''Grit'' is the last studio album by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Celtic fusion 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" music ...

artist Martyn Bennett. 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 performing

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

’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 and Scottish Gaelic singer Flora MacNeil, as well as Michael Marra narrating an English translation of psalm 118 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 Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics that studies relationships between side lengths and angles of triangles. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies. T ...

- an

Anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

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

* Sheila Stewart – vocals (1) * Lizzie Higgins – traditional arrangement (2), vocals (2) * Millennia Strings – strings (2, 5) * Andrew Skeet – 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) * Michael Marra – 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 – vocals (7) * Kirsten Bennett – piano (5, 8, 10), cello (5, 8, 10) * Jimmie McBeath – vocals (9) * John Purser – overtone singing (10)

Technical personnel

* Marco Migliari – additional recording * BJ Stewart – photography

2015 orchestral arrangement

The opening event of the 2015 Celtic Connections 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, jazz musicians Phil and

Tom Bancroft Thomas Peter Bancroft (born 29 January 1967) is a British jazz drummer and composer. Early life and education Bancroft was born in London on 29 January 1967. He began drumming aged seven and started off playing with his father and twin brother, ...

, singers

Fiona Hunter Malinky is a Scottish folk band specialising in Scots language, Scots song, formed in autumn 1998. Career Early years The original members were Karine Polwart from Banknock, Stirlingshire (vocals, guitar, bouzouki), Steve Byrne (musician) , St ...

, Annie Grace, Karen Matheson and Rab Noakes, and pipers Ross Ainslie,

Calum MacCrimmon Breabach is a Scottish folk music band formed in 2005. In 2011, they received nominations for ‘Best Group’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. They won Scottish Folk Band of the Year in 2012 and Live Act of the Year in 2013 at the Scots Trad Music ...

, Fraser Fifield and

Ali Hutton Old Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues, and Middle Eastern music rhythms. Background The three founding members of the band (Ian ...

. 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 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