boys all talk about it," muses Maloney. "We always go back to what got us here, so it will happen soon enough. When were together, the music comes naturally. Someone will spark something and we just start to soar. Though there are a lot of great players out there, I think we're still unique to a degree."

The audience reaction to a Chieftains shows is somewhat predictable: massive appreciation combined with a bit of weepiness. Some of those traditional melodies are as bittersweet as they are beautiful. "And sometimes we're doing the crying," Maloney assures. "When you come up the ramp and all those people are cheering after 35 years, there are a few tears in our eyes, too."

That kind of warmth has defined the Chieftains music from the start. As far as emotions go, the only competition is the profound whimsy that continues to define the band's personality. Maloney and his mates would have it no other way.

"We still get a thrill out of fooling around, playing and playing and playing," he enthuses. "One of the funniest scenes I've ever witnessed was at a bar. The jukebox was playing the Rolling Stones, and Sean Keane takes out his fiddle and starts belting away with the tune. I myself have whipped out the tin whistle and joined in with blues bands -- all impromptu. That rambunctious spirit has always been there in us. And that's part of what we hope to convey. Really, that's what makes life living."

The Chieftains will appear at the Providence Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. Call 421-ARTS.