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This particular page was created 18/12/2003 and last updated 28/08/2004
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| | ?-1972 Michael Gaffney was one of the first to record Irish traditional music on a tenor banjo. He was born in Mullaun, Arigna, but moved to New York where he picked up the banjo - an instrument that still was very rare among Irish musicians.
He teamed up with flutist and fellow Irishman John McKenna and two played together at Irish dances, weddings and on other occasions in New York and also did numerous recording sessions (each on his own and together) during the 1920s and 1930s. Gaffney was a multi-instrumentalist mastering both mandolin, piano, fiddle, flute, and accordion. He is also one of the few who played Irish music on the mandolin-banjo. He is, however best remembered as a tenor banjoist, and his recordings still sound fresh and modern today despite their age.
Discography |   | Recordings with Michael Gaffney are hard to find, so this collection with three or four tracks with him is a must for everybody interested in this early Irish-American banjo virtuoso. | |   | Early recordings of various Irish and Irish-American dance musicians/bands. Mike Flanagan and Michael Gaffney appear on one track each, Flangan with his brothers, Gaffney with flutist John McKenna. According to the sleeve notes both plays the tenor banjo, but Gaffney sounds more like he plays a mandloin-banjo this time. | |   | Great collection of some really old Irish dance music. Banjo content: Mike Flanagn plays a set with his brothers, Michael Gaffney plays Up and Away/The Merry Girl with his band and Margaret Barry accompanies Michel Gorman on "The Versavienna." | |   | Collection with various artists. Michael Gaffney does a rousing version of "Night Cap/Mysteries of Knock." |
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