Jeff Stockton
Sacred Ground
In traditional Celtic culture the new day began with the setting of the sun. It is the evening tide that washes away the concerns and cares of the passage of the day. Evening falls with a gentler rhythm, bringing the concerns of hearth and home to the forefront; bringing matters of the heart to the honour place.
Sacred Ground is soothing, reflective, spiritual and provides the rest for the soul. This is the debut recording for Jeff Stockton and features nine original compositions. These contemporary Celtic pieces were inspired by the beauty and simplicity of the natural world and were composed and arranged while he was living in the foothills of the Kananaskis in southern Alberta.
Track number nine on the CD, entitled Anamcara – which in Irish Gaelic means “Anam,” soul and “Cara,” friend – speaks of the deep need of our soul for love and understanding that only a “soul friend” can provide. The CD features harp, voice, cello, violin and percussion.
Stockton began playing the Celtic harp in 1997 and he performs regularly both as musician and storyteller, bringing the harp to audiences in a wide variety of settings – including musical concert, storytelling for audiences of all ages, and conference presentations in the professional realms.
The liner notes of Sacred Ground include the words of the songs whose lyrics were inspired by the poetry of Rumi. Tracks are Eventide; This Day’s Joy; Nightfall; Summer Rain; Sunlight; Embrace; Shadows Gather; Sacred Ground and Anamcara.
Musicians on the album include Jeff Stockton as singer/songwriter and on Celtic harp; Tom Megee, cellist; Elisa Janz on violin; and Bruce Hoag, Cuban percussion. For more information visit: www.jeffstockton.ca.
Grada
The Landing Step
Grada is a young Irish band bent on reinventing traditional Irish music for a new era. They creatively employ double bass and percussion (which is still a rarity in modern acoustic Irish music) as a foundation, while flute, guitar and fiddle intertwine fluidly with a searing rhythmic vitality and urgency.
The haunting lilting vocals of Anne Marie O’Malley bring the band’s virtuosity to a new level of accessibility and warmth. Flutist Alan Doherty was recently heard as a featured soloist in the film scores to The Lord of the Rings series.
Grada has it all – the very experienced musicians, the mesmerizing flute playing of Alan Doherty, the fiddle playing of Brendan O’Sullivan, who puts the backbone into the traditional, along with Anne Marie O’Malley, whose voice is the icing on the cake.
Grada, has put a new and exciting spin on traditional music and there can be no doubt that they are going to be one of the super groups. They are: Alan Doherty on flutes, whistles and vocals; Andrew Laking on double bass and vocals; Anne Marie O’Malley on vocals and bodhran; Gerry Paul on acoustic and electric guitars, bouzouki and vocals; and Brendan O’Sullivan on fiddle, viola and vocals.
The Landing Step was recorded on the Compass Record label and produced by Trevor Hutchinson, bassist of the acclaimed band Lunasa. Tracks on the CD are Tread Softly; go n’eiri an bothar leat; Isabelle; Weight of the World; Seven of Eight; All in one day; The back of beyond; Manuku swing; Shock on; Dear Mary; a l’envers. For more information, visit: www.compassrecords.com,
Cape Breton Fiddle & Piano Music
Featuring The Beaton Family of Mabou
The fiddle and piano reign supreme in Cape Breton and the Beaton family of Mabou continue play the dancing feet off their family, friends and fans as they pound out the vibrant rhythms of reels, strathspeys, jigs and other favourites from this tradition-rich corner of Canada.
There really is nothing like it. Since the early 1800s, when Scots began arriving in significant numbers on the island’s shore, Cape Bretoners have nearly always given their fiddle music a kind of pride of place, maintaining it, supporting it, dancing to it, and loving it.
Today when when the local and regional music of so many communities in North America has either declined or become largely mass-mediated forms, the fiddle still reigns in many Cape Breton communities. In fact, some argue that the music is flourishing these days, more than ever in the past. The music’s vitality and roots are unrivalled by any other North American fiddle tradition.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has just released another great CD from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, as the maritime provinces continue to turn out some of Canada’s greatest Celtic musicians, singers and dancers.
This latest CD is entitled, Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music features The Beaton Family of Mabou. Previous recording from Smithsonian Folkways include The Heart of Cape Breton: Fiddle Music Recorded Live Along The Ceilidh Trail.
The liner notes of Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music is rich with history of the area and the Beaton family. It’s a virtual history lesson of the Scots who settled that area and how they have passed down their rich traditions from generation to generation and amazingly continue to expand on the music as they take it farther and farther afield today.
There are 16 tracks and 75 minutes of music from Cape Breton (too extensive to list here). Artists on the album are Kinnon Beaton; Donald Angus Beaton; Andrea Beaton; Glenn Graham and Rodney MacDonald; Elizabeth Beaton, Betty Beaton and Mary Graham. For more information, visit www.folkways.si.edu.
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