From: Macmeanmna News
[naidheachdan_at_gaelicmusic_dot_com]
Sent: 30 March 2009 22:14
Subject: Publication of new Blair Douglas Music
Book
Attachments: Blair.jpg
This
week sees the launch of a stunning collection of tunes and Gaelic songs by an
award-winning Skye composer. Blair Douglas, the Skye-based musician and
composer, voted Composer of the Year at last year’s Scots Trad Music
Awards, will launch Mànran* which features about fifty of his compositions in
staff notation, coupled with extensive background notes in Gaelic and English.
Settings for the pipes are provided for a number of the
tunes.
The collection includes many of Blair’s best-known
compositions such as Kate Martin’s Waltz, Solus m’Àigh, Nelson
Mandela’s Welcome to the City of Glasgow, Angels from the Ashes and
Skye Glen Waltz.
Blair is a consummate musician with an
international reputation, and considered to be one of this generation’s foremost
tunesmith and songwriters. The enduring popularity of his work, and the fact
that many of his tunes have entered the repertoires of traditional musicians and
pipers, is testament to the eagerness with which this collection has been
awaited.
Blair was born in Uig in Skye and a rich musical vein came
down to him from both sides of the family. His mother, Ina who was of
North Uist people was herself a great singer and musician and many singers and
tradition bearers pepper his father Alasdair’s family. They were from the
north end of the island, their forebears having come originally from the Borders
to Skye. So, as they say in Gaelic, Blair did not have to ‘buy’ his
musical ability, it was already in his blood. Blessed with this innate
talent Blair has, through tuition he received and the influences to which he was
exposed honed and perfected his abilities.
It was the playing of
the late, lamented Niall Chẹis of Lewis which inspired Blair to buy an
accordion. This he quickly mastered and then he teamed up with Calum and Rory
MacDonald, fellow Skyemen with North Uist connections and together they formed
the Run Rig Dance Band to play at the North Uist & Bernera Association
concert in Glasgow. For Run Rig, the rest, as they say, is history but
Blair eventually pursued a solo career. His first album, Celtology was
published in 1984 and remarkably is about to become available again, not on the
original vinyl, but on CD. Thereafter came the CDs, Beneath the
Beret published in 1990, A Summer in Skye in 1996 and in 2004
Angels from the Ashes was published and two years later saw the
publication of Stay Strong.
To mark the publication of
Mànran, a small launch event will be held in the Aros Centre, Portree on
Saturday 4th April at 2.30pm to which all are invited.
-------
Mànran is
published by Macmeanmna Ltd and is available from a number of music outlets and
http://www.gaelicmusic.com
.
*Mànran, -ain, -an, s. .m. Tuneful sound, melody. 2 Humming
of a song or tune, cooing. 3 Entertainment, feasting. 4
Blandishment, dalliance, amorous discourse. 5 Report, rumour,
intelligence, news. 6 Murmur. 7 Love-song or sonnet. 8 Humming song.
9
Dandering.
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Maclean
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