Clare Horgan and Luascadh
Clare Horgan and Luascadh
Originally from Waterville, on the breathtakingly beautiful Ring of
Kerry, Clare grew up in a bilingual community on the edge of the Irish
Speaking (Gaeltacht) area of Ballinskelligs. By the age of eleven,
Clare had reached national level in the Fleadh Cheoil in the Sean-nós
category (unaccompanied singing in the Irish language).
From a childhood steeped in the rich tradition of Irish music, song,
dance and culture, Clare changed direction in the mid 90s when she
studied for a post-graduate Certificate in Jazz and Popular Music at
the Leeds College of Music. There she trained with talented Jazz
pianist Nikki Isles and pianist/vocalist Pete Churchill of London's
Guildhall School of Music. Clare's work encompassed a broad sweep of
ensembles from duo work through to Big Band and a 20-strong pop band
including backing vocal, horn & rhythm sections.
While at college, Clare fronted and led The Lilting Banshees, her six-
piece folk band, appearing at festivals in France and the UK. One of
the highlights of her time in Leeds saw her fronting a sixty-strong
Gospel choir on songs like Way over Yonder, Something inside so strong
and U2's I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
In 1999, Clare recorded a 4-track EP with four of the top Jazz
Musicians in the UK. Dave Newton (Piano); Andrew Cleyndert (Double
Bass); Steve Brown (Drums) and Don Patterson (Guitar). Tracks included
a soulful rendition of the old Sinatra favourite ln the wee small hours
of the morning, Jobim's Bossa Nova, Dindi, a medium swing
interpretation of Gershwin's But not for me and the hauntingly
beautiful Irish Lament An Leanbh Sí (The Fairy Child).
2000 saw Clare fronting a highly accomplished band of Belfast based
musicians on a very successful tour of her native County Kerry,
organised by Ceol Uibhraithigh, a Kerry based Arts and Culture
organisation.
The trio comprised Brian Connor - pianist and musical director of
River Dance and West Life; Alan Shields - one of Ireland's top double-
bass players and interestingly, John Wilson - formerly of Rory
Gallagher's band Taste. A trip to the South of France, in 2001 and
Southern Portugal in 2002 saw Clare gigging regularly with young local
musicians.
2005 saw Clare in London with her quintet, Luascadh (Swing), a
sensitive fusion of traditional Irish, Gospel and Jazz. Clare teamed
up with young Irish musicians including fellow Kerry woman Colette O'
Leary of the Bumblebees and talented Guitarist and Singer/Songwriter
Jay Owen in venues as diverse as the National Theatre, The Atrium in
Guys Hospital as well as The Hammersmith Irish Centre. Clare shared the
bill with Maestro Antonio Bresci at a charity gig in Greystones, in
Wicklow in April, 2005.
Summer 2005 saw Clare in Downtown Beirut where she joined local and
visiting Jazz musicians at the Blue Note. One of the highlights of her
trip was a guest spot with up and coming star, Lebanese/Parisian
saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh. Clare spent the winter of 2005 and the
Spring of 2006 in Paris where she had a residency at The Swan Bar in
Montparnasse, accompanied by Arnaud Gransac on piano and Eric Sindorf
on acoustic bass.
Clare's Debut Album, The Stolen Child, features top Irish jazz
musicians including bassist Dave Fleming and tenor saxophonist,
Richie Buckley as well as the aforementioned British jazz musicians
Andy Cleyndert, Dave Newton, Steve Brown and Don Patterson. This
combines studio and television work, recorded over the past decade in
Belfast, Dublin and London. Here, she shows an equal competence and
love for the music with which she was reared and the Jazz she adopted
as an adult.
In live performance however, Clare really comes into her own. Here she
has an ability to stop an audience in their tracks, taking them on an
unforgettable journey across a series of landscapes, emotional and
musical. In one song, Clare will draw you into the mystical world of
pre-Christian Ireland and in the next song, you will find yourself
tapping your feet in a dimly-lit jazz club in 1940s New York.
Having moved home to her much-loved Co. Kerry in June of last year,
Clare can be heard at various venues in and around the Dingle
peninsula.
Make sure not to miss the chance to hear this new arrival to the Irish
music scene, unique, not only for her powerful, haunting voice, but for
her hugely eclectic mix of songs and tunes from Big Bill Broonzy to Bob
Dylan, from the Bothy Band to Billie Holiday.
email: clare@horgan.com
website: clarehorgan.com
phone: +353 (0)87 9574855
Email: clare@horgan.com
Tel: IRL +353 66
9474191
Tel: IRL +353 87 9574855
