Andy Irvine & Dónal Lunny's Mozaik | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ireland,Bulgaria/Hungary,Netherlands,United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2002–present day |
| Members | Andy Irvine Dónal Lunny Bruce Molsky Nikola Parov Rens van der Zalm |
| Website | andyirvine |
Andy Irvine & Dónal Lunny's Mozaik [a.k.a.Mozaik] is a multicultural folk band consisting ofAndy Irvine,Dónal Lunny,Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm. Created in 2002, the band have toured Australia, Europe, USA and Japan, and recorded four albums.
In a 2005 interview, Irvine stated:
But now I have a new band called Mozaik. Not the M-o-s-a-i-c version of 1985 but the M-o-z-a-i-k version, and it's kind of exciting.
In the winter of 1984, Irvine gathered a collection of musicians from throughout Europe and formed 'Mosaic',[1] with a final line-up including Irvine himself, Dónal Lunny along with his former Moving Hearts associate, uilleann piperDeclan Masterson, Danish bassist and singer Lissa Ladefoged, Dutch guitarist and singerHans Theessink, and Hungarian singerMárta Sebestyén fromMuzsikás.[2]: 11
Their first public gig was inBudapest on 12 July 1985, followed by a further two gigs in Hungary and an appearance at theDranouterfestival in Belgium in early August, prior to their English tour.[2]: 11 Their seventh gig was billed at theSouthport Arts Center, which Chris Hardwick ofFolk Roots reviewed with the following introduction: "Every once in a while the folk scene throws up a new permutation in which exceptionally gifted individuals come together to produce something so innovative and exhilarating that it goes way beyond the sum of the parts".[3]: 42–43
Their set included:Stan Rogers's "Northwest Passage", an unspecifiedMacedonian dance tune ("one of Andy's 90 mph specials"[3]: 43 ), a solo Hungarian love song from Sebestyén, a brooding cover ofEric Von Schmidt's Caribbean lament "Joshua Gone Barbados" from Theessink, the Irish three (Irvine, Lunny and Masterson) on a set of reels including "The Spike Island Lasses", and Irvine singing Andy Mitchell's "Indiana". However, the band lasted only that one summer.
A couple of years later,[4]: 15 Irvine stated that he would have liked to try the experiment again by concentrating on the Irish and East European sound without bringing in the blues influence.
In early 2002, Irvine drafted some long-time musical friends and formed his dream band, consisting of himself and Lunny,AmericanfiddlerBruce Molsky,Bulgaro-Hungarian multi-instrumentalist Nikola Parov (Zsaratnok, theRiverdance band)[5][6] andDutch multi-instrumentalist Rens van der Zalm (Fungus, Wolverei).[7] Their repertoire includes selections of Irvine's own compositions,[8][9]Irish traditional songs,[10]Southeastern European/Balkan folk music,[11][12][1] and Molsky'sOld-timey songs andAppalachian fiddling. Between them, they play the following instruments:
Since their collaboration began in 2002, they have toured Australia, Europe, USA and Japan with great success.[13][14]
On 1 March 2002, Mozaik congregated in the seaside town ofRye, Victoria in Australia for six days of intensive rehearsals.[15] The Australian tour that followed culminated in two gigs recorded at theBrisbane Powerhouse on 30/31 March and released on the albumLive from the Powerhouse[16] in 2004, under license toCompass Records.[15][17]
In January and April 2005, the band rehearsed new material forChanging Trains,[18] their first studio album recorded in Budapest during November of the same year.[19] This album was initially released by the band in Australia in 2006 and, after additional re-mixing by Lunny at Longbeard Studios in Dublin, was re-released in the autumn of 2007 under license toCompass Records.[17][19]
On 16 and 17 June 2012, two concerts took place atDublin'sVicar Street venue to celebrate Irvine's 70th birthday.[20] He was joined onstage byPaul Brady[21] and various combinations of members ofSweeney's Men,Planxty, Mozaik andLAPD, plus brothers George and Manoli Galiatsos who came unexpectedly all the way fromAthens for the concerts.[20][22] A CD and a separate DVD were released, each featuring a different selection of material from the concerts.[20][23]