Tobermory’s magical mystery music goes on tour

Wells in folklore are often magical places, be it for making wishes, invoking saints, as sites of healing or home to sundry eldritch beings. Mull’s multidisciplinary arts centre An Tobar – Gaelic for “the well” – has certainly worked plenty of its own magic since it set up shop 13 years ago in Tobermory’s Victorian former primary school. Its opening concert, for which it commissioned harpist/composer Savourna Stevenson’s Iona-themed Calman the Dove, was a highly emblematic statement of intent, both in the cross-genre eclecticism of Stevenson’s talents – An Tobar’s subsequent programming having ranged from contemporary classical to indie pop, folk to free jazz – and the commitment to fostering new music, alongside similarly wide-ranging work in visual art and crafts.

A particularly fruitful series of musical commissions was prompted by An Tobar’s tenth anniversary in 2007, of which two are about to hit the road as a double bill, courtesy of the Scottish Arts Council’s Tune Up touring programme.

Fiddler Aidan O’Rourke – formerly of Blazin’ Fiddles, currently one-third of the multi-award-winning Lau – borrowed the venue’s name for his five-part suite, drawing inspiration from various aspects or layers of his experiences when visiting the island.

“I had a pretty open brief, which was great,” he says. “There was an initial idea of it having something to do with all these different ancient wells on Mull, which I did go and visit, but that really became a way for me to get out and about to places there I hadn’t seen before, so the landscape generally was a big inspiration. But I was also trying to convey the essence of An Tobar itself, how it’s such a conducive place to write and perform – their outlook is so open and encouraging, and they’re really up for stuff that’s non-genre-specific; just the whole way it’s run and the people involved give it a really special atmosphere.”

He duly seized the opportunity to experiment and innovate, in a sequence of brilliantly original music that allies his roots in Highland fiddle tradition with elements of minimalism, jazz and electronica, also incorporating specially-written Gaelic text by modern-day bard Aonghas MacNeacail. Following its premiere at An Tobar, it was recorded and released as O’Rourke’s second solo album in 2008. He’s joined on tour by four fellow musical adventurers from that first performance: Lau bandmate Martin Green on accordion, harpist Catriona McKay, saxophonist Phil Bancroft and percussionist Martin O’Neill.

In contrast, the seven short pieces that make up Shops, by pianist David Milligan’s jazz trio – with bassist Tom Lyne and drummer Tom Bancroft – derived from a highly specific remit. In the last of three anniversary jazz projects tied to key Tobermory landmarks, Milligan and his sidemen were assigned by An Tobar to make music describing, celebrating or otherwise capturing the long-established, often family-owned shops that distinguish the town’s high street from its mainland counterparts. These include such proudly independent retailers as Duncan’s Outdoor Clothing Emporium, Brown’s Hardware Store and Tackle & Books, all of which lent their names to individual tracks. Preparatory research comprised visiting each establishment in turn, chatting to staff and customers while Bancroft checked out the percussive possibilities of its wares and fittings, recording these sounds and conversations to interweave in snippets through the ensuing compositions. Writing and rehearsal were both completed, from scratch, in the space of a week, before an afternoon promenade performance around the town, premiering each piece in its respective shop.

“It was all pretty surreal,” recalls Milligan, “especially when we started off, in Catriona’s Unisex Hair and Beauty Salon – they were just trying to carry on cutting hair; the people waiting were sat there reading magazines, presumably wondering why there was a jazz trio playing the middle of it all. But we kind of gathered an audience, Pied Piper-style, as we went along Main Street, until finally in the hardware shop Mrs Brown was actually telling customers they’d have to wait to buy their light bulbs till we’d finished.”

Despite the singularity of its origins, however, Shops – which is also available as an album – has been warmly received by audiences far removed from its birthplace, up to and including the London Jazz Festival, where it won glowing praise from several leading UK critics. “If ever it wasn’t going to go down well, you’d think it would be there – but they loved it,” Milligan says. “I suppose the idea behind the commission is one a lot of people can relate to – celebrating the character of these sorts of local, independent businesses, and the kind of community where they exist.” It might also have something to do with the wonderfully evocative, mercurially complex yet wittily approachable character of the music itself, brimming with virtuosity and playful in the fullest, richest sense. And if that doesn’t tempt you, to sample some of the An Tobar magic somewhat nearer your doorstep, the touring show culminates with a new collaborative piece jointly created by both line-ups, which adds up to a truly mouth-watering concentration of outstanding musical minds.

Ten Years at the Edge: The An Tobar Commissions, is at the  Perth Theatre on Monday, 19 April, and at An Tobar, Tobermory on 20 and 21 April before touring to Dunfermline, Drumnadrochit, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Gateshead, Banchory, Findhorn, Stirling and Stornoway until 15 May.

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