Irish tunes sweet music to his ears
David Such doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in him. The roots of his family tree trail back to Poland and the former Czechoslovakia.
But while Such is no son of St. Patrick, he definitely qualifies for honorary membership. Few around here know more than Such when it comes to the musical traditions of Ireland.
Or that mysterious concept the Irish call “craic.”
The word – pronounced “crack” – is repeated often in a real Irish pub.
It’s basically about having a good time, explains Such. “It’s storytelling. It’s joking. It’s dancing. It’s music. It’s drinking. It’s all of these things rolled into craic.”
Such, 51, is a music instructor at Spokane Community College. He holds a doctorate from UCLA in ethnomusicology, a fancy term for the study of world music.
Such has produced an award-winning documentary on the instrument-making and music of a tribe of former headhunters called the Kalinga. He also created a documentary on the life of Amador Ballumbrosio, a black Peruvian dancer and violinist.
And now Such has trained his academic eyes and ears on the infectious, toe-tapping music of the Irish.
Mike Lynch, SCC’s electronic media producer, tagged along with Such last August to videotape interviews during a three-week visit to County Sligo in northwest Ireland.
The two returned with 25 hours of video capturing the region’s musical heritage. Such and Lynch are now in the final editing and script-writing stages. The documentary is called “From the Kitchen to the World Stage – Irish Traditional Music in County Sligo.”
Readers with computers need not wait for a finished product. You can enjoy a taste of Such’s fascinating film by going to spokesmanreview.com/dougclark.
This is mandatory viewing for anyone seeking an authentic “craic experience” on Friday, which, if you forgot, is St. Patrick’s Day.
“It’s that feeling when you’re out with your buddies having a helluva time,” says Lynch, 39, when I ask for his take on craic. “Next thing you know, somebody would pull out a fiddle and a whistle and the sessions would begin.”
During the journey, Such interviewed characters like P.J. Duffy.
A colorful Sligo native well into his 70s, Duffy has an especially sharp memory when it comes to recalling neighbors who had an illegal still or road dances where as many as 120 people would gather for a night of fun.
“There was plenty of liquor,” Duffy says in the film. “And the musicians got any amounts of it free.”
Raised in Los Angeles, Such grew up steeped in the music of polka king Frankie Yankovic. His tastes gave way to jazz as he began building his chops on the flute and the saxophone.
Then Such began to branch out – way out. He mastered uncommon instruments such as the “nay,” a Middle Eastern rim-blown flute, and the “ti-tzu,” a Chinese bamboo flute.
According to his biography, Such “exchanged lessons on the Egyptian and Western flutes with Egypt’s best players while sitting in the wee morning hours atop Cairo’s ancient pyramids.”
(You can listen to an example of Such’s artistry on the aforementioned Web site.)
This was Such’s second musical expedition to Ireland. He also visited the Sligo area in 1981.
It’s impossible for anyone with a soul not to succumb to Irish music. The bouncy tempos, the lyrical melodies defy the poverty, hardships and hunger of those who created this wonderful art form.
As Such explains, “Playing music and dancing was the one thing that made you forget the rest of your week. It made you look beyond the rest of your condition. These were simple people just trying to survive.”
OK. The lesson’s over. Now hoist a pint and get craic-ing.