Sundays at Lena’s Book (with CD)

Get to the heart of East Clare music with Mary MacNamara’s new book “Sundays at Lena’s” which is a collection of memories and transcriptions of regional settings of tunes recorded in the last century from musicians of the East Clare Irish Music Tradition. There are three strands to this publication:

• Mary includes her memories of each musician. These are personal reminiscences that bring each musician into focus for the reader.
• It details the music of six wonderful musicians who nurtured Mary as a musician when she was a child growing up in East Clare. Over 150 tunes are transcribed in notation which is totally faithful to the original archive recordings on which they are based.
• By purchasing this book, you also get a CD with 29 tracks which are original recordings of the musicians. These are sample tracks taken from recordings made in the late 1950’s, 1960s and 1970s.

This publication has been supported with a Deis Recording and Publication Award from the Arts Council

Sundays at Lena’s has now been reprinted and the original version with CD is now available in soft cover.

The Lady's Cup of Tea

Mary's new album (2016). On this album Mary is joined by her daughter Sorcha on fiddle. Mary and Sorcha have been playing music together since Sorcha was a young child. Over the years they have enjoyed an innate understanding of each other’s music.

This recording endeavours to capture the magical empathy that results from such a musical bond. Both Mary and Sorcha also play solo selections on this album.

Sorcha’s brother Pádraig adds to the “family fusion” in his accompaniment on tracks 9 and 14. Geraldine Cotter provides wonderfully sensitive and tasteful accompaniment on all other tracks.

Note for Note

Recorded in 2014 in the inspirational atmosphere of Peadar O’Riada’s house in the Cuil Aodha gaeltacht in west Cork it presents Mary’s music without any other accompaniament or instrumentation. Mary says: 'Down through the years I have enjoyed playing music in all formats and combinations - sessions, duets, trios, groups and bands but solo playing has always been where I considered a musician's soul is discovered. It was natural for me then to put together a solo album drawing on tunes I picked up over the years. Some I learned as a child playing with Joe Bane, Martin Rochford, Bill Malley, John Naughton and P Joe Hayes while others were learned from the playing of some of the great musicians I have been fortunate enough to know in more recent years. All of the tunes are ones that appeal to me and have meaning for me. I hope that they will speak to you too.'

Traditional Music from East Clare

Mary's first solo album recorded in 1993 was received with much acclaim. It was awarded the Irish Times Traditional Album of the Year 1994. See the review page. The in depth notes provided are written by Jackie Small. This is an atmospheric and captivating CD with the hallmark style of Mary’s uncluttered music. The album has guest appearances by fiddle players P.Joe Hayes and Martin Hayes and piano accompaniments by Seamus Quinn.

The Blackberry Blossom

Mary's second CD is another gem with Geraldine Cotter on piano, as well as Mary’s brother Andrew MacNamara (accordion) and Catherine McEvoy (flute) on a few tracks. See the review page.

Open Hearth

This is a duet album with Mary’s brother Andrew. The album reaches back to the 1970s when Mary and Andrew regularly listened to Joe Bane (whistle and flute) and Bill Malley (fiddle) in Lena’s Bar in Feakle. The recording is true to the tunes and style of music played on those wonderful Sunday evenings. The music is unaccompanied and you can almost feel the warmth from Lena’s fire and experience the magic of the atmosphere of the session.