Marra Returns to a Favoured Haunt: Baronial Hall, Birnam

“Marra’s father had two musical heroes: Duke Ellington and Ludwig van Beethoven, and the house shook to the sounds of both. The only time Marra saw his father comb his hair was the night in the late 1960s when he went to see Ellington perform in Dundee. Marra’s mother, meanwhile, sang with the city’s Cecilian Choir and played piano, an old Bluthner upright that Marra still uses today.

“Distil those twin parental influences and you have the essence of Marra’s own oeuvre: part jazz, part blues; drawn around piano and guitar; rooted in that tradition of Celtic eloquence and hewn out of his mother tongue.”

Heather Macleod and the Healthy Measures

Complex, direct and dreamily reminiscent of Beth Gibbons or Annie Lennox, the velvety smoulder of Heather Macleod (right) amasses Celtic, jazz and roots-pop influences in a heady alchemical brew. Macleod, singer with La Boum! and the Eliza Carthy Band, recently launched a solo career with her soaring, multi-layered debut album Crossing Tides, which premiered at Celtic Connections festival in January 2005 featuring special guests, Danny Thompson and Sugar Blue, and a host of other friends made over the years.

The 12 months past has seen Heather with her band The Healthy Measures opening for Cara Dillon, Michael Marra, Eliza Carthy, Tam White, Kathryn Williams, Bert Jansch, and Paddy Casey, an appearance in Dick Gaughan’s heralded piece “Timewaves”, a successful UK tour in Spring 2005 followed by numerous UK festival appearances including Glastonbury, the Tartan Heart and Edinburgh Festivals last August.

by Martin Hadden