Tag Archives: Celtic music

Live review: Moya Brennan at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 28/3/24

Folk music, Hastings music scene, Live reviews, , , , , , ,

How I choose which gigs to go to has definitely evolved over time. When I lived in London I would be constantly checking out my favourite artists’ tour schedules, working out which venue on the tour would be easiest to get to and booking accordingly. Having lived down in Hastings some eight years now my approach has changed considerably and generally involves checking out the gig listings for the venues within a five-mile radius of my flat, working out who I want to see most and booking accordingly. In some parts of the country, that approach would be really restrictive but we are pretty spoilt for choice in terms of great venues, both large and small, on this part of the East Sussex coast.

And so this is exactly how I came to be at the De La Warr Pavilion for a performance by Moya Brennan. Publicised as ‘The Voice of Clannad’ in the tour promotion, I instantly decided this would be a must-see for me. I hugely enjoyed Clannad’s stunning set at Cropredy festival two years ago and while I was completely unfamiliar with Moya Brennan’s solo career beyond Clannad, I knew that any performance with her vocals at the heart of it was going to be well worth seeing.

Her voice is as pure and enchanting as ever, with Brennan taking lead vocals and harp just as in Clannad. Her band is something of a family affair with her daughter, Aisling Jarvis, on guitar and her son, Paul Jarvis, on keyboards and percussion, alongside leading Irish harpist and long-time collaborator, Cormac De Barra, and fiddle-player, Cathal Curran. Unfortunately, Brennan explained, the latter was not able to make Bexhill, the final night of the UK tour. However, she had persuaded a last-minute replacement (I didn’t catch his name unfortunately) to fly in to Gatwick that afternoon to do the gig. Only 17, he did a remarkable job stepping in and was very warmly-received by the De La Warr audience.

Material-wise, there was a heavy emphasis on songs Brennan had recorded with Cormac De Barra, with whom she has made a number of albums, including their latest project – an album celebrating the career of renowned Irish singer and harpist, Mary O’Hara. In contrast to the ethereal, other-worldly nature of much of Clannad’s back catalogue, there were also some sing-along moments, too. I certainly hadn’t expected a rousing communal rendition of ‘Lord Of The Dance’ but we all joined in with gusto. “I’ve been told you all learnt this at primary school over here,” she said, encouraging us to sing along. Indeed, we had and so that’s exactly what we did.

There would also be a few Clannad songs “for those who need that,” Brennan added dryly and we were treated to stunning renditions of ‘In A Lifetime’, ‘I Will Find You’ and ‘Two Sisters’.

A wonderful evening.

https://www.facebook.com/MoyaBrennanOfficial

Related post:

Clannad at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, 2022

Folk: album review – Fraya Thomsen ‘Release’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , , ,

Harpist, singer and award-winning composer, Fraya Thomsen’s musical roots lie in the Scottish traditional music scene  but she’s equally at home in the world of film and TV, where she has composed music for a number of award-winning short films as well as pieces for contemporary choreographers and multimedia artists.

Release began life as a piece of work entitled Community & Stardust, commissioned for the 2017 Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, but then evolved into a lockdown project with the album being recorded in the participating musicians’ own homes and studios during 2020.

The team of musicians who had originally devised and performed the piece have similarly contributed to the album: Sarah Allen (flute), Shanti Jayasinha (flugelhorn), Colette O’Leary (accordion), Louise McMonagle (cello), James Maddren (drums/percussion) and Cameron Maxwell (bass). Artist, Lucy Cash, has also written the lyrics to one of the songs on the album, ‘Just This Sky Line’ which was also used for a film called A Song For Nine Elms.

Featuring tracks with titles like ‘Save The World’, ‘For The Water Protectors’ and ‘Connected’. It’s perhaps no surprise that there is a strong ecological theme to this album. The twelve tracks are a mixture of songs and tunes and while, unsurprisingly, there are obvious Celtic influences from the folk world, other musical influences make the presence felt, too. ‘Tiger’, for example, is jazz-influenced while other tracks take on a more experimental feel, again perhaps unsurprising, given Thomsen’s work in the world of film as well as folk.

There’s much to appreciate on this album with the contributions of the guest musicians perfectly complimenting Thomsen’s beautiful harp and vocal. What’s more there seems to be more to discover with each repeated listen. Put it on, sit back, soak it all in and quietly contemplate the future of our world  and our connections to one another.

Released: 9th April 2022

http://www.frayathomsen.com/

Folk: album review – Various artists ‘Between Islands’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , , ,

The Between Islands Project began life in 2014 with the aim of bringing together contemporary songwriters from Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides and celebrate the rich musical heritage of those islands. In the years that followed a number of diverse individual projects emerged out of this, from joint song-writing ventures through to exhibitions, lectures, films and, of course, live performances.

Come 2020 and Covid was to throw a spanner in the works. Performances had been scheduled at both the Shetland Folk Festival and the Heb Celt festival in Stornaway but, undeterred, project co-ordinator Alex MacDonald sought to translate the project from the stage to the studio.

He explains: “As the project was based on live events, initially we were at a loss as to how it could be saved. Thankfully we were able to redesign what was planned, and this double CD contains both live work previously captured and a series of entirely new tracks recorded in lockdown.”

The result is a breath-taking thirty-track, two-disc collection showcasing some top-notch song-writing, exquisite singing  and inventive contemporary arrangements of traditional fiddle tunes.

The thirteen musicians featured are: Maggie Adamson. Louise Bichan, Williw Campbell, Kris Drever, Julie Fowlis, Neil Johnstone, Jenny Napier Keldie, Kathleen MacInnes, Linda MacLeod, Jane Hepburn MacMillan, Arthur Nicholson and Satfishforty.  

The ‘lockdown disc’ was created from sessions that paired up artists across the existing projects while also allowing the opportunity for entirely new remote collaborations and compositions. Consequently, the disc begins by introducing the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney musicians respectively over the opening three tracks before going on to explore a range of other pairings. The ‘live disc’ meanwhile was something that had long been planned and features performances from both Orkney Folk Festival and the An Lanntair arts centre in Stornaway. A detailed twelve-page booklet accompanies the two discs.

When live events do, once more, become possible this lovingly-curated CD will undoubtedly ensure the reputation of the Between Islands project will be stronger than ever and their return to the stage warmly anticipated.

Released: 11t December 2020

www.betweenislands.com

News: Scottish folk band Skipinnish celebrate twentieth anniversary

Album reviews, Folk music, Music news, , , , , ,

Scottish folk band Skipinnish celebrate their twentieth anniversary this year. The band’s origins may have been modest, gigging in pubs and bars and village halls but their rise in recent years has been phenomenal – with prestigious venues selling out, many millions of streams on Spotify and other platforms and their latest album Steer By The Stars reaching number 4 in the charts. And that was not some obscure specialist folk chart but the actual official UK mainstream charts .

Now the album has been nominated for Album of the Year at the Scottish Trad Music Awards. Fans of the band can vote for the album here: https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotstradmusicawards/voting/

Visiting familiar themes for the band of ocean, island, landscape, love, hope, mortality, friendship and the pull of home the album was officially launched to a packed house at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall back in May this year and has gone on to attract many enthusiastic reviews.

The band’s twentieth anniversary is officially marked with a special performance at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on October 25th and that will be followed by a short tour of Scottish venues in December.

https://www.skipinnish.com/

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Folk: album review – Hamish Napier ‘The River’

Album reviews, Folk music, , , , ,

My review was originally published by Bright Young Folk here

Hamish Napier is an in-demand folk musician who has collaborated with a number of key acts on the Scottish folk scene. The River, however, is the debut solo album from this Strathspey-born composer and multi-instrumentalist, and is very much inspired by a childhood spent growing up on the banks of the Spey. “The River brings to the surface vivid sonic images of occurrences, past and present, along the mile-long stretch of the Spey that flows past my childhood home,” Napier tells us in the extensive sleeve notes.

The album includes a stellar cast of renowned Scottish folk musicians, including Sarah Hayes (Admiral Fallow) on flute, James Lindsay (Breabach) on double bass, Martin O’Neil (Duncan Chisholm) on bodhran, as well as Callum MacCrimmon singing Canntaireach, the ancient chanting language of the bagpipes.

Perhaps symbolic of the constantly changing flow of any river, there is a breadth of sounds and moods explored on this album. Opening track Mayfly puts one in mind of some early 70s prog rock passages, a folky Tubular Bells if you will. It’s perhaps an unusual start but provides a captivating experimental feel which immediately encourages the listener to want to explore further.

The Whirlpool meanwhile is a lovely tune with flute and whistle. It has been written as a round – in celebration of the whirlpool that constantly spins and spins just a few hundred yards from the Old Spey Bridge.which captures the frenetic natural cycle of the river as an ever-changing dance. The mood changes considerably with The Dance, beginning with gentle, sombre piano.

Of course, no aquatic-inspired folk, be it river or sea, is complete without harrowing tales of tragedy and death, and the beautiful but mournful Drowning of the Silver Brothers is inspired by the fate of two local boys who mysteriously drowned in the 1930s. Clearly not forgotten locally, this piece serves as a haunting but fitting tribute to the boys and the mystery that surrounds them.

Another memorable track is Floating, which has a funky electronic feel to it demonstrating just how far Napier is prepared to cast his musical net in order to capture the range of moods and emotions he feels moved to express in this album. The two-part The Spey Cast closes the album. The first part is a thought-provoking gentle piece inspired by the death of an old fly fisherman while the second part is a fast and furious musical romp which reflects the mixture of chaos and hilarity that is the town’s annual raft race.

For those with a love of Scottish folk, particularly those with a keen interest in experimentation and innovation within the Celtic world and who love to hear the sound of boundaries being pushed, this is an album well worth exploring.

Released January 2016

http://www.hamishnapier.com/

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