Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for any modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic", or
Celtic music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...
which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all the
Celtic nations
The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who shar ...
, as well as from all styles of popular music, it is thus sometimes associated with the
Pan-Celtic
Pan-Celticism ( ga, Pan-Cheilteachas, Scottish Gaelic: ''Pan-Cheilteachas'', Breton: ''Pan-Keltaidd'', Welsh: ''Pan-Geltaidd,'' Cornish: ''Pan-Keltaidd,'' Manx: ''Pan-Cheltaghys''), also known as Celticism or Celtic nationalism is a political ...
movement. Celtic fusion may or may not include authentic traditional music from any one tradition under the
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
ic umbrella, but its common characteristic is the inspiration by Celtic identity.
The oldest musical tradition which fits under the label of Celtic fusion originated in the rural American south in the early colonial period and incorporated Scottish, Scots-Irish,
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, and
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
influences. Variously referred to as roots music, American folk music, or
old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination ...
, this tradition has exerted a strong influence on all forms of American music, including
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
,
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
, and
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
. The connections between traditional Scottish and Irish music and Rock music are deep and go back to the origins of American music. As Elvis Costello put it:
"I started with rock n' roll and...then you start to take it apart like a child with a toy and you see there's blues and there's country...Then you go back from country into American music...and you end up in Scotland and Ireland eventually."
Another manifestation of this syncretic tendency emerged in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in the 1890s, as bands performing traditional Irish music for the large
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
immigrant community there began incorporating
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
influences, adding brass and reed instruments and performing
quickstep
The quickstep is a light-hearted dance of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal a ...
s,
foxtrot
The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...
s, and other popular contemporary dance tunes.
More recently, there has been a flowering of several distinct genres of Celtic fusion. These can be roughly broken down as follows:
Celtic reggae
The fusion of Celtic music and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
is a hybrid started by the band
Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
and The Red Hot Polkas, an example of Celtic dub, The Trojans, an example of Celtic
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
, and followed on by PaddyRasta, an example of Celtic
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
reggae, and recently The Celtic Reggae Revolution who have done it to good effect. Other collaborations include
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...
and
Ziggy Marley
David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 200 ...
, Sharon Shannon and Bréag.
Celtic rock
The fusion of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and Celtic music is perhaps the least surprising of the modern hybrids, since rock is partially based on "roots" music, which was originally based on a fusion of African, Celtic, and many other traditions. Modern Celtic rock acts like
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...
, Jethro Tull/ Ian Anderson, Rathkeltair,
Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specifically ...
,
Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band founded in Santa Monica, California in 1996. Their musical output includes pieces from traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres. The band had its first b ...
,
Sinéad O'Connor
Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...
, The Cranberries, The Proclaimers,
Red Cardell
Red Cardell is a Breton rock band that mixes Breton music with rock, folk, blues, world music and chanson réaliste.
The group was formed in 1992 by Jean-Pierre Riou (vocals, guitars), Jean-Michel Moal (accordion) and Ian Proërer (drums). With t ...
,
Peatbog Faeries
The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...
Enter the Haggis
Enter the Haggis is a Canadian Celtic rock band based in Toronto. The band was founded in 1995 by Craig Downie, the only remaining original member in the lineup, which currently consists of Downie ( highland bagpipes, vocals), Brian Buchanan (vo ...
, Callanach,
The Dreaming
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...
,
Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound S ...
,
Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ma ...
, the American Rogues, Homeland,
Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno A ...
Wolfstone
Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Celtic rock. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. They have released seven studio albums, the latest, '' Terra Firma'', in 2007. The band ...
,
The Paperboys
The Paperboys (sometimes billed and credited as Tom Landa and the Paperboys) are a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver that formed in 1991. The Paperboys blend Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul a ...
and
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
, and many others have proven the genre's vitality.
Since rock music is so diverse and is influenced by virtually every other genre, the sounds of these groups vary considerably; they include everything from straight-ahead classic rock with traditional instruments to traditional songs played with rock "attitude".
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Car ...
,
Nolwenn Leroy
Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress.
Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...
and Gwennyn incorporate pop music elements into traditional tunes.
Celtic punk
Celtic punk was essentially invented by
The Pogues
The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...
in the early 1980s and immediately gained popularity following the release of their first album in 1985. It is one of the best established of the modern Celtic fusion genres, and generally includes drums, bass, guitar, and fiddle, sometimes with tin whistle, bodhran, or accordion. The sound is typically fast with aggressive lyrics, rock beats, and melodies.
Bands in this genre include
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now Floggingmolly. ...
,
Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...
,
The Real McKenzies
The Real McKenzies is a Canadian Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are one of the founders of the Celtic punk movement, albeit 10 years after The Pogues.
In addition to writing and performing origin ...
,
Neck
The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...
, Smiting Shillelagh,
Flatfoot 56
Flatfoot 56 is an American Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, that formed in 2000. The group's use of Scottish Highland bagpipes has led to their classification as a Celtic punk band.
History
The band formed in summer 2000 as a three-piece ...
,
The Tossers
The Tossers are an American six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, formed in July 1993. They have toured with Murphy's Law, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Dropkick Murphys, The Reverend Horton Heat, Flogging Molly, ...
, The Vandon Arms, The Molly Maguires,
Mutiny
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...
, and
Black 47
Black 47 was an American Celtic rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by Larry Kirwan and Chris Byrne, and derives its name from a traditional term for the summer of 1847, the worst year of the Great Famine in Ireland.
History
Beginn ...
(who also incorporate hip hop influences). The genre is most popular in Ireland, Scotland,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the United States, and Canada.
Punks singing in Celtic languages began to emerge in the late 1970s in Wales, where groups such as Ail Symudiad (Second Movement) and Y Trwynau Coch (The Red Noses) began performing in fast-paced idioms reminiscent of the Jam; a rather harder sound was adopted by Yr Anhrefn (Chaos) in the 1980s. The 2000s saw in Scotland the emergence of several Gaelic-language punk bands, such as
Mill a h-Uile Rud
Mill a h-Uile Rud () is a Seattle-based band who sing in Scottish Gaelic.
The band
The name translates as 'Destroy Everything'. The band sings entirely in Scottish Gaelic, which has proved something of a novelty in Scotland and has gained them ...
and the genre is also represented in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
with the band called
Les Ramoneurs de Menhirs
Les Ramoneurs de menhirs are a Breton Celtic punk group formed in 2006. Its members include Éric Gorce on the bombardon, Richard Bévillon on the bagpipes, the traditional vannetais singer Gwenaël Kere and Loran, guitarist from the group ...
.
Celtic hip hop
The first Celtic-identified hip hop group to gain mainstream notoriety was
House of Pain
House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's name is a reference to the H. G. Wells novel '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', a refer ...
, a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
based hip hop group which incorporated rhymes about the
Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
experience into their music. With a few exceptions, however, their actual instrumentation did not incorporate traditional "Celtic" instruments, though they did use time signatures typical of Jigs on several songs - a major deviation in a hip hop market where virtually everything is done in 4/4 time.
Marxman
Marxman were a four-piece Marxist hip-hop group with two MCs"Marxman: Woman and Child", ''Lime Lizard'', May 1993, p. 24-5 formed in London in 1989. Their lyrics expounded communism and an end to economic and social injustice. They are one o ...
, an Irish-Jamaican hip hop group, whose explicitly
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
politics gained them notoriety and infamy in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, incorporated traditional instruments into several songs on their first album, but largely abandoned them on their second album for a more
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
- and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
-oriented sound that would later form the basis for the emergence of
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
.
Sinéad O'Connor
Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...
contributed vocals to several of Marxman's songs and even tried her hand at rapping on her 1994 album ''
Universal Mother
''Universal Mother'' is the fourth album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released on September 13, 1994.
"That album was the first attempt to try to expose what was really underneath a lot of the anger of the other records," she explained. " ...
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
** Breton people
** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Ga ...
origin, created the first truly consistent fusion of Celtic music and hip hop in two critically acclaimed albums incorporating a wide range of traditional instruments and melodies and combining them with hip hop beats. In one of their songs they used part of an arrangement of a traditional tune ('' Tri Martolod'') by
Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specifically ...
, and were subsequently sued by him for copyright infringement.
1998 also marked the release of
Seanchai and The Unity Squad
Black 47 was an American Celtic rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by Larry Kirwan and Chris Byrne, and derives its name from a traditional term for the summer of 1847, the worst year of the Great Famine in Ireland.
History
Beginn ...
's second album, Rebel Hip Hop. The sound was equal parts folk-punk, rock, and old-school hip hop and marked the first time Celtic hip hop had been performed exclusively with live instruments instead of samples. The album was selected as the Hotpress "Album of the Year" and received positive reviews but failed to break into the mainstream. The band has released 4 more albums since and are still active, playing primarily at Rocky Sullivan's in NYC which is owned by Chris Byrne, the band leader.
More recently, Emcee Lynx, a hip hop artist from
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
descent who is best known for his
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
politics and
anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
activism, has incorporated samples of traditional instruments into his music. His song "I'm a Celt", from his 2003 album "The UnAmerican LP", marked his first foray into overt fusion; combining samples of a traditional Irish harp with bass, drum, and lyrics about the Highland Clearances, the famines, and growing up as a Celt in America. In 2005 that evolved into a full band,
Beltaine's Fire
Beltaine's Fire was a five-member hip hop/ folk-rock/ Celtic fusion collective from the San Francisco Bay Area in California fronted by Emcee Lynx. Their music evolved considerably over the years. Starting out as a mix of "traditional Irish ...
. They played a live fusion of hip hop, funk, rock, and Celtic music. They released three full-length albums and their biggest performance was at the KVMR Celtic Festival in 2008, an event which drew over 10,000 people.
The definition of 'Celtic Hip Hop' is contested. Some people use it to refer to all hip hop by self-identified Celts; Ammunition, an Irish rapper who runs https://web.archive.org/web/20080420184447/http://celtichiphop.net/ is one pillar in this camp, while most critics use it to refer to music that actually incorporates traditional instrumentation and melodies. Rappers who spit primarily over conventional hip hop beats and self-identify with Celtic hip hop include
Rob Kelly
Robert Anthony Kelly (born 21 December 1964) is a former English footballer and manager who is currently the assistant manager at Wigan Athletic in the Championship.
He is best known for his spell as manager of Leicester City, as well as being ...
, Emcee Lynx (as a solo artist), Terrawrizt, MetaBeats, Collie, Scattabrainz, Lineage, Corvid and many more.
Celtic New Age
Celtic New Age artists such as
Enya
Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
,
Clannad
Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...
,
Afro Celt Sound System
Afro Celt Sound System is a British musical group who fuse electronic music with traditional Gaelic and West African music. Afro Celt Sound System was formed in 1995 by producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and feature a wide range of guest artists. ...
Iona
Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...
, and Gary Stadler incorporate traditional melodies and lyrics with synths and pads to create a mellow relaxed fusion that has proven highly marketable. Enya, for example, is one of the best-selling musicians in the world.
Celtic jazz
The word first entered the English language as slang and was used to describe anyone who was giving a passionate performance, primarily athletes at first. It was only later that the spelling was standardized as Jazz and it became associated with a specific musical Genre.
The music we call Jazz today originated in African American communities and evolved out of American Roots music and the
Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and often included instruments like Fiddle and Mandolin that are now more commonly associated with Folk or Roots music. Modern acts such as
Clannad
Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...
,
Nightnoise
Nightnoise was a music ensemble active from 1984 to 1997. Their original blend of Irish traditional music, Celtic music, jazz, and classical chamber music inspired a generation of Irish musicians. They released seven albums on the Windham Hill ...
Raggle Taggle
A reglet is found on the exterior of a building along a masonry wall, chimney or parapet that meets the roof. It is a groove cut within a mortar joint that receives counter-flashing meant to cover surface flashing used to deflect water infiltrati ...
or
Roland Becker
Roland Becker (25 August 1940 – 2 March 2021) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag.
Life
Becker joined the Christian Democratic Union ...
(in the eighties) combine Celtic music with jazz. The jazz can range from the
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
swing style to the
smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
style.
O'Reilly's musical partner has a side project called Temro that improvises over Irish traditional music in sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic environments.
Ensemble Ériu is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
band which blend the minimalism and improvisatory spirit of jazz around Irish traditional melodies.
Celtic electronica
The genre of Celtic electronica blends traditional Celtic influences with modern electronic music. Artists such as
Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett (17 February 1971 – 30 January 2005) 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 pro ...
,
Lorne Cousin Lorne Cousin is a Los Angeles-based Great Highland bagpipe player, known as the "Scottish Piper to the Stars". Cousin has performed with artists such as Madonna, Missy Elliott, Stella McCartney, and Brian Cox. Lorne Cousin and his group of kilt
...
Mark Saul
Mark Adam Saul (born June 20, 1985) is an American actor who is best known for appearing on the popular Nickelodeon show ''All That'' in the final two seasons of the show's first era. His other notable credits include ''The Social Network'', '' ...
and
Saint Sister
Saint Sister is an Irish traditional duo, whose music has been described as "atmosfolk."
Career
Morgan MacIntyre (from Belfast) and Gemma Doherty (from Derry) met at Trinity College, Dublin. They founded Saint Sister in 2014. They were voted t ...
whose backgrounds are in traditional Celtic music tend to favor traditional instruments, melodies, and rhythms, but augment them with drum machines and electronic sounds. Others, like
Dagda
The Dagda (Old Irish: ''In Dagda,'' ga, An Daghdha, ) is an important god in Irish mythology. One of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Dagda is portrayed as a father-figure, king, and druid.Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia' ...
,
Brigid Boden
Brigid Boden is an Irish singer and songwriter.
Early life and education
Boden was born in Dublin Ireland. As a child, Boden studied dance there and later in New York City, culminating in a scholarship to the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She then m ...
and
Niteworks
Niteworks (also known by the Scottish Gaelic ''Obair Oidhche'') is an Electronic Celtic fusion band from the Isle of Skye. The band are known for writing new songs in Gaelic and melding the bagpipes and Gaelic songs such as puirt a beul with ...
approach the fusion from a background in electronic music that eschews traditional instruments and incorporates traditional melodies played on synths into a New Age-influenced
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
sound.
Peatbog Faeries
The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...
have experimented with Celtic electronica, mainly on '' Faerie Stories''.
Celtic metal
During the 1990s, a subgenre of
folk metal
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...
emerged that combined
heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
Many Celtic fusion artists integrate musical traditions from all over the world into their sound. The clearest example of this is
Afro Celt Sound System
Afro Celt Sound System is a British musical group who fuse electronic music with traditional Gaelic and West African music. Afro Celt Sound System was formed in 1995 by producer-guitarist Simon Emmerson, and feature a wide range of guest artists. ...
, the members of which bring to the band strong backgrounds in either African or Irish musical tradition. The Irish fusion group
Skelpin
Skelpin is an Irish folk music group based in San Diego, California. They perform a fusion of Irish Music and Spanish Flamenco, with Middle-Eastern percussion and have toured with this Irish Fusion globally.
Skelpin is associated with the "Greening ...
incorporates Spanish flamenco, Middle Eastern, and American soul elements and instruments into its music. Delhi 2 Dublinbr> a band based in Canada, is known for fusing Irish and music of India, Indian music.
Salsa Celtica
Salsa Celtica are a Scottish group that plays a fusion of salsa music with traditional Scottish instruments, including elements of folk and jazz.
History
Salsa Celtica was formed in 1995 by Scottish jazz and folk musicians. In 1997 they visit ...
is an 11-member "world fusion" project based in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland that mixes salsa with Scottish bagpiping and world influences. Other artists such as
Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...
,
Red Cardell
Red Cardell is a Breton rock band that mixes Breton music with rock, folk, blues, world music and chanson réaliste.
The group was formed in 1992 by Jean-Pierre Riou (vocals, guitars), Jean-Michel Moal (accordion) and Ian Proërer (drums). With t ...
, the American Rogues, and Catya Maré take inspiration from numerous diverse traditions around the world, although their focus may be on Celtic music.
Others
Other, established hybrids include as played by bands like again Celtic Regggae Revolution, PaddyRasta, Pubside Down, and (again) Sinéad O'Connor.
As might be expected from musicians playing a style of music defined by its fusion of disparate elements, many bands combine multiple styles.
Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound S ...
, for instance, incorporates reggae, rock, and jazz into their musical style; Croft no Five did the same with rock and funk. Bands like Na’Bodach are stylistically disparate between works on the same album, where a rock influenced song may be followed by funk or bluegrass thereafter.
Rare Air
Rare Air, formerly Na Cabarfeidh, was a Canadian band that played an eccentric mix of instruments, including bagpipes, flutes, whistles, bombardes, bass guitar, and keyboards.
*Megaw, J. V. S. and M. R., ‘Ancient Celts and modern ethnicity’, Antiquity 70 (1996), 175-81.
*Dietler, Michael, ‘Celticism, Celtitude, and Celticity: the consumption of the past in the age of globalization’, in Celtes et Gaulois, l'Archeologie face à l'histoire . vol. 1, ed. S. Rieckhoff, Bibracte, 2006, 237-48.
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Celtic music