Martyn Bennett (17 February 1971 – 30 January 2005) was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and producer. Diagnosis of serious illness at the age of thirty curtailed his live performances, although he completed a further two albums in the studio. He died from cancer in 2005, fifteen months after the release of his fifth album Grit.

Early life

He was born Martyn Bennett-Knight in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. His father, Ian Knight, was a Welsh geologist and musician. His mother was Margaret Bennett, a singer and folklorist who was born on Skye. His grandfather, George Bennett, was also an enthusiastic piper.

Martyn Bennett spent the first five years of his life in the Codroy Valley, where Gaelic and traditional music were parts of the local culture. The family then moved to Quebec. However, his parents separated when he was six and his mother moved back to Scotland, taking him with her. They stayed briefly on Mull, before moving to Kingussie, where he had his first lessons in playing the Great Highland bagpipe from David Taylor, who was also his history teacher. During the three years that he studied there he also learned piano and violin. During the final year of his studies he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but he recovered after six months of treatment and graduated in 1993. He was influenced by the early 1990s dance music scene and regularly attended clubs. He made his debut at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 14 January 1994 supporting them. Bennett was a teenager when Swan had first spotted him playing.He took part in the summer festival of the city of Nantes in historic Brittany (France) in July 1994, perhaps his first concert outside the UK.

He released his first album, the eponymous Martyn Bennett, in 1995 on Eclectic, a small Edinburgh-based independent label. He had recorded the album in just seven days The album had a "dramatic" impact on Scottish music. He performed at the party held at Stirling Castle for the European premier of the movie Braveheart on 3 September 1995. After writing scores for stage and television, he went on tour to America, supporting Wolfstone. One composition Hallaig takes its name from the poem by the Gaelic bard Sorley MacLean, incorporating a sample of MacLean reading the poem. Bothy culture topped the US college radio charts.

He sported dreadlocks, an image that fitted with the musical and cultural boundaries that he was crossing. At times he was characterised as "the techno piper". He played at T in the Park in 1998. Scottish celebrities attended his performance at the Buddha Bar in Paris, ahead of Scotland playing Brazil in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup. At Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations at the millennium, his band Cuillin played at the Castle Esplanade, supporting Texas.

In 1999 he moved to Mull, where he met Dundonian musician Martin Low who helped him with his next work. A reviewer wrote in Mojo that "Scots music has never sounded like this before. No music has ever sounded like this before. Half the audience fled in fear of their lives." Bennett sold a thousand CDs after the set. It was a piece for chamber orchestra featuring Great Highland bagpipes and harp. Woven into this is a sample of Peter Stewart, his great-great-grandfather singing in 1910, taken from a wax cylinder recording. The couple moved back to Mull. Illness left him feeling disconnected from his music and one day, in a fit of rage, he destroyed many of his instruments – pipes, fiddles and whistles. It had been recorded while he was ill, and he was unable to play his instruments. His song Liberation featured Michael Marra narrating an English translation of psalm 118. The album has been "credited with starting the musical evolution of Celtic fusion".

Death and legacy

Bennett died from cancer at the Marie Curie Hospice, Edinburgh News of his death spread among those attending the last night of Celtic Connections. The news was held back from the Edinburgh Music School pupils who were recording Mackay's Memoirs the following day. Around the same time the Martyn Bennett Trust was set up by his family and friends, as a commemorative fund to help young musicians. The 2006 Celtic Connections programme included a Martyn Bennett Day, held on 14 January, with events to celebrate his work. Toccata for Small Hands, written by Bennett for Kirsten, was performed in public for the first time. In June 2006, a book It's Not the Time You Have ... was launched which contained recollections of Bennett, compiled by his mother.

On 27 October 2007 an event was held at The Queen's Hall. This event was organised by the Martyn Bennett Trust, with musicians invited to workshops during the day, finishing with a concert in the evening.

In 2008 Margaret Bennett released a CD single, Love and Loss, with three tracks where Bennett played to accompany his mother's singing; two of the tracks were previously unreleased. Mr McFall's Chamber, a string quartet from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, toured with a tribute show Aye: An Affirmation of Martyn Bennett, performing pieces that were inspired by Bennett and his work. The tour began in Perth on 18 March and ended on 29 March in Findhorn. A further performance was part of the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival.

In March 2012 an anthology was released on the Long Tale Recordings label, entitled Aye. The album consisted of remastered tracks and some new material, compiled by the Martyn Bennett Trust.

A stage show, Grit: The Martyn Bennett Story, was created as part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games cultural programme. Conceived by Cora Bissett, it was written by Kieran Hurley. Bisset directed the show, having worked in close collaboration with his friends and family to create the show. Real World Records label re-released Grit to coincide with the stage show. Lawson spent more than a year working on Nae Regrets, working out how an orchestra might recreate Bennett's precise arrangements. The concert was later named as the event of the year at the 2015 Trad awards. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bothy Culture, and the 25th anniversary of the Celtic Connections festival, Lawson and the orchestra, now containing some 100 traditional folk, classical and jazz musicians, performed the show Bothy Culture and Beyond at the SSE Hydro, Glasgow on 27 January 2018.

In 2024, Luath Press published Brave New Music: The Martyn Bennett Story, a biography written by the piper and folklorist Gary West.

Discography

  • Martyn Bennett (1995)
  • Bothy Culture (1997)
  • Hardland (with Martin Low) (2000)
  • Glen Lyon (with his mother, Margaret Bennett, on vocals) (2002)
  • Grit (2003)
  • Mackay's Memoirs (performed by City of Edinburgh Music School) (2005)
  • Love and Loss (with his mother, Margaret Bennett, and Cameron Drummond) (2008)

Compilations

  • Aye (2012)

References

Further reading

  • Greg Lawson conducting "Chanter" at the Celtic Connections, 2015, on the BBC