Aidan O'Rourke - Sirius

Instrumentalist Of The Year 2006 - Scots Trad Music Awards

(December 2005) 10 tracks: Falun Fine (outbound) * Bah Hamburg * Mangersla Beach * Lochaber Drive * The Santa Cruz Redwoods * Hinba * People’s Park * People’s Park (part 2) * Alyth * Falun Fine (return).

Music originally commissioned by Glasgow's Celtic Connections Festival in 2003 as part of the New Voices series.

A vast piece of work, incorporating a wide variety of musical styles, from ultra-traditional folk to jazz, roots and groove, all of which have had an influence on Aidan’s musical style and expression.

The 13-piece band incorporates some of Europe's top jazz and traditional musicians. The live performances of this piece received much critical acclaim and in April 2003 the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, Odense, Denmark chose to use Sirius with their final year students as an example of how different musical genres can work together.

Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle) with Harald Haugaard (fiddle), Charlie McKerron (fiddle), Gordon Gunn (fiddle), Luke Daniels (melodeon), Brian Finnegan (flute, whistles), Phil Bancroft (saxophones), Fraser Fifield (saxophone), Colin Steele (trumpet), Marc Clement (guitar), Foss Paterson (piano), Ewan Vernal (double bass) and Mattie Foulds (drums).

"Burning the brightest star in the sky, Sirius has been used for centuries as a key navigational tool for travellers. As a travelling musician it is often difficult to appreciate what you are experiencing on the road. The people I meet and the places I visit often merge together as a tour progresses. In writing this music I took the time to reflect on my experiences and to appreciate the people, the places and the many adventures. I've been travelling and touring since I was 15, which is half my life. In the midst of these journeys, one thing has remained constant: Sirius. To me, Sirius represents home." (Aidan O'Rourke)

"...the piece showed extraordinary powers of description, ambition and a vast range of musical references, and yet was as impressively executed as it was imaginatively conceived" (The Herald)