Dan Ar Braz

Dan ar Braz

Dan ar Braz with his guitar

Dan ar Braz at Quimper in 2013
Background information
Born (1949-01-15) 15 January 1949
Quimper, Brittany, France
Origin Breton
Genres Breton Music

Dan Ar Braz, born Daniel Le Bras (born 15 January 1949, Quimper, Brittany, France), is a Breton guitarist and the founder of Héritage des Celtes.

Career

Apprenticeship & Alan Stivell years

Self-taught, at the age of 13, Daniel Le Bras owned his first guitar. He modelled himself on The Shadows, then Bob Dylan then Jimi Hendrix. Daniel's father insisted that he study catering instead of music. At the age of 17 he produced locally in bals with folk-rock songs of Donovan, Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher.

In 1967, while training as a waiter at hotel school in Benodet - mostly to satisfy his mother's concerns about a "proper job"—Dan met Breton harpist and singer Alan Stivell who invited him to join his group.[1] Alan Stivell and his musicians embraced Breton, Scottish, Irish music, and included Gabriel Yacoub who later formed Malicorne. Alan's father had made a reconstruction of the ancient Breton harp in 1953 and Alan learned to play the harp, bagpipes and Irish flute.

Stivell opening Dan's eyes to the possibilities of Celtic music and its proximity with rock. Stivell "bretonised" Daniel Le Bras into Dan Ar Bras to show that he belonged to Breton culture rather than French. The sound of his electric guitar made an exciting mix with Alan's Celtic instruments and voice: Breton music was undergoing a revival. After a successful tour in France in 1972-73, they travelled around Europe, North America and Australia.

At the same time in 1972, Dan Ar Bras formed his own group called Mor. Compared to Stivell's group, this was middle-of-the-road ("MOR") and broke up shortly after recording one album titled Stations, released in 1973. ("Mor" also means "sea" or "tide" in Breton.) A collegial album of Irish jigs and reels followed in 1979, titled Irish Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes and Airs (featuring Davey Graham, Dave Evans, Duck Baker), but was not commercially successful.

Dan Ar Braz as a soloist

In 1976 he relocated to Oxfordshire and joined Fairport Convention. He changed his name again, this time to Dan Ar Braz. For about a year he toured with Fairport but did not record any studio albums with them. The experience renewed his confidence. He returned to Brittany to record three solo albums in three years, each one using Celtic music. He sang in French and English. By this time he was making sales in the United States.

1980s

For several years Dan Ar Braz seemed to turn his back on Celtic music. In 1981 he toured Europe with his "Acoustic" album, a subdued collection of instrumentals, written by himself. He then joined a blues-rock trio. Between 1984 and 1987 he toured the United States over a dozen times. By the time he recorded "Musiques pour les silences à venir" in 1985, he was being described as "New Age". After another instrumental album, he surprised everyone by recording a collection of songs in English - "Songs" (1990). Most were written by him plus one each by Richard Thompson and Donovan. He teamed up with John Kirkpatrick to record a film score in 1992.

L'Héritage des Celtes

Formation and success

Dan ar Braz at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient

Dan Ar Braz's greatest moment occurred in 1992 when the organiser of the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper asked him to create a live show uniting traditional music with modern styles. Dan had many contacts in Britain, France and America and delivered beyond all expectations. Donal Lunny came from Ireland, Karen Matheson from Scotland, Elaine Morgan from Wales and Bagad Kemper (bagpipers) and also Alan Stivell from Brittany. Altogether 75 musicians were involved. The group called L'Héritage des Celtes performed their debut show at the Quimper festival in July 1993 then went on to Rennes in 1994. A hugely successful studio recording recreated the show. It sold 100,000 copies in over ten countries. A live album followed. Their fame within France was so great that in 1996 they represented France in the 41st Eurovision Song Contest.

Finisterres

In 1997 they recorded "Finisterres" and again sold 100,000 copies. The music awards ceremony Victoires de la Musique awarded them "Best Traditional Music Album" in 1998. They went on tour in France and played on biggest stages of Paris Le Zenith and Bercy Arena on St Patrick's Day 1999. But with more than 70 musicians on stage at once, the show was tremendously difficult to put on. In August 2000 the group played at the "Festival Interceltique" in the stadium of Lorient where Dan announced that it would be the final concert.

Return to solo work

Much to the disappointment of many fans, Dan Ar Braz returned to solo work. La mémoire des volets blancs (2001) is a tribute to deceased friends from his childhood. It is an instrumental nostalgic piece. Clearly Dan has two very different sides - the personal and the public. He performed in another huge show at the Stade de France on St Patrick's Day 2002.

For the following albums, he worked with his friends singers (Clarisse Lavanant, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Red Cardell). In 2012, with Bagad Kemper, he produced in Brittany Celebration, an album and a tour unifier which gets closer to the spirit of L'Héritage des Celtes but center on Brittany.

In 2015, Cornouailles Soubdtrack takes a more contemplative turn, telling the story of his life in instrumentals that range from Moon River and Oh Shenandoah to Dan's own compositions in a style that echoes his musical heroes, The Shadows.

Discography

With the band Mor (as a founding member guitarist)

With Alan Stivell (as a guitarist)

As Dan Ar Braz

Solo albums

Various Artists

Solo compilations

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Craig. "Biography: Dan ArBraz". Allmusic. Retrieved 3 May 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dan Ar Braz.
Preceded by
Nathalie Santamaria
with Il me donne rendez-vous		 France in the Eurovision Song Contest
1996
(with l'Héritage des Celtes) 		Succeeded by
Fanny
with Sentiments songes
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