Biography
Edinburgh-based Mouth Music produced some of the most unconventional textures heard in modern Celtic music. The ensemble merged the Gaelic puirt-a-beul tradition of Scotland with African rhythms, yielding a singular hybrid. Entertainment Weekly observed that “Mouth Music’s combination of intelligence, beauty and nerve has the power to unite both world beatniks and mainstream rock fans in mutual exhilaration.”
British composer Martin Swan first imagined the project after encountering American-born, Scotland-based singer Talitha MacKenzie as she performed Gaelic material inside a South Uist village hall. Drawing inspiration from David Byrne and Brian Eno’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Swan persuaded MacKenzie to join him in the duo Mouth Music. Much of the pair’s initial material drew on traditional Gaelic songs that MacKenzie had uncovered during her studies of Scottish and Gaelic cultures in Edinburgh.
Following MacKenzie’s departure for a solo career after the self-titled debut album, Swan rebuilt the group around Scotland-born, Ghanaian-descended vocalist Jackie Joyce. James MacKintosh, Queen MacArthur, Michaela Rowan, and Jeremy Black completed the lineup. This expanded ensemble issued its first recording, the 1992 EP Blue Door Green Sea, featuring vocalist Mairi McInnes. Mouth Music disbanded in 1995, after which its alumni joined an array of other projects.
British composer Martin Swan first imagined the project after encountering American-born, Scotland-based singer Talitha MacKenzie as she performed Gaelic material inside a South Uist village hall. Drawing inspiration from David Byrne and Brian Eno’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Swan persuaded MacKenzie to join him in the duo Mouth Music. Much of the pair’s initial material drew on traditional Gaelic songs that MacKenzie had uncovered during her studies of Scottish and Gaelic cultures in Edinburgh.
Following MacKenzie’s departure for a solo career after the self-titled debut album, Swan rebuilt the group around Scotland-born, Ghanaian-descended vocalist Jackie Joyce. James MacKintosh, Queen MacArthur, Michaela Rowan, and Jeremy Black completed the lineup. This expanded ensemble issued its first recording, the 1992 EP Blue Door Green Sea, featuring vocalist Mairi McInnes. Mouth Music disbanded in 1995, after which its alumni joined an array of other projects.
Albums
