Annotation:Larry Redican's Bow

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LARRY REDICAN'S BOW. AKA - "Gerrity's Reel," "The Gerrity Reel," "Gavin's," "Redican's Bow." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. This tune is associated with fiddler, banjo player and composer Larry Redican (1908-1975), a musician born in Boyle, Roscommon who emigrated to the New York in 1928. The "Redican's Bow" title was given to the tune by fiddler Seamus Connolly as a tribute to Redican's unique bowed triplets. In New York, it was known to Andy McGann as "Mary Claflin," a title that was a tribute to a friend of Redican's. A source older than Redican, however, was the fiddler John "Jack" Gerrity, who recorded a setting of this tune in the key of A in New York in October 1920. The side was issued on Columbia under the title "Gerrity Reel" (advertised by the O'Byrne DeWitt record shop as "Gerrity's Reel"). "Professor" Gerrity recorded only two solo discs, as well as a couple of duet 78's with piper Tom Ennis and melodeonist P.J. Conlon. In the early 1920s, he often played at Donovan's Halls near Columbus Circle and later served as the bandleader for Irish dancing at the Mayo Halls at 67th Street and Third Avenue.

Source for notated version: Phillip Duffy (b. London, 1966, since to County Sligo) [Flaherty]; the Gavins of Ballina [O'Malley].

Printed sources: Black (Music's the Very Best Thing), 1996; No. 186, p. 98. Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1991; p. 34 (appears as "unknown"). O'Malley (Luke O'Malley's Collection of Irish Music), 1976; No. 13 (as "Gavin's").

Recorded sources: Columbia E7084 78 rpm (1920), John Gerrity, as "Gerrity Reel." Green Linnett GLCD 1987, Seamus Connolly – "Notes From My Mind" (1988) as "Larry Redican's Bow." Rounder Records, Tim Britton – "Light Through the Leaves" (appears as "Redigan." Learned from Jimmy Devine in Philadelphia).

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]

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