Margaret Bennett joins with friends from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drame (RSAMD) and Aberfeldy District Gaelic Choir for this lovely CD of Scots and Gaelic song inspired by Margaret's invitation to Festival 500 (July 2007) in Newfoundland, where thousands of singers from all over the world spend a week together celebrating the voice and the joy of singing. Accompanied by Seylan Baxter, Cheyenne Brown, Heather Downie, Ruairidh MacMillan and Stuart Peters. Click here for the song lyrics.
The sleeve notes read as: If there's anything more satisfying at a ceilidh, concert or session than hearing everyone join in the chorus then I'm yet to find it. Scottish singer Margaret Bennett has been singing from the cradle, and it came natural to her. However, "Take the Road to Aberfeldy" is not just an endless singalong. Most selected songs are Gaelic, from waulking songs (Gaol ise gaol i - She's My Beloved One) to laments (Tuireadh Iain Ruaidh - Lament for John Roy) and lullabies (Gur Milis Morag - Sweet is Morag). There also is a number of traditional Scots/English songs, including "The Singing Bird" and "My Bonnie Light Horseman", as well as the wordplay of Mary Mac's mother making Mary Mac marry me. Margaret is singing a capella on half of the tracks, only accompanied by the Aberfeldy and District Gaelic Choir, on the other half by understated harp, fiddle, piano and Border pipes, respectively.
Margaret's rendition is so delicate and fragile that it makes me shiver and feel that live is not infinite and all so endangered. Margaret is the mother of the late Martyn Bennett, who was very keen in the fusion of traditional and contemporary music. "Love and Loss" is a three track album in memory of her talented son, who passed away much to early. "Fhir an Fhuilt Dhuinn" is a piobaireachd, composed by Martyn's grandmother to the 17th century piping tune from Padraig Mor MacCrimmon's "Lament for the Children". The EP is completed with the Robert Burns song "Laddie Lie Near Me" and the lament "John MacLeod of Raasay". The benefits will be used to set up a scholarship for a student at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
