MUSIC Donal Dineen’s Parish comes to Westport

COLLABORATION Congolese musician Niwel Tsumbu.?Pic: Stas Bernasinski

Donal Dineen brings his Parish to Westport Arts Festival


From the main stage at Electric Picnic to a packed-out tent at Castlepalooza, Donal Dineen’s Parish has agreed to play only a small selection of festivals this year – and Westport Arts Festival is one of them.
Kerryman Donal Dineen is a pioneering DJ of almost cult status, as well as a photographer and filmmaker. His Parish recording project, formally assembled in 2010, began life three years previously with a show he put together with Liam Ó Maonlaí of the Hothouse Flowers and Ronan Ó Snodaigh of Kíla for Body & Soul at the Electric Picnic. That spectacular night ended with a promise to try to get together in the studio whenever time allowed.
So finally, this January, Dineen spent a fortnight in the Exchequer Studios in Dublin with Ó Maonlaí and Niwel Tsumbu, a Congolese musician he has been working with regularly over the past two years. The recording began by covering some of the ground they touched on in 2007’s and subsequent Electric Picnic appearances but soon progressed to the composition of original material.
Ó Maonlaí is the songwriter in chief, with vocal duties shared with Aminah Dastan from the group Madu. Subsequent sessions took place with Ronan on percussion, Andre Antunes on drums and Peter Erdei on bass, all of whom have joined Dineen onstage for his body & soul dates over the last couple of years.
For the upcoming Westport Arts Festival gig, which takes place on Saturday, October 13, in T Bourke’s, Dineen will be joined by Amina Dastan and Niwel Tsumbu. Support on the night will be from one of Dublin’s finest funk and soul DJs, Kelly Anne Byrne.

For more information on Westport Arts Festival, which started on October 1 and is running until October 14, visit westportartsfestival.com, follow  @WestportArts on Twitter or check out facebook.com/WestportArts. Tickets for all events are available from the festival’s box office on Brewery Lane (behind Brawn’s Flowers), Westport, which is open from 10am to 7pm daily.