Michael Coleman (musician)
Encyclopedia
Early years
Michael Coleman was born in Knockgrania, in the rural Killavil district, near Ballymote, County Sligo, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. His father, James Coleman, was from Banada in County Roscommon, and a respected flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
player. Michael was the seventh child of James and Beatrice, and the surviving half of a pair of twins.
As a child he learned step dancing and fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
playing, and performed at local houses. His elder brother Jim had a high reputation but was never recorded. In his formative years Michael was influenced by Uilleann pipers (a type of bagpipe), including Johnny Gorman. Coleman was also influenced by the playing of James Scott Skinner
James Scott Skinner
James Scott Skinner was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler, and composer.Skinner was born in Banchory, near Aberdeen. His father was a dancing master on Deeside. James was only eighteen months old when his father died. When James was seven, his elder brother, Sandy, gave him lessons in...
.
He left school in 1908, at the age of 17. He competed at the Sligo Feis Ceoil in 1909 and again in 1910, and was placed joint third on both occasions. In 1914 he moved to Manchester, England to live with his older brother Pat, but returned home after several months.
Emigration to the United States
In October 1914, at the age of twenty-three, Coleman sailed to AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with his friend John Hunt
John Hunt
John Hunt may refer to:*John Hunt , Quaker minister, originally from London, England, and one of the "Virginia Exiles"*John Hunt , Quaker minister and journalist from Moorestown, New Jersey...
. Initially he stayed with his aunt in Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
and joined the Keith Theatres vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit, and played at many venues. In 1917, he settled in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and married Marie Fanning, originally from County Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
, Ireland. They had one child, Mary.
Between 1921 and 1936 he recorded roughly eighty 78-rpm record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s for many record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s, including: Shannon, Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
, New Republic, Pathe, O'Beirne de Witt, Victor Records
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
, Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
, and Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. Some of these were re-issued under the Intrepid, Coral Records
Coral Records
Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....
, and Ace of Hearts labels. He was mainly accompanied by pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
s, but on some recordings he used guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
s.
He was the most famous exponent of the Sligo style, both at technical and expressive levels. The Sligo fiddle style is highly decorative, using many triplet
Tuplet
In music a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the...
s. James Morrison
James Morrison (fiddler)
James or Jim Morrison , known as "The Professor", was a notable South Sligo-style Irish fiddler.Morrison was born in 1893 near Riverstown, County Sligo at the townland of Drumfin...
is another exponent of this style. Michael's records reached County Sligo, and influenced a new generation. He died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and is buried in St. Raymond's Cemetery, in the Bronx.
Legacy
Flute-player Seamus TanseySeamus Tansey
Seamus Tansey, also spelled Séamus Tansey, is an Irish flute player born in Sligo, Ireland in 1943. He won the All-Ireland flute title in 1965.- Discography :This may not yet be a complete discography....
, accordionist Joe Burke and tin whistle
Tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
player Carmel Gunning
Carmel Gunning
Carmel Gunning is an Irish composer and musician, from Sligo, Ireland. Gunning is one of Ireland's most accomplished tin whistle players who is also known for her singing and flute playing. Gunning's rich stylised form of whistle playing and tradition stems from her homeland of Geevagh in South...
were all clearly influenced by Coleman.
In 1974, a monument was erected by the Coleman Traditional Society. It is close to his birthplace, on the Tubbercurry
Tubbercurry
Tubbercurry or Tobercurry is a town in County Sligo, Ireland. It lies at the foot of the Ox Mountains, on the N17 national primary road.Tubbercurry has a very active Tidy Towns Project which is setting out to transform the town's visual appearance...
to Gurteen road. Nearby is the Coleman Heritage Centre, a music archive and a replica of the house where he lived. The monument bears this inscription:
- "Michael Coleman. Master of the fiddle. Saviour of Irish traditional music. Born near this spot in 1891. Died in exile 1945."
Discography
- Irish Jigs and Reels - Coral LP CRL 57369
- The Enduring Magic (2004)
- Michael Coleman 1889–1945
- (Various Artists) Past Masters of Irish Fiddle Music