Alasdair Fraser & Tony McManus - Return to Kintail

Master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and Tony McManus, one of the most admired guitarists on the Celtic scene, unite their creative forces in a partnership of incredible musical power and beauty. Drawing from deep wells of tradition and technical prowess, they explore the rich range of Scottish music, from the pipe tunes and song airs of the Highlands to the music of Scotland's noted fiddler/composers such as Marshall, Skinner, and the Gows. The duo flows from the intimate and subtle nuances of a poignant Gaelic lament to a no-holds-barred fiddle flurry of strathspeys and reels, captivating audiences wherever they perform.

Critics and crowds have been raving since Tony joined Alasdair on stage for a seat-of-the-pants concert cum jam session in Glasgow, Scotland in November 1996. Since then, the duo has performed at major festivals in Australia, Denmark, Canada, the United States and Scotland. Their eagerly-awaited debut album, Return to Kintail, was released by Culburnie Records in 1999.

"Talk about a dream team: The fiddler regarded by many as the finest current exponent of the Scots tradition, paired with the Paisley-born guitarist who's melodic and rhythmic artistry has been setting audiences afire around the world."


1. Bidh Clann Ulaidh (Men of Ulster)
2. Ross' Reel no.4 / Reichswall Forest (Dan R. MacDonald)
3. Roslin Castle / Miss Gordon of Gight (Isaac Cooper)
4. The Marquis of Huntly (William Marshall) / The Ewie wi' the Crooked Horn / John Cheap the Chapman (Nathaniel Gow) / Peerie Weerie / The West Mabou Reel
5. Calum Sgaire A traditional Gaelic song air to which Alasdair has added a second part.
6. Donald Willie and his Dog (Donald Morrison) / Alex MacDonald (Norman MacDonald) / Chloe's Passion (Dr Angus MacDonald)
7. Lady Louisa Gordon's Strathspey (William Marshall) / The Highlands of Banffshire / The Merrymaking
8. Seathan / Na Goisidich (The Gossips) (Allan MacDonald)
9. Sitting in the Stern of a Boat
This air was composed by the Rev. William MacLeod as he sailed from his native Bracadale on the Isle of Skye to take up a parish in Argyllshire.
10. A Mhaighdean Mhara (The Mermaid)
11. Lieutenant Maguire's Jig / The Curlew (Donald MacPherson) / Sleepy Maggie / Tail Toddle
12. The Sweetness of Mary (Joan MacDonald Boes) / Devil in the Kitchen / Willie Davie / The Sound of Mull / The High Road to Linton The late Joan MacDonald Boes was a fine pianist and composer in the Cape Breton style. She was the accompanist for the Five MacDonalds, a fiddle group in Detroit of which the aforementioned Dan R. MacDonald was a member. 13. Theidh mi Dhachaigh (Return to Kintail) "Theidh mi dhachaigh chro Chinn t-Saile" (I will go home to the cattle-fold of Kintail). The song may have been composed by a soldier who was wounded at the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

Julie Fowlis - Cuilidh (2007)

Continuación a su premiado debut de 2005, “Mar a tha mo chridhe” (Así es mi Corazón) la cantante de las Hébridas edita el luminoso “Cuilidh”, nombre gaélico que significa  tesoro o lugar secreto para esconder cosas de valor.
Como siempre, las canciones y melodías provienen del folclor histórico de su nativa North Uist en las islas Escocesas del Oeste.
http://www.elcohete.com/juliefowlis.htm

Julie Fowlis - Mar A Tha Mo Chridhe (2005)

Julie Fowlis es una intérprete de música celta originaria de Escocia (Reino Unido), que canta principalmente en gaélico escocés.
Fowlis creció en North Uist, una isla de las Hébridas Exteriores, una comunidad de mayoría gaélico hablante.  Desde muy pequeña, se involucró con la música tradicional y aprendió a cantar, a bailar y a tocar la gaita. En 2012 participa en dos temas de la banda sonora de la última película de los estudios Pixar, Brave
http://www.juliefowlis.com/

Mar a tha mo chridhe is the début music album by Scottish musician Julie Fowlis. It is sung entirely in Scottish Gaelic, and the album title means As My Heart Is.

    Julie Fowlis – Vocals, Highland Pipes, Flute, Whistles
    Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh – Vocals
    Eamon Doorley – Bouzouki, Fiddle
    Iain Mac Donald
    John Doyle - Guitar

 

Aly Bain & Ale Möller - Beyond The Stacks

Aly Bain and Ale Möller are tremendously good together -- but then again, you can hardly ask for a better duo, where the Scots/Shetland sound of fiddler Bain meets the several instruments (mandola, harmonica, Jew's harp) of Swedish folk legend Möller. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more simpatico duo, meeting, for the most part, on the middle ground of Shetland music, but played with glorious finesse (just listen to the breathtaking delicacy of "Da Slockit Light," for example). They're perfectly at home with uptempo material, but it's on the slower pieces that the beauty of this pairing truly comes through, whether it's "Hector the Hero," where Bain caresses his fiddle lines and Möller gives spare, emotional support, or the lament "Auld Swaara." When a record is this lyrical, there's absolutely no need for a voice -- or even any more instruments. There's an empathetic communication between the two that knows when to fill the gaps and when to leave space. At a little under 50 minutes it might seem short by today's standards, but the disc is so dense with melody that it truly seems longer (in the very best way). The Swedish tunes here mesh perfectly with those from Shetland, showing just how one tradition feeds into another. This isn't their first recording together (that was in 1999, Fully Rigged), but age has brought a true patina of beauty to their work together. Exquisite is a word that's overused at times, but it describes this album perfectly.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/beyond-the-stacks-mw0000579040


1. Woo'd An' Marrit An' A' - Doon Da Rooth
2. Peerie joel's Waltz
3. Auld Swaara - Up Da Stroods Da Sailor Goes
4. Spread Thy Wide Wings (Bred Dina Vida Vingar)
5. Crying Waltz (Gratvalsen)
6. Medley: King Karl's Marsch (King Karl's March)/Djavulspolska (Devil's Polka)
7. O'Farrel's Welcome To Limerick
8. Medley: If I Get a Bonnie Lass/Jeannie Shoke Da Bairn
9. Medley: Lady Mary Ramsay/Mary Ramsay
10. Medley: But Your Hoose An Ben Your Hoose/Da Black And Da Broon
11. Da Slockit Light
12. Medley: Hauchdon House/Heave An' Go/Da Cross Reel
13. Hector the Hero
14. Da Broon Coo (The Brown Cow)

Aly Bain - Lonely Bird [Escocia]

Born in Lerwick, Shetland in 1946 Aly began playing the fiddle at the age of eleven. In his early twenties, Aly headed to mainland Scotland. His dramatic playing, with great tone and technical ability brought early recognition as an outstanding musician of the folk music revival, and almost overnight, raised the level of expectation for music lovers throughout the country.
http://www.shetland-music.com/prominent_artists/artistes/aly_bain/

Aly Bain - fiddle
Chris Newman - guitar
Violet Tulloch - piano
Danny Thompson - bass



1. Gillan's Reel/Charles Sutherland/Donald Stewart The Piper
2. Mrs. Jamieson's Favourite
3. Rosemary Brown
4. Spey In Spate/Pottinger's Reel/Dowd's Reel
5. The Beauty Of The North/The Pirate's Hornpipe
6. Midnight On The Water/Bonaparte's Retreat
7. Herr Roloff's Farewell
8. Aly's Waltz
9. Annalese Bain/Phil Cunningham's Reel/Andy Brown's Reel
10. Lonely Bird
11. Weindia Little/Da Fashion O Da Delting Lasses/Da Black Hat
12. Junior's Waltz
13. Captain Campbell/Earl Grey/Largo's Fairy Dance

 Lonely Bird
 Mp3 320 Kbps...Covers..by fulcanelli