Duncan Patterson - mandolins, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, percussion
Vic Anselmo - vocals on Adoration
Oana Alexandra Coman-Sipeanu - spoken word on Cetatea Cisnadioara
Gokce Coskun - violin
Aoife Cuthbert - vocals on Cetatea Cisnadioara, Adoration
Lisa Cuthbert - vocals on Temptation, Adoration, Invidia,
Cetatea Cisnadioara, The Silent Stars
Ana Figueiredo - flute
Colin Fromont-Placenti - djembe, cajón, darbuka
Mark Kelson - vocals on Damhsa na Gceithre Ghaoth, 12 string guitar
Mila Maia - spoken word on Return To Spirit
Steve Mullen - Uilleann pipes
Veronica Neumann - spoken word on Immaculada
Gina Rios - spoken word and vocals on Immaculada
Nuno Roberto - Portuguese guitar, classical guitar
Viola Roccagli - spoken word and vocals on The Silent Stars
Laura Santos - vocals on Return To Spirit
Filipa Vale - violin, cello
Recorded at R3 Studio, Vilar, Portugal and Loop Studios, Dublin,
Ireland
Engineered by Nuno Roberto & Gareth Desmond
Mixed by Duncan Patterson
Mastered by Nim (Jérôme Trachet)
All songs written and arranged by Duncan Patterson (MCPS)
Cover photo by Carmen Gonzalez ©
Duncan photo by Elisa Piotrowska
Layout by Nuno Roberto and João Monteiro
Press-release:
Four years past since "Madre, Protégenos", Duncan Patterson
returns, leading the entity known as Íon. On “Immaculada”,
the lone travelling musician has again collected instrumental and
vocal souvenirs from his numerous destinations to illustrate the
memoirs of his quest.
“Immaculada” was written in a period I was travelling
back and forth between Ireland and Greece. The album documents personal
experiences of that time, set to introspective and reflective ballads.
Hypnotic and alluring, the album balances both the freshness of
Irish landscapes and the warmth of Mediterranean sunbathed seashores,
as its haunting Celtic vibe thrives and builds upon tribal rhythmic
patterns. Much like its predecessor, the straightforward
and minimalistic overall tone of the album is misleading, as its
layered complexity and resonant harmonies reveal themselves at each
listen, one mystery at a time, and one step closer to the end of
this spiritual quest.
Íon has gathered around it an enormous amount of talent,
both in the many musicians that have taken part in “Immaculada”
and in the group of singers that bring words to life, this time
lead by the Irish Lisa Cuthbert. Her heartfelt performances are
occasionally accompanied by her sister Aoife Cuthbert, with Mark
Kelson (of The Eternal) and gothic/alternative muse Vic Anselmo,
providing additional outstanding contributions to the album, among
other voices from Argentina, Mexico, Romania or Brazil.
Mostly recorded in the Portuguese countryside and in Dublin city,
the intricate instrumental backbone is mainly constructed out of
traditional instruments. With the mandolin family taking center
stage, the tracks have been arranged to incorporate ethnic instrumentation
(flutes, uillean pipes) which contrast with the sparse orchestration
supplied by cello, violin, acoustic guitars, keyboard pads and piano,
supported by the earthbound pulse of the percussion.
“Immaculada” is a collection of slow motion mysterious ballads,
balancing light and shade, salvation and loss, beautifully crafted
by gifted artists scattered over the world. Available next May 2010
in deluxe Digipak CD on Equilibrium Music.
Recorded during 2005/2006 at The Barn, County Longford, Republic of Ireland
Additional recording at Fragile Studios, Athens*
Engineered by Michael Cronin, Duncan Patterson & Vangelis Yalamas*
Mixed by Duncan Patterson
Mastered by Karl Odlum
All songs written & arranged by Duncan Patterson (Copyright Control-MCPS)
except 'Goodbye Johnny Dear' (traditional / Johnny Patterson)
Translation help and phonetics by Anna Luiza Alencar, Brenda Luque, and
Vangelis Yalamas
Cover art by Xanthippi Savvaidou
Layout by Nuno Roberto and João Monteiro
Press-release:
One can arguably class Íon as Patterson's most personal
creation to date - a creation which he has fathered on his own, and one
through which he taps deeper into his spiritual identity and heritage. This
musical entity which Patterson has named after the Gaelic word for 'pure'
- a word which accurately pins down the project's mindset - seems to elude
strict categorization, and even the apparently all-encompassing definition
of World Music falls short in defining the ethereal moods that "Madre,
Protégenos", Íon's debut album, comes to reveal.
Though fairly minimalist in its overall approach, the album's true wealth
stems from its various layered soundscapes and the introspective ambiance
that they recreate. These provide the lighter toned and dreamier elements
of the album with an ominous and melancholic shade - much like a sense of
hopeful longing for piece of mind haunted by memories and nostalgia. Having
Irish mysticism and an exotic Mediterranean backdrop as its essential cornerstones,
the project has slowly evolved into an international venture, stretching
over continents and oceans. "Madre, Protégenos" collects a rich array
of influences that come to shape into a unique multi-textured body of work,
based around smooth acoustic instrumentation (where acoustic guitar and
various percussions take a leading role, alongside occasional harp, flute
or viola arrangements), discreet keyboard elements, and remarkable voices.
The patterns that fuse into "Madre, Protégenos" come not only from
the varied instrumentation that musicians from Greece, Ireland, Mexico or
Australia have added to the recordings. The album's unique diversity is
equally produced by several female singers from Italy, Greece and Mexico
who contributed to the album. Their appearances come to add pieces of each
of their country's colours and dialects to the blissful lead interpretation
of Russian muse Emily Saaen, in an eclectic musical quest which feeds
not only on each of its characters ethnic heritage, but especially on their
own spiritual recollections and experiences.
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