Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerably to include everything from traditional music to a wide range of hybrids.
A cèilidh or céilí is a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a house party or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.
During the decade of the 2000s many Scottish bands and individual performers made recordings in the rock, Scottish folk, Celtic fusion, and other genres. Scottish music received support from two public bodies: the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise. Scotland's largest city Glasgow was described by Time magazine in 2004 as "Europe's capital of rock music", and became a UNESCO City of Music in 2008. The decade brought the deaths of Scottish musicians Kirsty MacColl and Martyn Bennett.
Martyn Bennett was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and producer. He was an innovator and his compositions crossed musical and cultural divides. Sporting dreadlocks at the height of his performing career, his energetic displays led to descriptions such as "the techno piper". Diagnosis of serious illness at the age of thirty curtailed his live performances, although he completed a further two albums in the studio. He died fifteen months after release of his fifth album Grit.
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the development of highly successful mainstream Celtic bands and popular musical performers, as well as creating important derivatives through further fusions. It has played a major role in the maintenance and definition of regional and national identities and in fostering a pan-Celtic culture. It has also helped to communicate those cultures to external audiences.
Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for any modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic", or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all the Celtic nations, as well as from all styles of popular music, it is thus sometimes associated with the Pan-Celtic movement. Celtic fusion may or may not include authentic traditional music from any one tradition under the Celtic umbrella, but its common characteristic is the inspiration by Celtic identity.
Salsa Celtica are a Scottish group that plays a fusion of salsa music with traditional Scottish instruments, including elements of folk and jazz.
Mouth Music is a Scottish-inspired musical project founded in 1988, whose combination of traditional Gaelic songs and music with contemporary instrumental and technological settings led them to international fame in the early 1990s.
Talitha MacKenzie is a Scottish-American world music recording artist, and historical dance and music teacher and performer. Initially known as a vocalist in the original duo Mouth Music, she has maintained a solo career. Although most associated with Celtic and Gaelic music, she performs a wide range of early music and dance, as well as her own compositions.
Grit is the last studio album by the Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released on 13 October 2003 on the Real World label.
Glen Lyon is the fourth studio album by the Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released on 11 October 2002 on the Footstompin' label. The album includes a recording of Bennett's great-great grandfather Peter Stewart on wax cylinder, as well as many songs by his mother, Margaret Bennett.
Bothy Culture is the second studio album by the Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett, released in January 1998 on the Rykodisc label. After winning critical acclaim for his debut album Martyn Bennet (1996), Bothy Culture builds upon that album's mixing of Scottish Celtic music with farther, international folk music styles and contemporary electronic music. The album celebrates and draws upon the music of Bennett's native Gaeldom as well as the music of Islam and Scandinavia, with Bennett finding and emotionally connecting to the similarities between the geographically dispersed styles. It mixes the styles with contemporary electronic music such as breakbeat and drum and bass.
Hardland is the third studio album by the Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released in 2000 in collaboration with a fellow artist/producer Martin Low.
Mackay's Memoirs is the last recorded work by Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. It was released on 15 April 2005 by the City of Edinburgh Music School.
Ivan Drever is a Scottish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. He often tours with fiddler Duncan Chisholm who founded the Celtic rock band Wolfstone which Drever joined in 1990 but left in later years. Drever has mixed traditional folk with some rock and roll sounds.
Bongshang are a Scottish band from Shetland, who fuse traditional Shetland and folk styles with rock, funk, electronica and contemporary production techniques. They have been likened to Celtic fusion artists such as Shooglenifty and Martyn Bennet.
Margaret Bennett is a Scottish writer, folklorist, ethnologist, broadcaster, and singer. Her main interests lies in the field of traditional Scottish folk culture and cultural identity of the Scots in Scotland and abroad. The late Hamish Henderson, internationally distinguished poet and folklorist, said about her: Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland.
Kathleen MacInnes, or Caitlin NicAonghais in Scottish Gaelic, is a Scottish singer, television presenter and actress, who performs primarily in Scottish Gaelic. She is a native of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and lives in Glasgow with her partner and three sons. In 2010, she appeared on the soundtrack to the Ridley Scott film Robin Hood.
Events from the year 1998 in Scotland.
Su-a Lee is a classical musician born in Seoul, South Korea and resident in Edinburgh, Scotland.
