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Jeff Moehlis: Getting Jiggy with The Chieftains
Imagine moving to a new country and immediately being told that you have to fight in a war you know nothing about.
This happened in the 1840s to a group of Irish immigrants to the United States who, upon arrival, were immediately conscripted and forced to fight against Mexico in the Mexican-American War. But some of these soldiers ended up switching sides, fighting for Mexico and ultimately being executed for desertion.
Their story is told in song by The Chieftains on their soon-to-be-released album San Patricio, which is Spanish for St. Patrick. These songs were featured prominently in The Chieftains’ show at The Granada on Monday night, part of UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 50th season and, amazingly, The Chieftains’ 48th year.
Well, really it would be more accurate to say that the show was by “The Chieftains and Friends.”
The Chieftains were represented by leader and founder Paddy Moloney (uilleann pipes, tin whistle, amusing banter) and longtime band members Kevin Conneff (bodhran, vocals), who, early in the show, sang the moving “The May Morning Dew” without accompaniment, and Matt Malloy (flute). Chieftains fiddler Sean Keane is not on tour.
The core lineup was rounded out by fiddlers Deanie Richardson and Jon Pilatzke, who also did some fantastic Irish dancing; guitarist Jeff White; who sang “Wabash Cannonball” that segued into a rousing version of “Cotton Eyed Joe”; and harpist Triona Marshall. Also gracing the stage were dancers “Crazy Legs” Nathan Pilatzke, Pilatzke’s brother, and the lovely Cara Butler. Plus, Scottish singer Alyth McCormack sang several songs, including the mesmerizing “Foggy Dew.”
Helping out were legendary guitarist Ry Cooder, who co-produced the new album, and Mexican-American roots band Los Cenzontles and accompanying dancers, who provided interesting sonic and stylistic texture to the show.
And let’s not forget the SoCal talent that was also featured, namely, costumed dancers from the McCartan School of Irish Dancing, and the bagpipe and drum troupe from the Gold Coast Pipe Band, which came out for the new song “March to Battle (Across the Rio Grande).”
Of course, there were a lot of Irish jigs — we are talking about The Chieftains, after all — with truly spectacular Irish dancing from Butler and the Pilatzke brothers, sometimes with Jon starting on fiddle and then jumping up and joining the others midsong.
The Chieftains’ back catalog was represented by several songs from their 1996 album Santiago, which garnered their sixth Grammy award, the Sting-free “Mo Ghile Mear,” and “Rocky Road to Dublin” with a brief riff from “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” in a nod to The Rolling Stones who recorded it with The Chieftains in 1995.
New songs included the Cooder-penned and -sung “The Sands of Mexico” from the album San Patricio, which he described as “a letter home” expressing a soldier’s “last thoughts” before being executed. Cooder also took the lead on the old Mexican song “Cancion Mixteca” by Jose Lopez Alavez.
The main set closed with a playful jig punctuated by solo performances from the various players. This included Conneff singing “I"m Here Because I’m Here,” White singing “Alabama Jubilee” and Marshall playing a heavenly harp piece.
Cooder led off the encore with the darkly humorous “Goodnight Irene,” with the audience joining in for the chorus. Last up was the final jig, during which the various dancers formed a line that bounced through the aisles, recruiting a few festive souls to join in.
In the end, The Chieftains had acquired a few more friends to help out with an amazing performance.
Slainte!
— Noozhawk contributor Jeff Moehlis is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB. Upcoming show recommendations are available on his Web site, music-illuminati.com.
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