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Alan Stivell
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Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a French musician whose father came from the small town of Gourin, Brittany. His music and songs don't fall into any clear classification of French music. The major influence is Celtic (from Brittany and from the other Celtic countries).
He spent his childhood in Paris, with its cosmopolitan influences from France, Algeria, Morocco and elsewhere. But he fell in love with Breton music and Celtic culture in general, and often went back in his teens to Brittany.
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Encyclopedia
Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou January 6, 1944) is a French musician whose father came from the small town of Gourin, Brittany. His music and songs don't fall into any clear classification of French music. The major influence is Celtic (from Brittany and from the other Celtic countries).
He spent his childhood in Paris, with its cosmopolitan influences from France, Algeria, Morocco and elsewhere. But he fell in love with Breton music and Celtic culture in general, and often went back in his teens to Brittany. His stage name, Stivell, means "fountain" or "spring" in Breton. This name refers both to the Breton renewal and to his name "Cochevelou", evolution of kozh stivelloù, the old fountains.
Celtic harp revival and Breton traditional music
In 1953, Alan Stivell's father, Georges (Jorde in breton) Cochevelou, made a Celtic harp in the ancient Breton style, and Alan began playing the instrument immediately. He also learned the Breton language and traditional Breton dance, as well as the bagpipe and the bombarde, a kind of Breton oboe. He competed in and won several Breton traditional music competitions.
Alan's first recording came in 1960 (Musique gaelique), a single that was followed by the LP Telenn Geltiek in 1964. He already recorded solo harp and harp backing singers in 1959 ( Breiz ma bro and a Mouez Breiz EP with Andrea Ar Gouilh).
New Celtic Music
With a new bardic harp with bronze strings, Stivell began experimenting with modernized styles of music.
In 1966, Alan Stivell began as a singer.
The year after, he was signed by Philips (Universal): the birth of the New Breton and Celtic music movement.
In 1968, after two years touring, Alan was already in London eventually performing with the Moody Blues in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall.
In 1970, he released his first hits, the single "Broceliande" and Reflets, both on the Philips record label. He became closely associated with the burgeoning Breton roots revival, especially after the release of the purely instrumental 1971 album Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique.
Alan Stivell's newfound fame gave him reason to travel on tours across France, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. He continued recording, and published a collection of Breton poetry in 1976. With his 1980, Symphonie Celtique, he mixed for the first time elements of rock, a symphonic orchestra, celtic instruments and non-European ethnics elements as Berber vocalist Djourha and sitarist Narendra Bataju.
The folk revival faded somewhat in the 1980s, and though Alan Stivell was still very popular, he did not reach the heights he had in the 70s. He continued touring in many parts of the world, and recording for a loyal fanbase, and also worked with the English singer Kate Bush. In the 1990s, he recorded with Bush, as well as French singer Laurent Voulzy, Irish traditional performer Shane MacGowan and Senegalese singer Doudou N'Diaye Rose. The album was Again, and it became very popular in France, the beginning of a Celtic new wave. His records in the late 1990s contained more pronounced rock elements, and he performed at a rock festival called Transmusicales in Rennes. He continued working with a variety of musicians, inviting Paddy Moloney (of The Chieftains), Jim Kerr (of Simple Minds), Khaled and Youssou N'Dour to be in his very international " 1 Douar / 1 Earth " album .
Alan has a very eclectic style. He reached the height of his popularity in the early and mid 70's when he played Celtic folk rock, and was an influence in the electric folk movement. Since the early 80's, he has largely departed from this, playing music that was increasingly experimental and blended styles from many cultures and genres, including R&B and rock. This alienated his more traditionalist fan base, but also drew a new audience.
The 90s new Celtic wave
Alan's album Again has been the base for a new wave beginning in 1993. His popularity grew high once more, specially in France and Brittany.
Other albums got good critics, as Brian Boru or 1 Douar.
Alan Stivell's released Au-delà des mots-Beyond Words, his twenty first LP, in 2002, and album that featured him playing six different harps, specially dedicated to the Celtic Harp Revival's 50th anniversary.
In 2004, a DVD, Parcours has been published by Fox-Pathé.
The same year, he has also written a book with Jean-Noël Verdier, Telenn, la harpe bretonne , published by Le Télégramme.
In 2006, a new CD called "Explore" came out in France and other countries, distributed through Harmonia Mundi. This album demonstrates that Stivell is still a leading artist, exploring fusions of Celtic music with electro-rock, raga, hip-hop, etc with a unique and personal vocal style and a very interesting and original mix of Breton, English and French lyrics.
Discography
- Telenn Geltiek / Harpe celtique (1964)
- Reflets/Reflections (1970-1)
- Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique (1972)
- A l'Olympia - Live (1972)
- Chemins de terre/From Celtic Roots (1973)
- E Langonned / A Langonnet (1974)
- Grand Succès d'Alan Stivell (c 1975)
- E Dulenn /Live In Dublin / Dublin (1975)
- Celtic Rock (1976)
- Trema'n inis/Vers l'ile (1976)
- Raok Dilestra/Avant d'accoster/Before Landing (1977)
- Un Dewezh barzh gêr/Journée a la maison / A Homecoming (1978)
- International Tour / Tro ar Bed (1979)
- Symphonie Celtique ( Tir na-nOg) / Celtic Symphony (1979)
- Terre des vivants / Tir an dud bew (1981)
- Alan Stivell (1982)
- Légende / Legend / Mojenn (1983)
- Harpes du Nouvel Âge / Telenn a' Skuih-dour (1985)
- The Mist Of Avalon (1991)
- Again (1993)
- Brian Boru (1995)
- 70/95 Zoom (1997)
- 1 Douar/1 Earth (1998)
- Back To Breizh (1999)
- Au-delà des mots/Beyond Words (2002)
- Explore (2006)
External links
- (English, Breton and French language)
- (French language and Breton language)
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