''Grit'' is the last studio album by the Scottish Celtic fusion artist

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 prod ...

. It was released on 13 October 2003 on the Real World label.

Background

The album was recorded while Bennett was ill and unable to play his instruments, so instead he brought together samples of unaccompanied traditional Scottish folk singers, his own bagpipe and fiddle playing, and electronic drum beats. The opening track, ''Move'', samples a recording of traditional singer

Sheila Stewart Sheila Stewart (7 July 1937 – 9 December 2014) was a Scottish traditional singer, storyteller, and author. She inherited a large number of traditional songs from older family members, including her mother Belle Stewart. Biography Born in ...

performing Ewan MacColl’s ''Moving On Song''. Stewart was delighted that he was taking her music to a new audience. The album features many other traditional Scottish singers, including

Lizzie Higgins Lizzie Higgins (20 September 1929 – 20 February 1993) was an Aberdeenshire ballad singer. Early life Born Elizabeth Ann Higgins in Guest Row, Aberdeen, she was the daughter of settled Travellers the piper Donald "Donty" Higgins and the sin ...

and Scottish Gaelic singer

Flora MacNeil Flora MacNeil, MBE (6 October 1928 – 15 May 2015) was a Scottish Gaelic Traditional singer. MacNeil gained prominence after meeting Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson during the early 1950s, and continued to perform into her later years. Ea ...

, as well as

Michael Marra Michael Marra (17 February 1952 – 23 October 2012) was a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician from Dundee, Scotland. Known as the Bard of Dundee, Marra was a solo performer who toured the UK and performed in arts centres, theatres, folk cl ...

narrating an English translation of

psalm 118 Psalm 118 is the 118th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever." The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the He ...

in the track ''Liberation''. In Bennett's sleeve notes for Grit, he wrote, “In recent years so many representations of Scotland have been misty-lensed and fanciful to the point that the word ‘Celtic’ has really become a cloudy pigeon hole. This album was a chance for me to present a truthful picture, yet face my own reflection in the great mirror of all cultures.” The album skillfully interweaves old and new sounds and has been "credited with starting the musical evolution of Celtic fusion". The album cover shows a photo of the artist standing on top of a hill, right behind a Trig - an Anagram of the album title.

Release

''Grit'' was re-released in May 2014 as part of the Real World Gold Series. In July 2017 Real World released the album on vinyl.

Track listing

Personnel

* Martyn Bennett – production, programming, sampling, string arrangements, viola (8), guitar, strings, harmonium, smallpipes, recording, mixing

Additional musicians

– vocals (1) *

– traditional arrangement (2), vocals (2) * Millennia Strings – strings (2, 5) *

Andrew Skeet Andrew John Skeet (born 1969 in Croydon) is an English musician, composer and music producer. He has written scores for television and film and worked with many well-known composers and artists as an arranger, orchestrator and conductor. Biog ...

– conducting (2, 5) * Mairi Morrison – traditional arrangement (3), vocals (3) * Anni Watkins – traditional arrangement (4), vocals (4) * Petrea Cooney – chorus vocals (4) * Murdina MacDonald – vocals (5) * Effie MacDonald – vocals (5) *

– recitation (5) * Sorren Maclean – drums (5), guitar loop (5) * John Barlow – drums (5), guitar loop (5) * Gordon Maclean – double bass (5) * Flora MacNeil – traditional arrangement (6), vocals (6) *

Jeannie Robertson Jeannie Robertson (1908 – 13 March 1975) was a Scottish folk singer. Her most celebrated song is "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day", otherwise known as "Jock Stewart", which was covered by Archie Fisher, The Dubliners, The McCalmans, ...

– vocals (7) * Kirsten Bennett – piano (5, 8, 10), cello (5, 8, 10) * Jimmie McBeath – vocals (9) *

John Purser John Purser (born 1942) is a Scottish composer, musicologist, and music historian. He is also a playwright.cover notes from ''Scotland's Music'' CD Purser was born in Glasgow. He initiated the reconstruction that commenced in 1991 of the Iron ...

– overtone singing (10)

Technical personnel

* Marco Migliari – additional recording * BJ Stewart – photography

2015 orchestral arrangement

The opening event of the 2015

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

festival was a new orchestral arrangement of the complete album, arranged and conducted by Greg Lawson under the title "Nae Regrets" to mark the tenth anniversary of Bennett's death. Musicians performing included the

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and S ...

, jazz musicians Phil and Tom Bancroft, singers Fiona Hunter, Annie Grace,

Karen Matheson Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer who frequently sings in Gaelic. She is the lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Héritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lea ...

and

Rab Noakes Robert Ogilvie Noakes (13 May 1947 – 11 November 2022) was a Scottish singer-songwriter. Noakes was at the forefront of Scottish folk music for over 50 years and recorded over 19 studio albums. He toured folk clubs and often performed at the G ...

, and pipers Ross Ainslie, Calum MacCrimmon, Fraser Fifield and Ali Hutton. Lawson observed that "It's amazing how many people you need to accomplish what he did by himself." The event was described in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

as a "ballsy one-off".

Use in other media

The song "Blackbird" was used in the soundtrack for Danny MacAskill's 2014 film, ''The Ridge''.

References

Externals links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grit (Album) Martyn Bennett albums 2003 albums Real World Records albums