Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny's Mozaik

History

In a 2005 interview, Irvine stated:

The first 'Mosaic' (1984-85)

In the winter of 1984, Irvine gathered a collection of musicians from throughout Europe and formed 'Mosaic', with a final line-up including Irvine himself, Dónal Lunny along with his former Moving Hearts associate, uilleann piper Declan Masterson, Danish bassist and singer Lissa Ladefoged, Dutch guitarist and singer Hans Theessink, and Hungarian singer Márta Sebestyén from Muzsikás.

Their first public gig was in Budapest on 12 July 1985, followed by a further two gigs in Hungary and an appearance at the Dranouter festival in Belgium in early August, prior to their English tour. Their seventh gig was billed at the Southport Arts Center, which Chris Hardwick of Folk Roots reviewed with the following introduction: "Every once in a while the folk scene throws up a new permutation in which exceptionally gifted individuals come together to produce something so innovative and exhilarating that it goes way beyond the sum of the parts".

Their set included: Stan Rogers's "Northwest Passage", an unspecified Macedonian dance tune ("one of Andy's 90 mph specials"), a solo Hungarian love song from Sebestyén, a brooding cover of Eric Von Schmidt's Caribbean lament "Joshua Gone Barbados" from Theessink, the Irish three (Irvine, Lunny and Masterson) on a set of reels including "The Spike Island Lasses", and Irvine singing Andy Mitchell's "Indiana". However, the band lasted only that one summer.

A couple of years later, Irvine stated that he would have liked to try the experiment again by concentrating on the Irish and East European sound without bringing in the blues influence.

The second 'Mozaik' (2002-present day)

In early 2002, Irvine drafted some long-time musical friends and formed his dream band. Between them, they play the following instruments:

Live from the Powerhouse

On 1 March 2002, Mozaik congregated in the seaside town of Rye, Victoria in Australia for six days of intensive rehearsals. The Australian tour that followed culminated in two gigs recorded at the Brisbane Powerhouse on 30/31 March and released on the album Live from the Powerhouse in 2004, under license to Compass Records.

Changing Trains

In January and April 2005, the band rehearsed new material for Changing Trains, their first studio album recorded in Budapest during November of the same year. This album was initially released by the band in Australia in 2006 and, after additional re-mixing by Lunny at Longbeard Studios in Dublin, was re-released in the autumn of 2007 under license to Compass Records.

Andy Irvine/70th Birthday Concert at Vicar St 2012

On 16 and 17 June 2012, two concerts took place at Dublin's Vicar Street venue to celebrate Irvine's 70th birthday. He was joined onstage by Paul Brady and various combinations of members of Sweeney's Men, Planxty, Mozaik and LAPD, plus brothers George and Manoli Galiatsos who came unexpectedly all the way from Athens for the concerts. A CD and a separate DVD were released, each featuring a different selection of material from the concerts.

Discography

Filmography