Saturday, August 27, 2011 marked a sad day in the piping community: the shocking announcement of the death of P/M Alasdair Gillies. A tremendous bagpiper, Alasdair won almost every major prize in both piobaireachd and light music throughout his piping career.
Listen to a short radio interview with Alasdair at KPLU during the Mastery of Scottish Arts School in Seattle, WA (2009).
Not only a legendary player with an extremely successful bagpiping career, he was well loved and admired and served as major inspiration to numerous pipers and drummers alike. He will be sorely missed.
JWT Reedmakers extends our deepest sympathies to Alasdair's family and friends.
Watch a snippet from John MacDonald's On The Day where Alasdair speaks about his career:
-JLT
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Watch It! Part Deux
Another wee snippet from Maxville. (Good job to Oran Mor for making it through the Worlds Qualifier this year!)
Oran Mor
-JLT
Oran Mor
-JLT
Watch It!
Here are some snippets from the Glengarry Highland Games (Maxville) where Peel Police took the overall prize for Grade 1. It was a scorcher so I couldn't stand being in the grandstands in the blazing sun for too long...I found a friend with a lawn chair and fresh grapes...all I needed was a giant palm leaf for fanning....
Peel Police
City of Chicago
78th Frasers
-JLT
Peel Police
City of Chicago
78th Frasers
-JLT
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Piping Live!
The week before the Worlds has turned into a major deal over the past few years with many many venues with many many artists from around the world performing throughout the city of Glasgow. For someone who is not scheduled to the ears with practices, performances and contests, it become a serious lesson in time management.
Inveraray & District was one of the performances on Wednesday and James P. playing with them this season, it was a must see. Too bad the weather was so bad (rainy, rainy, rainy) but with such a well run event they are always prepared and there was a tent FULL of people for the band to play in despite the heavy downpour.
We managed to get into the tent that they were tuning in beforehand to have a sneak preview and caught the end of P/M Stuart Liddell's pep talk before the performance - the last thing he said was 'Enjoy the music'.
Enough said.
-JLT
Inveraray & District was one of the performances on Wednesday and James P. playing with them this season, it was a must see. Too bad the weather was so bad (rainy, rainy, rainy) but with such a well run event they are always prepared and there was a tent FULL of people for the band to play in despite the heavy downpour.
We managed to get into the tent that they were tuning in beforehand to have a sneak preview and caught the end of P/M Stuart Liddell's pep talk before the performance - the last thing he said was 'Enjoy the music'.
Enough said.
-JLT
Mes excuses pour le retard postings...
In a world that is hyper connected all of the time, one takes for granted the use of internet, WiFi and even a plug-in to charge the old computer....after spending 8 days deep in the woods of Quimper, Brittany, I now really appreciate the privilege that we have all maybe come to 'expect'. That is just a long way of saying that there was no internet connectivity where I was so please excuse the lack of posts...
So quick summary:
Peel Police are the 2011 North American Champions. Full result listings and videos can be seen on pipesdrums.com. Good representation of JWT reeds in the Professional prize list!
James P. has been overseas for weeks now and is going well with Inveraray. They took the top prize at Bridge of Allan on Saturday, August 7. Great lead up to the Worlds!
Also on August 7 while James P. was at the Bridge, I was in Lorient watching the Bagadou Championships which is held in FC Lorient's soccer stadium.
Having spent the entire week leading up to Lorient with Bagad Kemper, I was able to witness the undeniable musicianship but also the LOVE that these guys and gals put into their music. They are very proud to be Breton (not French) and are even more proud to carry on the tradition of the Breton music with bombards, bagpipes, drums and percussion.
Although Lorient is the contest to display the less traditional side of Breton music, one still feels the immense passion for the music throughout the entire city. Lorient is not big but is a quiet Breton town that has a great history. Being almost completely destroyed during World War Two, the architecture is of the 1950s so it's considered 'modern' and not a major attraction throughout the rest of the year. It is recommended in even the most widely known travel books to visit Lorient only during the week of the Festival Interceltique as upwards of a million people converge on the city to take in the music, culture and ambience.
You can see many things in a Bagadou contest complete with various percussion instruments, dancing and singing. Given a specific time limit for the entire medley as well as a time limit for sections of instruments, it becomes a display of creativity, professionalism and orchestral brilliance. The Bagads play for a panel of 12 judges: five for ensemble, two for bombards, two for bagpipes (cornemuse in French), two for snare drums (les batteries in French) and one for percussions (see entire result breakdown for Lorient 2011 at www.bodadeg-ar-sonerion.org.
Bagad Kemper came out a clear winner with an average of 17.6 out of a possible 18. WOW! This was their 19th title as Champion de Bretagne des Bagadoù). Remarkable.
Enjoy their championship performance:
-JLT
So quick summary:
Peel Police are the 2011 North American Champions. Full result listings and videos can be seen on pipesdrums.com. Good representation of JWT reeds in the Professional prize list!
James P. has been overseas for weeks now and is going well with Inveraray. They took the top prize at Bridge of Allan on Saturday, August 7. Great lead up to the Worlds!
Also on August 7 while James P. was at the Bridge, I was in Lorient watching the Bagadou Championships which is held in FC Lorient's soccer stadium.
Having spent the entire week leading up to Lorient with Bagad Kemper, I was able to witness the undeniable musicianship but also the LOVE that these guys and gals put into their music. They are very proud to be Breton (not French) and are even more proud to carry on the tradition of the Breton music with bombards, bagpipes, drums and percussion.
Although Lorient is the contest to display the less traditional side of Breton music, one still feels the immense passion for the music throughout the entire city. Lorient is not big but is a quiet Breton town that has a great history. Being almost completely destroyed during World War Two, the architecture is of the 1950s so it's considered 'modern' and not a major attraction throughout the rest of the year. It is recommended in even the most widely known travel books to visit Lorient only during the week of the Festival Interceltique as upwards of a million people converge on the city to take in the music, culture and ambience.
You can see many things in a Bagadou contest complete with various percussion instruments, dancing and singing. Given a specific time limit for the entire medley as well as a time limit for sections of instruments, it becomes a display of creativity, professionalism and orchestral brilliance. The Bagads play for a panel of 12 judges: five for ensemble, two for bombards, two for bagpipes (cornemuse in French), two for snare drums (les batteries in French) and one for percussions (see entire result breakdown for Lorient 2011 at www.bodadeg-ar-sonerion.org.
Bagad Kemper came out a clear winner with an average of 17.6 out of a possible 18. WOW! This was their 19th title as Champion de Bretagne des Bagadoù). Remarkable.
Enjoy their championship performance:
-JLT
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