Vibrant Celtic dance music and traditional slow airs, mixed with Nolan's own compositions: "an aural feast of musical soul food."

15 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Irish Traditional, WORLD: Celtic

Details:
A 15 track album with many of Martinâs own previously unrecorded compositions, including a song he co-wrote with Richard Abbott and AnnMarie OâGrady at an IMRO songwritersâ week in Killarney, and a number of pieces from the James Goodman Manuscripts, âTunes of the Munster Pipersâ. These manuscripts were compiled over a 20 year period in the mid nineteenth century and were left by his family, after his death, to the library of Trinity College Dublin. Until now, many of these melodies have lain silent for over a hundred years.

Opening with a set of slip jigs, the album has a varied selection of tunes with some unusual settings of marches, airs, waltzes, a polka, set dance, and of course, reels and jigs.

Martin playing uilleann pipes, whistle, and low whistle, is accompanied on different tracks by Kevin OâConnor, fiddle; Andrew Synnott on harpsichord and piano; John Ryan, bouzouki and mandolin; Tony Byrne and Brendan Kelly on guitar; Robbie Harris and Niall Mansfield, percussion; Deirdre Ní Chinnéide, vocals; and Peter Eades, piano and snare drum.

Reviews of Bright Silver Dark Wood

Bright Silver Dark Wood is the work of a creative musician who has taken his work farther than most of his ilk. A body of work to linger with and drink longingly from, Bright Silver Dark Wood is an aural feast of musical soul food.

Irish Music Magazine

As well as being a consummate virtuoso, Nolan displays a keen sense of musical direction. Everything about the CD can be summed up in one phrase, âwell-judgedâ... An album which the aficionado of rugged, risky, courageous piping cannot ignore.

Pay the Reckoning

Martin Nolan's album [has] a fluid open style with plenty of raw energy and imaginative acoustic arrangements.

The Living Tradition folk music.net

Full of variety, very musical style piping and an easy-going character... a piping album even a piperâs wife would enjoy.

The Pipersâ Review, USA



Martin Nolanâs uilleann piping has taken him, both solo and ensemble, throughout Europe and the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada, from the Lincoln Center for the Arts in New York to the national theatres of Ireland and England and concert halls across the Indian subcontinent. Respected in the Irish traditional scene, he has also played alongside jazz greats such as Dave Liebman, the late Michael Brecker, the Boclé Brothers, Ronan Guilfoyle, Michael Buckley. Other collaborative work includes virtuoso Hungarian violinist Zoltan Lantos and Japanese performance artist Keiji Heino.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, it was here he took his first lessons from John Keenan Sr., father of well-known piper Paddy Keenan. Martin's playing is strongly influenced by the 'travelling style' of piping, which employs legato and staccato techniques, elements which are heard to great effect in his playing.

Performances, festivals and tours:

* Lincoln Center for the Arts, New York
* Royal National Theatre, London
* Abbey, Project Arts, Pavilion, Draiocht, Mermaid and Civic Theatres, Dublin

* Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Massachusetts
* Ten Days on the Island Festival, Tasmania
* Islands Folk Festival, Vancouver Island, Canada
* East West cultural festival, Bangalore, India

* Canadian tour with The Celtic Craft

* Indian tour, with Khanda, a Dublin-based band which features the music of India, eastern Europe, the Middle East and Ireland, and the Karnataka College of Percussion, as part of a cultural exchange on behalf of the Irish government. A documentary, âFive Cities,â of this tour and a concert in Vicar Street was aired on RTÉ in October 2001 and subsequently released as a CD/DVD package entitled Five Cities.

* Western Canada with Will Millar (formerly of the Irish Rovers and The Unicorn Song fame) and his show, Ireland: Where the Song and Dance Began.

Martin composed the music for Ourboros Theatre Ireland's 2007 production of Making History (Brian Friel), commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls.


Live Reviews:


Martin Nolanâs pipes⦠caught the eddies, ducking and diving alongside the jazz lines with nervy agility⦠The wedding of sax and pipes was particularly spectacular.

Irish Times (review of Michael Buckleyâs Translations)


And then there's Martin Nolan's pipering pyrotechnics: his fire and accuracy put him on a par with the best of players. The playing throughout this debut recording displays a finely judged mix of skill and excitement.

Folk Roots


Martin Nolan is a noted piper and composer whose openness and receptiveness to new ideas has taken him and his pipes around the world.

The Sunday Tribune (Dublin)


Well versed in the tradition of his instrument, Martin is constantly expanding its repertoire by playing in unusual contexts.

The Event Guide (Dublin)


Both Martin's album and his live performance are energetic affairs full of great playing, good tunes and cheerful Irish humour.

The Canberra Times


Most of Nolan's selections were... dance music, and indeed it was hard to keep one's feet still. Nolan brought on Indian instrumentalists to play a classical Indian piece. Then, in a true East-West exchange, the Indian musicians joined Nolan in a rousing Irish jig which got the audience going.

Deccan Herald (Bangalore, India)


Nolan is one of only a handful of pipes virtuosos having learned the art from traditional players in and around his native Dublin.

Offbeat Magazine (Victoria, British Columbia)

People who are interested in Davy Spillane Liam O’Flynn Paddy Keenan should consider this download.