Captain Nico's mandolin

By Jules Quartly (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-16 09:49

The Irish band Dublingers gigs at a bar in Beijing.

Beijing-based the Dublingers are the most unlikely looking Irish band in the world. The creative combo is led by Frenchmen Nico Torrese and made up of four other Chinese musicians. At first sight, the band would never be confused with the legendary Irish folk group The Dubliners.

But close your eyes, and their Irish sound is as authentic as can be making them very much in-demand for tomorrow's St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Ireland's national day is traditionally celebrated on March 17 in pubs around the world with singing and dancing, stout and whiskey.

This year will be no different and the Dublingers expect to play at least five ceilidhs (Gaelic social gatherings) in five days, including the annual Irish Ball and the Wangfujing Irish Street Parade, which gives the band an official stamp of approval from events organizer the Irish Embassy.

"It's nice to be known," says Frenchmen Nico Torrese (banjo, mandolin) who is also a member of acoustic jazz ensemble The No Name Trio, along with Wang Yi (accordion).

The other Dublingers are Zhang Yang (fiddle), Li Hong (bodhran and percussion) and Da Fei (guitar).

"Some time before St Patrick's Day last year some pub owner asked for Irish music and we were game, so we got some music and extra musicians," recalls the Frenchman who started the band.

The Dublingers have been gigging regularly on Beijing's pub circuit ever since and were even picked by the Irish tourism board to promote the island nation at the Volvo Ocean Race in Qingdao, Shandong province.

A Chinese Irish band isn't as strange as it sounds, Torrese says, adding musical authenticity is more important than nationality.

"There's no Irish in the band, but it's real Irish music," he says.

Torrese came to China five years ago for a new experience and first studied Chinese. Today he teaches guitar in Beijing and says he used to visit Ireland up to three times a year for more than a decade. He discovered ballads and reels by "standing around in pubs for hours listening to them".

"I had a band in France and we played Irish music in Ireland. Of course, it was fun and the reaction was really good. Irish audiences are very enthusiastic," he says.

"We work from authentic scores and it's only when Da Fei or I sing that we sound a little bit Chinese or French.

"Usually when we play, after an hour, there is someone from Ireland who will come up to the stage and sing some songs.

"With their Irish accents it sounds pretty good."

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