THE LAST BELL:
★★★★ “This is a party looking for a crowd” Irish Times
★★★★ Liverpool Sound & Vision
“Alan Kelly has done it again, along with his choice musical gang, with the release of their second album The Last Bell… the appeal of this new release seems endless.” Irish Music Magazine
“cleverly constructed and performed with vivid attention to the musical intricacies that abound within, the Alan Kelly Gang have added to that quality with a layer of inventiveness, imagination and ambition. It’s most definitely a winner.” Irish Music Magazine
“The Alan Kelly Gang manage to sound like a ceilidh band, a jazz combo, a first class session, and even a Fest Noz in full flight for the wonderful Hopvotte. To pigeonhole this as Irish traditional music is woefully inadequate, but that core is unmistakable, as is the band’s own distinctive and irrepressible sound” The Living Tradition
“one of the best Irish bands playing today” New York Irish Arts
“one of the best bands around” TradConnect
“The Last Bell is a thoroughly pleasing set – refined and exciting in all the right places” fRoots
“Energy is the word of the day when it comes to the Alan Kelly Gang. There are a fair few traditional Irish bands on the scene but the Alan Kelly Band really breaks out over many others because of the sheer energy they project into their tunes.” Fatea Magazine
LIVE:
“brilliantly talented, effortless and exuberant” The Irish Times
“Alan Kelly is fast becoming a national treasure. The piano accordion maestro has assembled a group – or gang – around him, who can complement his own amazing skills… See these guys as soon as you get the chance.”
Irish Music Magazine
“an astonishing concert” Living Tradition
“Kelly is truly something” Irish Music Magazine
“Their mastery of their respective instruments was sublime… a true collective of musicians… you’ll absolutely fall in love” Timber and Steel (Australia)
SMALL TOWNS & FAMOUS NIGHTS:
★★★★ “exceptional… a force to be reckoned with” R2
★★★★ “a drive and energy that will keep the chill out of the coldest winter night” Folk Radio UK
“beautiful music from master musicians” Irish Music Magazine
“absolutely fantastic” Mike Harding – BBC Radio 2
“piano accordion maestro, Alan Kelly, just gets better and better as the years go by”
Mike Harding – BBC Radio 2
“this is instrumental work of the highest order and it’s complemented by three beautifully performed songs”
R2
“top-notch” Acoustic Magazine
“These guys are working, playing, interacting and creating something special in the process… their music is a living breathing thing, like I have not heard in some time, with great vitality, mood changes, tempo changes and external influences that seep into the arrangements…. exquisite playing by all concerned” TradConnect
“The creation of an album of this quality has opened the door for the Alan Kelly Gang and shows them to be a creative force beyond the confines of what we would consider the traditional album format.” TradConnect
“assured and rich with musicianship” Bright Young Folk
“the first voice on the album belongs to Steph Geremia, proving as nuanced and talented a singer as she is a flautist…one of the album’s highlights” Bright Young Folk
AFTER THE MORNING:
★★★★★ “a pristine polished gem” The Irish Times
“After the Morning is an unqualified triumph… superb” Irish Echo, NY
“The arrangements are world class, as are the musicians, and Ireland is always somewhere in the mix… each of the dozen tracks here is a work of art” Irish Music Magazine
“Truly a remarkable work” Maverick
“A master of the piano accordion…Kelly’s expert playing carries the show effortlessly.” Folk Roots
“Although any number of musicians plunders the traditional musics of the world for inspiration, few imbue the results with a unifying personality as convincingly as Alan Kelly. A true virtuoso, Kelly has produced his finest work to date with this album, which is an unmitigated delight from start to finish”. Oz Hardwick, Rock n Reel
OTHER:
“brilliantly talented, effortless and exuberant” The Irish Times
“in league with the best piano accordionists in the world” The Irish Voice, NY
“Alan Kelly is the man who made the piano accordion hip in Ireland again.” Folk Roots
