Air Fòrladh - Gillebride MacMillan: ‘Air Fòrladh’ (translation 'On Leave') is a collection of some of Gillebrìde MacMillan's favourite traditional Gaelic songs as well as a new composition and a translation of the Scots song Norland Wind. This album really is a family effort because Gillebrìde is joined by his brother and sister on the CD. Mary and Niall MacMillan are both singing backing vocals. Gillebrìde also sings songs that he learnt from his mother and grandmother and another that his grandfather used to sing. It is firmly based in the song tradition of Gillebrìde's native South Uist but the subtle musical accompaniment gives 'Air Fòrladh' a refreshing and engaging quality. Air Fòrladh was produced by Deirdre Morrison. Gillebrìde is accompanied by Fred Morrison (pipes and whistle), Deirdre Morrison (fiddle), Ewan MacPherson (guitar), Steve Byrne (bouzouki), Mhairi Hall (piano) and Rachel Hair (clàrsach).
Media Reviews
"a voice that wine writers would love to set their vocabularies loose on.."
...Gillebride MacMillan has a voice that wine writers would love to set their vocabularies loose on – mahogany richness with hints of sea salt, perhaps – and he has a way of singing in Gaelic that conveys the gist and tone of a song by subtle inflection. His connection with these songs, some of which have been handed down in his family, is clear and his status as a tradition bearer is enhanced by Deirdre Morrison’s production, which adds where appropriate the light drive of pipes, fiddle, frets and bodhran, a lone piano or harp accompaniment or, as on the beautiful love poem Mo Nighean Donn ’S Toil Leam Thu, no accompaniment. The themes are political, personal, work-related, mischievous and elegiac, and the standard consistently high, but the Gaelic translation of Violet Jacob’s Norland Wind lends MacMillan’s entirely rooted vocal artistry a particularly strong showcase...Rob Adams.