One of the great success stories of the Australian music scene.
When you are needing something to spice up you morning cappuccino, or a companion to your Earl Grey tea at night Sahara is the perfect music for your best moments. With musicianship that has been distilled by time and space, you are an audience to the best duo in this music category. Dave Long has one of the rare gorgeous male vocals in the tradition of Sting and Steve Winwood. I swear I could go on for hours and hours being hypnotized by tracks like No Man’s Land, Higher Than High, and Make My Day. I’m sure no one would question Trish long’s expertise with the sax and other instruments apart from the fact that she has a voice that could rival Celine Dion’s yet has the Irish gorgeousness.
According to their bio:
Sahara is the award winning singer/songwriter team Trish and Dave Long who met in their hometown Dublin in the eighties before migrating to Australia where they have toured extensively performing to sell out audiences. Before leaving Ireland they had performed in many of Dublin’s music venues eg. The Baggot Inn, The Meeting Place, Slattery’s, Dame Tavern and Trinity College, and alongside some of the Irish household names such as Brendan Grace, Red Hurley, Linda Martin, Errol Walsh, Freddie White, Declan Sinnott and Kieran Halpin.
I hear traces of Van Morrison, Bruce Hornsby and Traffic. If you love something that teeters between classic folk/rock, Celtic and jazz then Sahara is a perfect soundtrack.
National Eisteddfod of Wales attracts up to 160,000 visitors.
The National Eisteddfod has been attracting foreign visitors annually and numbers increased up to 160,000 attendees. It costs around £2.8m to stage. It is traditionally held in the first week of August and the competitions are all held in the Welsh language. According to Wiki:
The festival has a heavy druidic flavour, with the crowning and chairing ceremonies for the victorious poets being attended by bards in flowing white costumes, dancing maidens, trumpet fanfares and a symbolic horn of plenty. However, the heritage of this ceremony is of dubious provenance and owes its existence within the Eisteddfod structure to Iolo Morganwg, whose Gorsedd ceremonies were adopted by the Eisteddfod from 1819. Nevertheless, it is taken very seriously, and an award of a crown or a chair for poetry is a great honour. The Chairing and Crowning ceremonies are the highlight of the week, and are presided over by the Archdruid.
Pic courtesy of : thenewportship.com
The musical aspect of this event is huge and as a result a lot of musicians flock into the annual gathering . This is like a Loollapalooza of Celtic music. Only that we will be expecting poets and other members of the ‘learned’ crowd to be there.
I have been attracted to the singing of Esyllt Tudur . She been a familiar face and voice in this event. I heard her singing Ar Lan y Mor and it stuck with me. The mystical voice coupled with right instrumental arrangement creates an atmosphere of being transported into the age of Merlin. Her debut CD contains some of the music that Esyllt has enjoyed performing over the years, as well as some classical favourites.
1. Ar Lan y Mor
2. Breuddwydio Wnes
3. Gwydr Glas
4. Dyrchefir Fi (You Raise Me Up)
(Gyda Cor Creuddyn)
5. Gobaith yn y Tir
6 Gwn Dafydd Ifan
7. Suo Gan
8. Myfanwy
9. Adre’n Ol
10. Pererin Wyf Mewn Anial Dir
11. Un Dydd ar y Tro
12. Chwarae’n Troi’n Chwerw
Ex-Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews performing Welsh traditional ‘ Ar Lan Y Mor’ in front of a small audience in Rhosygilwen, Pembrokeshire.
Catatonia were a highly melodic alternative band in the late 90s which produced a lot of international hits . Years later, they just disappeared. Unlike fellow Welsh singer Donna Lewis who has no plans of giving up the pop sound, the band’s lead vocalist Cerys Matthews moved over to the left of the field-Celtic music. Matthews was born in Cardiff and brought up in Swansea and Pembrokeshire, and is a fluent Welsh speaker and multi-instrumentalist.
She has always been noted to posses the light almost ethereal voice of true sopranos but I never realized that she is going to let those pipes sing traditional Welsh songs. And this looks like a good start for a musical reformation.
Ar Lan y Môr
Ar lan y môr mae rhosys cochion
Ar lan y môr mae lilis gwynion
Ar lan y môr mae ‘nghariad inne
Yn cysgu’r nos a chodi’r bore.
Ar lan y môr mae carreg wastad
Lle bum yn siarad gair â’m cariad
O amgylch hon fe dyf y lili
Ac ambell sbrigyn o rosmari.
Llawn iawn yw’r môr o swnd a chregyn,
Llawn yw’r wy o wyn a melyn,
Llawn yw’r coed o ddail a blode,
Llawn iawn o gariad ydwyf inne.
Ar lan y môr mae cerrig gleision,
Ar lan y môr mae blodau’r meibion,
Ar lan y môr mae pob rhinweddau,
Ar lan y môr mae nghariad inne.
Translation:
By the seaside there are red roses
By the seaside there are white lilies
By the seaside is my sweetheart
Sleeping at night and rising in the morning.
By the seaside is a level stone
Where I spoke a word with my love
Around it grows the lily
And an occasional sprig of rosemary.
The sea is full of sand and shells
The egg is full of white and yellow
The wood is full of leaves and flowers
And I am full of love
By the seaside are blue stones
By the seaside are the sons’ flowers
By the seaside is every virtue
By the seaside is my sweetheart.
Performing Ei Di’r Deryn Du on the London Eye. Taken from her album “TIR”
A ei di’r deryn du
To my dearest love?
O cais fy nghangen gu
For I’m so deep in love.
Ni welaf yn un man
Such a damsel in my sight
Â’r ferch mor lân o liw
She is a beauty bright.
Mae’i gwallt yn felyn aur
Just like a ring of gold
A’i phryd fel eira gwyn
The truth it must be told.
“Tir” (Rainbow City Recordings – 2010) is her new album.
Tir “Tir is fabulous. It’s a considerable and thoughtful collection, but more than that, it’s beautiful. Her voice, both frail and innocent, mature and world-weary – as required by such history-rich songs. She asks us to revisit these songs, to engage in their purpose or meaning in a way I never have…” – Taplas
The voice is as illusive as the singer that is Caitlin Grey. It makes one wonder where did she come from? Rousing, elegant and magical. She is an artist that is in the process of getting her music across. In time there will be more info available. This video ‘The Parting’ is taken from her album Siren’s Song available through New World records.
Celtic Music Fan 