Celtic Colors Celestial Choir

Posted on October 18, 2014 under Storytelling with one comment

Conrad, Raylene and Len

 

 

And when the night brings on the stars We’ll be there, we’ll remember We’ve reached across, we’ve touched a spark The story’s just beginning

We’ll Reach the Sky Tonight – Rita MacNeil

Rosin up the bow. Dust off the old dancing shoes.  There’s a big time ceilidh happening in Cape Breton right now with some of the finest musicians from the four corners of the globe.  Add a major splash of color from Mother Nature and you have the globally acclaimed Celtic Colours International Festival.  The logistics of coordinating an annual event of this size is staggering, but bear in mind that the seeds were sown over a very long period of time, in small communities throughout the island.  It’s harvest time.

When all of the world class musicians take the stage this fall, whether it is in Boularderie School, the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay or St. Matthew’s United Church in Inverness, they should all take a moment to pause and point toward the heavens. The Celestial Choir has gathered.  John Morris is chording at the ivories while Buddy rosins his bow.  John Allan is tuning his twelve string guitar (an almost impossible undertaking) while Raylene and Rita are warming up their distinctive voices.

One could make a strong argument that Celtic Colours wouldn’t exist without the tireless work of the trailblazers. Not just the Celestial Choir but hundreds of other immensely talented, humble and unassuming Cape Breton musicians.

I was very lucky to have met the five fine Cape Bretoners mentioned above, and had the honor of sharing the stage with two of them. I doubt that this was as memorable for them as it was for me.

J’n Allan and J’n Morris. When they were handing out consonants and vowels in Cape Breton, there must have been a shortage somewhere along the line.  I can’t ever remember anyone calling these musicians “John”.

Humility. And humour.  That’s a combination that you don’t see often.  There are talented musicians everywhere.  You can ask some of them and they will tell you just how good they are.  To a person, the Celestial Choir members were modest people with a few of them bordering on shy.  John Allan wasn’t one of the timid ones!

I enjoyed many cups of tea with Buddy over the years at his kitchen table. He had a wicked sense of humour.  Oh yes, it was dry.  I watched him intently as he pondered a topic.  He would pause, and a small grin would begin to crease his lips.  And then he’d fire out a zinger that would make Jon Stewart proud. (They even lose consonants in New York!)

I have been to Rita’s tea Room in Big Pond but never had the pleasure of having a “cuppa’ with her. I saw her for the first time in a second story nightclub in Halifax back in the early 70’s, before she became a star.  I don’t think she ever looked at herself as one.  There’s that humility thing again.

John Allan oozed charm. His voice was unique and he was a better than average guitar player; but more than anything, he was an entertainer.  He made an impromptu appearance at the Old Chapel on the campus of St. F. X in the early 80’s.  The chapel had been converted into a coffee house and he joined us for a set one memorable evening.  I think he left with two of the “Four Marys” on his arm.

I sang in a group with Raylene during her university days. We were also members of the chapel choir.  When the Rankins made it to the big times, I often teased Raylene that she got her big break playing with me and Conrad at the Abbey X.

Sometimes a musician excels in so many ways that it is hard to find words to describe his gift. Songwriter, arranger, pianist extraordinaire; John Morris was a quiet leader with immense talent and he left us tragically and far too soon.

So let’s raise a glass and toast those who broke ground on fertile Cape Breton soil.

I know we’ll reach the sky tonight Look and see how far we’ve come Standing in our brightest light This is what the dream has done