One of the many, many things I got from my dear love, the late Carolyn Kelly, was a love of her favorite musical performers, The Chieftains. This great Irish band — winner of many Grammy Awards and other honors — would play Los Angeles or thereabouts every year or three and we'd always go. Their music was and will forever be infectious and irresistible. The group was formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy. Paddy, who was the leader and (most would say) heart of the band is the gent in all black in the above photo, second from the left.
Or I guess I should say "was" because Paddy died on Monday the 11th at the age of 83 — in Dublin, of course. Lovers of his kind of music are still reeling from the loss. Here's the New York Times obit.
Here's a clip of The Chieftains on Conan O'Brien's show back in 2003, performing one of their signature tunes. You don't see much of Paddy in this video. He's there leading things and playing but the camera is mostly focused on Earl Scruggs, the great country musician who was sitting in with the band. Still, he was a key reason the group has been making this quality of music for sixty years. (The video goes on for a while after the Chieftains perform. You can turn it off once the show goes to commercial.)