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| Thursday, January 18, 2007 |
Housecleaning yields new musical treats
By Dan MacDonald
the Cape Breton Post
I did a bit of 'housecleaning' this past weekend and found a number of CDs I've had since a while that I haven't talked about yet. Today I'll mention a pair I received during Celtic Colours.
A' Seo (Here) is the first solo release from Antigonish County's Lewis MacKinnon, former band member with Jug In Hand and current president of the Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia. Lewis (or Lodaidh MacFhionghain as he prefers) did the CD as a tribute to his granduncle Dougald MacDougall, a Cape Mabou native who spent 15 years with the MacKinnon family in Antigonish while Lodaidh was growing up. It was from Dougald that Lodaidh learned the language and the love for the culture.
Lodaidh is a great singer with a nice texture to his full, rich voice and he uses its full range throughout the CD. He is a good writer and several of his compositions appear on this recording, along with some great old traditional material. He has also taken the time to create some fresh sounding (and very interesting) arrangements for some of the more familiar songs. He also surrounded himself with a full host of very talented musicians. Recorded by Dave Gunning (with help from Tim Doucet and George Canyon), the musicians include Dave, Patricia Murray, Troy MacGillivray, Scott Long and An Cliath Clis (a Halifax-based Gaelic milling group).
The CD is accompanied by 20 pages of liner notes, well researched and including pictures that add so much. One of the highlights on the CD are the comments (in Gaelic) from Dougall himself, collected before his death in 1990, that add a real sense of place to the recording.
A' Seo is a wonderful CD and suitable for any collection, whether you're a Gaelic speaker or not.
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There is lots of water in and around Wisconsin, but it is still far from the Atlantic Ocean. Never the less, Atlantic Wave is the name of a Celtic group based in the Milwaukee area who feature Irish and Scottish material, much of which is familiar on Canada's East Coast as well. The quartet also has two members (John Kerr and Kaitlin Hahn) who have made several trips to Celtic Colours.
Craic is an Irish word that means 'good times', not unlike how the term ceilidh is used here. Atlantic Wave's first CD is called Craic'd!, a fifteen-cut production that leans heavily on instrumentals (including several interesting fiddle duets) that range from Tullochgorum and King of the Fairies to Tico Tico. Most of the vocals are very familiar (Bonnie Portmore, Jock Stewart, Queen of Argyll). It's an interesting and fun recording, a good first effort from Atlantic Wave, but not likely available in Cape Breton.
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On Saturday night Ian MacDougall and friends will be playing for a dance at the Cedars Club. Also, Andrea Beaton and Joel Chiasson will be playing at the Rack & Roll in New Waterford on January 26th from 2 to 6.
The Yuk Yuk's Comedy Tour returns to Membertou on January 26th. Meanwhile, Hedley is on stage at The Savoy on January 24th and it's the Tune Crafter's Circle (featuring Matt Minglewood, Myles Goodwin from April Wine, Andrea Beaton and Stephen MacDougall) on the 27th.
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I was truly saddened to hear of the passing of Geraldine (Rankin) Coyne. She was a lovely and talented person who I had known for many years. My sympathies to her family and to her siblings. Johnny M., your old piano player has come to join you.
Dan MacDonald (BA Celtic Studies, Cert. Heritage Studies) is a former Inverness County resident who now resides in the Sydney area. Involved in the Cape Breton music scene for more than 20 years, he operates his own company, Creignish Hills Entertainment.
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