Éamonn Cagney is a Cork-based Percussionist-Composer who performs and tours regularly with Mel Mercier, Míchéal Ó Súilleabháin, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Niwel Tsumbu, Donal Dineen and many others. In 2011 he formed Convergence Ensemble, to perform new works of his own plus original compositions by Ensemble members Niwel Tsumbu, Martin Tourish & Dylan Gully.
Convergence Ensemble are a powerful and diverse World Music group, with a very authentic Intercultural theme and a line-up that boasts some real virtuoso musicians. Niwel Tsumbu, Dylan Gully and Martin Tourish are also established band-leaders with impressive live and recording resumés. Eamonn Cagney, Niwel Tsumbu and Dylan Gully recently toured China with Trasna Ensemble, led by Liam Ó Maonlaí and Mel Mercier. Martin Tourish was TG4 young traditional musician of the year in 2008.
INFLUENCES
World music / Traditional Irish music / African Rhythm / Balkan-Breton / Jazz(improv) with original works from Éamonn's new album "Convergence", and features of new material from Niwel Tsumbu, Martin Tourish and Dylan Gully. Convergence Ensemble are also available for activities, e.g. Interactive World Music Concerts and Educational Participatory Workshops.
BIOGRAPHIES
Éamonn Cagney is a percussionist,
composer, performer and educator. He has performed worldwide over
the last 15 years and has been active in Cork for the last 10 years.
He has established himself as one of the premiere musicians in the
country, having also worked with: Julie Feeney, Steve Cooney, Kila,
Micheal Buckley, Afel Bocoum, Nana Tsiboe, John Spillane, The Irish
Chamber Orchestra, Liam O’Maonlaí, Kate Ellis, Ma Xiaoue ("Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon" OST), Francesco Turrisi, Donal Dineen, The UCC
Choir, Niall Vallely, Oleg Ponomerov, Vivienne Long, Paddy Keenan
and Martin Tourish.
His interest and deep experience of
world, jazz and folk music fuel his debut album "Convergence"
(2011), his most recent live project Convergence Ensemble,
and his recent work with Trasna, Mel Mercier, Niwel Tsumbu, Roger
Doyle and Míchéal Ó Súilleabháin.
Past & Current Projects include:
Convergence Ensemble (2011-present)
A World Music album & performance project, managed by Éamonn
Cagney.
Trasna (with Liam Ó Maonlaí)
(2009 - Present) An Intercultural
Ensemble, Led by Mel Mercier (UCC) & Mary Hickson, and featuring
Liam Ó Maonlaí. Trasna have performed for UCC's music series 3 times
and collaborated with many intercultural musicians. In 2010
Trasna performed in Shanghai, China, as part of the World Expo
collaborating with Ma Xiaoue (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon OST)
Niwel Tsumbu (2004
- present) Niwel Tsumbu and Éamonn Cagney have
worked together for 9 years, working on 4 albums together. 2011 saw
the release of Niwel's Album "S'all Vibration", to great critical
acclaim. Featured on RTE 2's "The View" on Oct 27th 2011 &
Oct 24th 2006
Michéal Ó Súilleabháin
(2008-Present) Éamonn has worked with Míchéal
on a number of projects, most notably: Concert at Leuven
Institute of Ireland in Europe Nov. 4th 2008 (concert
produced by Margaret O'Sullivan, Arts projects Ireland)
Doras Luimní concert,
Limerick, Dec 8th 2010. Other performers on these projects included:
Tunde Jegede, Paddy Keenan, Afel Bocoum
POD Fusion (Paul O'Donnell jazz
project) (2009 - present)
Éamonn and Paul began collaborating on Paul's exciting Jazz/World
fusion project in 2009, and have performed at Cork's Jazz &
Midsummer festivals, UCC's Fuaim concert series and in many venues
in Cork city and county, including The Triskel arts centre, The
Spiegeltent, The Everyman palace theatre, The Granary theatre and
the Aula Maxima UCC. The project has hosted many of Ireland's
leading Jazz musicians, such as Micheal Buckley, Oleg Ponomerov and
Dan Bodwell.
Dance Éamonn's
latest dance-percussion projects include:
Collaborative Dance Project w/ John Ó'Sullivan,
Padraig Derrane, Lorcan facilitated by Mary Keane at The Firkin
Crane, Cork. African Dance module @
UL with dancer/choreographer Catherine Young, and
percussionist/arts practise scholar O'dyke Nzewi
Press: Éamonn has
appeared live on RTÉ TV's ‘The View’ twice and live in studio on
national and regional radio including RTE Radio's Eleventh Hour, The
JK Ensemble, Spectrum & Arena, Raidió na Gaeltachta, Newstalk and
Today FM. He has featured in national and local newspapers including
The Irish Times, Hot Press, magazines and online.
"Spinetingling percussion..Cagney's percussive contributions were
calculus-like, melding elastically with Tsumbu's
classically-influenced guitar lines" Siobhan Long ©
2007 Irish times
About "Convergence" Album:
"Somewhere in between all the different projects he was
involved in, Éamonn Cagney grabbed what ever time he could to record
his debut album "Convergence". "It was just an overall picture of
where my composing is right now," he says, "but I'll leave it up to
other people to define. I think instrumental world music is the
nearest, but it's a grey enough area as well." Contrasting it with
the live incarnation, he concludes. "This is more soundtrack studio
vibe. This is an album for the home." As well as the African
influences, the album touches on Asian and Middle Eastern vbes, but
the clearest idiom is traditional Irish. The energetic numbers carry
the greatest force. "Éirí na gréine" has real thrust, evoking
curraghs briskly chopping homeward bound through
the waves." Don O'Mahony, Evening Echo © 2011
Niwel Tsumbu is a virtuoso guitar player who moved to Ireland in 2004 from the Democratic Republic of Congo. An exceptional talent who quickly became a prominent face on the Irish music scene, having collaborated extensively with some of the most celebrated names in Irish Music such as Sinéad O'Connor, Liam O'Maonlaí, and Dónal Dineen, among others, as well as international stars such as Ma Xiaohui (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon soundtrack), Senegalese legend Baaba Maal, and Nigel Kennedy.
He has released 3 albums to critical acclaim ("Nzela Molayi", "Songs of the Nations", and "S'all Vibration"), and was funded by Cork City Council Arts Office to write a symphony known as 'The Big Bang Symphony' with The Clear Sky Ensemble, an assembled group of musicians from across the world, and is currently working on two operas scheduled for later this year. "One thing can not be disputed – the sheer musicianship of Niwel Tsumbu. As a singer, he shows flexibility and expressive power, and ranges from a kind of playful scat to full-throated passion. He is as happy digging into complex, involving solos on guitar as laying down rhythmic patterns." .Barra Ó Séaghdha, Journal of Music in Ireland
In 2013 his current projects are: Lead guitar in this year's Cork Opera house staging of Piazzolla's "Maria De Buenos Aires" Touring Ireland performing with "The new triangle" - a trio with Roger Doyle and Vivienne Long. Collaborating with Roger Doyle on Roger's latest commission "Space Opera". Performing with his most recent original music project "Multiverse" Niwel Tsumbu trades in good vibrations. His wayward incantations and surgically precise guitar lines were a breath of fresh air" Siobhan Long, Irish Times
Dylan Gully was born in Brittany in 1984. He learnt music through both academic studies and travels, as he has always had a passion for traditional music from Eastern to Western Europe. He has played the clarinet and flutes for about 20 years, and for the last 10 years in many transcultural projects fusing jazz, world music, or electronics and as an Engineer in music systems.
Dylan achieved a gold medal in clarinet for his performance in
2005 at the 'Conservatoire de Lille' (France), an
electronic/computer engineering Diploma in 2007, and a M.Sc. in
Music Technology in 2008 at the University of
Limerick, specialising in the developement of plugins and
interactive systems for live performances.
From 1998 to 2003 he
played classical, jazz and trad pieces with the Belgian pianist and
composer Laurent Beeckmans. In 2003 he collaborated with the French
composer Geoffrey François, president of ‘Le Sémaphone’
(Contemporary music organisation) for the creation of a piece for
two clarinets based on microtonal materials. In 2005 he was chosen
as the solo performer for the Stravinsky piece Ebony Concerto by the
Wind Orchestra of 'Conservatoire de Lille'.
In 2004 he become part of the ensemble "Tarab Med", fusing Mediterranean music with musicians from Marocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Liban, Turquey, and Greece. Tarab Med have since played about 50 concerts including Festival les Milles et Une, Festival de la danse orientale, Centre Culturel du monde Arabe, and Het Lindeboom Festival. Tarab Med played a series of concerts in tribute to Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwich, and collaborated several times with the Belgian klezmer band 'Krupnik' to promote peace between Jewish and Arab communities.
In 2005 Dylan received the ‘Best Soloist’ Award in the competition ‘La piposa’ for Traditional music in the North of France and in 2006 won the Het Lindeboom competition for traditional music with the trio Troad, which then released the album "Effervescence" under the Wild Boar Music imprint in Belgium.
In 2007 Dylan founded the band Txütxükan, whose music was a collaborative work of compositions integrating elements of various musics around the world, mainly inspired by Balkan and Gypsy music. Txütxükan released a first album "Balkan Jig" in September 2008, and played over 170 gigs mainly in France, Germany, and Ireland; including: Sligo Cairde Festival, Dun Laoghaire Festival of world Cultures, Fusion Festival, Dingle's Festival Na Beltaine, Sixmilebridge Festival, Festival Wazemmes l'Accordeon, Festival Aurillac, Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, Friedrischroda Festival, Cork Midsummmer Festival.
The
band lived in Ireland for few months to record a new album which is
now being mixed & mastered.
In 2009 Dylan was chosen as the mascot of the
Trek'n Folk Festival for which he created a solo performance with
clarinet and electronics. While living in Ireland he was part of the
Limerick Jazz Society, and became a member of the Cork band
Lazik fusing Irish and Balkan music. Lazik released the album "Far
Fetched" in March 2011 and played in many festivals around Ireland,
collaborated with the singer Andy Ivrine for Cork Folk Festival and
with Martin O Connor and band for Dun Laoghaire festival of world
cultures.
In 2010 Dylan was part of the UCC transcultural project Trasna, directed by Mel Mercier, where he met and played with Eamon Cagney, Liam O Maonlai, Paul O Donnell, Niwel Tsumbu, Mary Hickson, Francesco Turisi, and Niall Vallely. Trasna collaborated with a Moroccan Gnawa ensemble, traditional Irish music Powerhouse Guidewires, virtuoso Basque Txalaparta duo Ttukunak, dancer Colin Dunne and Miss Ma (Fiddler in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) representing Ireland in Shangai World Expo.
Dylan then started composing and performing sound tracks for theatres and films. He played the piece "Lake of Shadows" with jazz pianist Justin Carroll and the musicians of the band Kilà, for the film "The Rafters" by John Carney. He performed around a hundred shows with actor Damian Punch for the show "Walking Man", a youth theatre production by Graffiti Theatre Company, directed by Sile Ni Bhroin. He recorded for the sound track of "The School for scandals" produced by Mel Mercier for The Barbican Theatre, London, and composed several pieces for short films by Maciek Klich and Naomi Fein. He is also involved in a new "ciné-concert" project directed by French accordion player Benjamin Macke.
Since 2011 Dylan has toured with various bands and artists. In 2012 he was funded by the "International gathering for trad clarinet" in Brittany to launch a new Irish Music quartet through residencies and concerts, to promote the use of clarinet within Irish music.
Martin Tourish is an accordionist, composer and PhD candidate from Co. Donegal. His debut album Clan Ranald was listed by Earle Hitchner as in the top 20 albums of 2005, a track of which now features on The Rough Guide to Irish Folk Vol. 2. In 2008, he was named as Young Musician of the Year by TG4 for whom he later composed and produced the theme music, for their brand advertisement campaign. In 2010, he presented an episode of the traditional music show Geantraí and worked on the album An Tain with Lorcan Mac Mathuna amongst others, a song from which has recently been selected from over twenty thousand other entries for the finals of the International Song Writing competition. Also in 2010, Martin’s recording with the National Symphony Orchestra was released on the Naxos album Music for Great Films of the Silent Era and featured a French musette sound. In 2011, he and a number of other Irish musicians produced a Galician/ Irish concert with Carlos Nunez as part of President MacAleese’s visit to Madrid.
In 2012, his song
An Ghealóg was released by Altan on their new album The Poison Glen
while another composition The Seventh Degree is played by Triona
Marshall of the Cheiftains as part of their show. In early 2013,
Martin collaborated with Triona to orchestrate two pieces for The
Chieftains.
Martin has played swing music with the café
orchestra, eastern European music with Yurodny, Congolese music with
Niwel Tsumbu, Russian music with Koshka, whilst he has shared the
stage with The Chieftains and the Royal Albert Hall, Vicar Street
with Donal Lunny, and performed numerous times over the last year
playing the accordion role with Altan.
Martin's latest album has recently been completed and is awaiting release. He is currently completing his PhD at the Conservatory of Music and Drama and in July, a number of articles he wrote will be published in the forthcoming Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland.
Peter Erdei B.A., M.Mus Electric bassist, born in Debrecen, Hungary. He started his music studies at the age of five. He studed Jazz and earned Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Performance Degree at Newpark Music Centre in Dublin-Ireland in 2008 under the guidance of Cormac O'Brien bassist and Mr. Ronan Guilfoyle recognized Irish jazz bassist and composer. In 2011 he completed his Masters Degree in Music at Dublin Institute Of Technology.
Peter has performed in
several countries including Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Germany,
Belgium, Croatia, United Kingdom, Spain, and Ireland on festivals
like: Bratislava Jazz Festival, Jazz Hoeilaart Festival in Brussels,
Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, Dun Laoghaire Festival Of World
Cultures, Wexford Arts Festival. He played and recorded with artists
such as Andrea Szulak(H), Kriszta Kovats(H), Peter Gerendas(H),
Elastic Axis Band(UK), Nbae Ndjae(SN), Rodrigo Gozalez
Pahlen(PY-CH), Liam O’Maonlai, Donal Dineen, Niwel Tsumbu, Martin
Tourish, Éamonn Cagney, Hugh Buckley, Alex Mathias, Nick Roth,
Dublin City Jazz Orchestra to mention but a few. He also
participated in the first live performance of “Windows” by the
British composer Alex Harker on the Late Music Festival in York(UK)
in 2008. In the recent years he toured twice with NiwelTsumbu’s Song
Of The Nations, toured with The Heartbeat founded by the Music
Network, and Éamonn Cagney’s Convergence Tour in 2011. In 2012 he
co-founded ‘The Multiverse’ , an instrumental trio with Niwel Tsumbu
and Shane O’Donovan.
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