New Time Ensemble Returns to Broomfield
A Preview by Marc Schulgold
Traditional Irish bands seem to be everywhere these days — their fiddles, tin whistles, Uilleann pipes, bodhrans, harps, concertinas and bouzoukis accompanying rousing tunes and tear-stained ballads sung with thick Irish brogues to the delight of beer-drinkers in pubs across the country.
Then there’s the three-member New Time Ensemble, a group that is none of the above. The trio consists of two classically trained musicians — a flutist born in Maine, and a cellist from Utah — and a French guitarist with a PhD in neuroscience. What brought them together is Limerick. No, not the popular five-line poem, but the university based in the Irish city of that name.
“We were all there completing our master’s program in traditional music,” said Leslie Anne Harrison, the flutist from Maine who now resides in Denver. “I was trained as a classical player, but when I was introduced to Irish music by Carl Dimow, my teacher in Maine, I immediately loved the energy — I knew I had to do that.” Continuing her graduate work that began at New York University, she transferred to the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. The prestigious academy is the only one of its kind in the country. “I just wanted to learn the music really well — immerse myself in the music,” she said. It was there that Harrison met some top-notch players who quickly became friends. Three would became band-mates.
Harrison was hanging out with a fiddle player named Kay Vickers and Frederick Pouille (Poo-EE), a French guitarist. The New Time Ensemble was formed with the entrance of Liz Davis Maxfield, who had gained attention by being the first cellist to attend the university on a Fullbright scholarship. “Liz approached us with the idea of forming a group,” Harrison recalled. An Irish band with a cello? Now there’s a concept, the flutist thought. “I really liked the idea of continuing to learn the traditions of the music while experimenting with new directions,” she explained. “I respect tradition, but it has to go forward. I can see how some people may want to keep it pure, but no one at Limerick objected to the instrumentation in our group. I never got a sense that folks there didn’t like new ideas.”
After a while, the foursome was reduced to a trio when fiddler Vickers left the fledgling group. Rather than shut down the project, her departure made things more interesting for Harrison and friends. “I liked the sound of just the three of us,” she noted. Though Maxfield stuck to her cello, Harrison made the transition from metal transverse flute to a wooden traditional Irish flute — a very different instrument, she admitted. “It was really scary at first,” she said of the change-over. Adding to her angst was the “intimidating” concept of being in a band. “I thought I was over my head,” she admitted. “It took me almost the entire nine-month school year to get comfortable. I’m still working on it.”
Lucky for the members of the New Time Ensemble (the name was suggested by Maxfield as a take-off on “Old Time” music), all three became close friends as well as band-mates. “It was so inspiring watching Fred and Liz,” Harrison said. “We all helped and encouraged each other.” Sharing thoughts on arrangements and repertory, the threesome melded smoothly, and soon worked up their act. Selecting tunes from the enormous traditional Irish catalog was part of the fun. “We’d make choices based on the title sometimes, or the sound of the three instrumental voices or maybe the tune itself,” she said. “The main thing was that we wanted the band to happen organically. We’re not one of those flashy, 100-mile-per-hour groups — that’s not us.”
Beginning as a strictly instrumental band, Harrison and friends soon entertained the idea of adding vocals. And here again, novelty would trump tradition. “Fred is a fine singer of traditional French songs, so we worked some of those into the set.” Before all those by-the-book Irish folkies start clenching their fists in rage, remember that the Brittany region in the northwest peninsula of France has a long history of Irish and Scottish influence. The Celtic harp, bagpipes and such are common to Breton music. As for the New Time Ensemble, the plaintive vocals and nimble guitar work of Pouille (like Harrison, now a resident of Denver) only add to the group’s fresh sound. “This has become a never-ending project in our lives,” the flutist observed.
Recording has also become a welcome, never-ending project. The group released its first CD, “A Year in Ireland,” in 2010 and will be working on the follow-up disc this summer. Local concert-goers who enjoyed the band’s appearance at the Broomfield Auditorium last August will be happy to know that New Time Ensemble will be returning to the hall on Friday, May 10 (appearing the following night at Avogadro’s Number in Fort Collins). It’s part of a busy year of touring that has taken the trio through much of Colorado and Wyoming (including an upcoming July residence at the youth-oriented MAT Camp in Evanston, Wyoming). Which begs the question about a possible return to Ireland.”We haven’t been back there since 2011,” Harrison said. “But we’d love to travel and tour there.” For the group, it’s a far-off home away from home.
The New Time Ensemble will appear at 7 p.m. Friday, May 10 in the Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Rd. Tickets, priced at $5 and $10, are available through brownpapertickets.com. Information: (720) 887-2371. The group will also perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, in Avogadro’s Number, 605 S. Mason St., Fort Collins. Information: avogadros.com or (970) 493-5555.
