The High Level

I first heard Bobby Gardiner when I was fourteen years of age while playing with the Tulla Ceili Band for a ceili in Roscrea. He joined the band for a few tunes and set the whole place hopping with his dynamic rhythm and energy. I've never forgotten the mighty lift in his music. It's the kind of lift that makes a great dancer have to dance. Bobby is the master of this rhythm, and yet he remains sensitive to the beauty of the melody, never overcrowding it with more ornaments than are needed. His music is a dancer's dream that works just as well to listen to. This is a difficult balance to strike but Bobby does it with ease. It is an honour to put pen to paper to endorse such a fine musician and gentleman. Thank you Bobby for all the great music and for making one more great recording.

Martin Hayes

I am very happy to be involved in this recording of Bobby, Ann and family. We are fortunate to have a musician of Bobby's ability and creativity and I am certain that this CD will give much pleasure to his many admirers. Right from the first track, a live performance recorded in Carol Talty's kitchen in Doolin, this is exceptional playing by a master, enjoying his craft.

Bobby was reared in a house in which traditional music was loved and played. Having briefly mastered a few tunes on his mother's German Concertina, he later switched to the melodeon/accordion, which Bobby with his older brother Pete his brother Mick was playing, and never looked back. Around 1956 he played with the Kilfenora Ceili Band prior to joining the Malachy Sweeney Band from CountyArmaghas a professional musician, travelling the length and breadth of Ireland.

Bobby emigrated to the USAin 1960, around the time when the old 78RPM gramophone records were coming to an end. In 1962 he was contacted by Justus O'Byrne Dewitt of Copley Records, Bostonto record an accordion album which was called 'Memories of Clare'. This LP record was lively, spontaneous and highly acclaimed.

Bobby returned to Irelandin 1970 and set up home near Burncourt, in south Tipperary. Accompanied by his wife Ann, he returned to playing music around

the country often performing in his native Co. Clare where great set dancers knocked sparks off the floor in places like Kilmaley and Kilmihill. From playing the melodeon on the back of a camel at the Great Wall of China to lilting the 'Boys of Ballysodare'for the Sultan of Oman, Comhaltas tours have taken the Clareman to many countries. Bobby has been associated with the music department of University College Cork for over twenty-five years as an accordion tutor in Irish traditional music. He has also been involved with music classes in both CountyWaterfordand South Tipperaryand is a regular in the Bru Boru concerts in Cashel, during the summer season.

For me, one of the special periods for the button accordion was from around the mid 1940s to the early 1960s when the great masters of the button accordion blazed a trail of innovation, incorporating new styles, techniques, and ranges of keys. It was during this time that Bobby's distinctive style and virtuosity were both cultivated and nourished. Bobby's playing is unique. The rhythm, single button triplets, exceptional ornamentation and flow make his music a pleasure for the listener and a joy for the dancer.

Bobby Gardiner, one of the great box players of our time, is joined on this recording by his wife Ann and daughters Kelley, Fiodhna and Lynda whose original compositions and musicianship are shown here to great effect. I am delighted to share with you another great CD from Bobby Gardiner.

Eamonn O'Toole