Jump to content

Ian Bell (musician): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m Performance: clean up spacing around commas and other punctuation fixes, replaced: ,'', p. → '', p.
 
(48 intermediate revisions by 28 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Canadian musician}}
{{Userspace draft|source=ArticleWizard|date=July 2011}}
{{other uses|Ian Bell (disambiguation)}}
'''Ian Bell''' (born 1954) is a Canadian folk musician, composer, and singer-songwriter who has been active in the [[Canadian folk music]] scene since the 1970s. With Anne Lederman, he was part of the seminal Canadian folk group [[Muddy York]]. He has been the leader of [[The Dawnbreakers]] and Professor Chalaupka's Celebrated Singing School. Bell has performed at the [[Edmonton Folk Music Festival]] and the [[Mariposa Folk Festival]], among others. He has contributed to the development and preservation of Canadian folk music for more than twenty-five years. He sings both old songs and his own original compositions. His music has a [[Celtic music|Celtic]] flavour. He is a versatile musician who plays several instruments.


Bell spent most of his time as a part-time musician, also working in museums, the last being curator of the Port Dover Harbour Museum on Lake Erie. He left the museum in 2013 and has been working in music and art since.
'''Ian Bell (musician)''' (19nn – ) is a folk musician, composer, and singer-songwriter who has been active in the [[Canadian folk music | Canadian music scene]] since the 1970s. With [[Anne Lederman]], he was part of the seminal Canadian folk group [[Muddy York]]. He has been the leader of [[The Dawnbreakers]] and [[Professor Chalaupka's Celebrated Singing School]]. Ian Bell has performed at the [[Edmonton Folk Music Festival]] and the [[Mariposa Folk Festival]], among others. He has contributed to the development and preservation of Canadian folk music for more than twenty-five years. He sings both old songs and his own original compositions. His music has a [[Celtic music|Celtic]] flavour. He is a versatile musician who plays several instruments.


==Early life==
Ian Bell has always been a part-time musician. He continues to draw inspiration from his full-time work as the curator of a small-town museum, the [[Port Dover, Ontario|Port Dover]] Harbour Museum.
Bell was born{{when|date=January 2012}} in [[Simcoe, Ontario]], grew up in Waterford, and lives now in [[Paris, Ontario]].<ref name="sonic">[http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=231866 Ian Bell artist information]</ref> Some of his original songs evoke the landscape and history of southwestern Ontario.<ref name="BellContact" />


== Early life==
==Career==
Bell's career includes composing and playing instrumental music, singing, songwriting, storytelling, artist in residence, director of music festivals, and working as a freelance broadcaster.


His original songs have many themes: blacksmiths, bikers, Charles Atlas, woolly mammoths, fishermen, and love.<ref name="Davies" /> His performances include his own stories: "funny, touching, unlikely, mostly true, and always entertaining."<ref name="Davies" /> Venues range from [[Roy Thomson Hall]] to barns<ref name="BellContact" /> and from the [[Glenn Gould Studio]] to rural church basements<ref name="Davies" /> and art galleries.<ref name="DWAC" />
Bell was born in Paris, Ontario,<ref name="sonic">[http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=231866 Ian Bell artist information]</ref> and some of his original songs evoke the landscape and history of southwestern Ontario.<ref name="BellContact" />


== Career ==
===Performance===
In 1978, Ian Bell, Kate Murphy, and [[Anne Lederman]] joined up to form [[Muddy York (band)|Muddy York]], to play the traditional songs and dance music of Canada, especially Ontario.<ref name="TCD-thaw">{{Cite web |url=http://ieee.uwaterloo.ca/~tcd/thaw.htm |title=Toronto Country Dancers: Muddy York |access-date=2011-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927185937/http://ieee.uwaterloo.ca/~tcd/thaw.htm |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="tradmusic">[https://archive.today/20130222181106/http://yuforum.net/va-razne-kompilacije/traditional-folk-music-canada-170766/index2.html%23post397997 Traditional Folk Music: Muddy York, "Scatter the Ashes," Early Ontario music]</ref> The group's name, Muddy York, refers to an old epithet for Toronto.<ref name="Naming">[https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA236&sig=DM2sQNBh0E9z3SJ9aoYx_DC_dv8&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22muddy%20york|%22&f=false Rayburn, Alan, ''Naming Canada'', p. 236]</ref> (See [[Name of Toronto]].) They played in venues from church basements to barn dances to festivals, in Ontario and the western provinces. In 1982 Kate Murphy left the group but Bell and Lederman continued.<ref name="tradmusic" /> They became well known and played at Expo 86 in Vancouver, BC.<ref name="Davies" />
Ian Bell's career includes composing and playing instrumental music, singing, songwriting, storytelling, artist in residence, director of music festivals, and working as a freelance broadcaster.


Bell has performed at the Edmonton Folk Festival (AB) and the Mariposa Folk Festival (ON) as well as festivals in Ottawa ON, Winnipeg MB, Owen Sound ON, Lunenberg NS, Montmagny, and Yellowknife NWT.<ref name="BellContact">[http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Bio_%26_Contact.html Ian Bell Music: contact] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326122648/http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Bio_%26_Contact.html |date=2012-03-26 }}. Will find independent corroboration later.</ref>
His original songs have many themes: blacksmiths, bikers, Charles Atlas, woolly mammoths, fishermen, and love.<ref name="Davies" /> His performances include his own stories: "funny, touching, unlikely, mostly true, and always entertaining."<ref name="Davies" /> Venues range from [[Roy Thompson Hall]] to barns<ref name="BellContact" /> and from the [[Glenn Gould Studio]] to rural church basements<ref name="Davies" /> and art galleries.<ref name="DWAC" />


Bell was Folk Artist in Residence for 1993 at Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener ON.<ref name="BellContact" />
=== Performance ===


====Recent performance history====
In 1978, Ian Bell, Kate Murphy, and [[Anne Lederman]] joined up to form [[Muddy York (band)|Muddy York]], to play the traditional songs and dance music of Canada, especially Ontario.<ref name="TCD-thaw">[http://ieee.uwaterloo.ca/~tcd/thaw.htm Toronto Country Dancers: Muddy York]</ref><ref name="tradmusic">[http://yuforum.net/va-razne-kompilacije/traditional-folk-music-canada-170766/index2.html#post397997 ]</ref> The group's name, Muddy York, refers to an old epithet for Toronto.<ref name="Naming">[http://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA236&sig=DM2sQNBh0E9z3SJ9aoYx_DC_dv8&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22muddy%20york|%22&f=false Rayburn, Alan, ''Naming Canada,'', p. 236]</ref> (See [[Names of Toronto]].) They played in venues from church basements to barn dances to festivals, in Ontario and the western provinces. In 1982 Kate Murphy left the group but Bell and Lederman continued. They became well known and played at Expo 86 in Vancouver, BC.<ref name="Davies" />
In 2004 Bell performed in the "Roots of American Music" Festival at the [[Lincoln Center]] in [[New York City]].<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" />


In July 2005, Bell and Anne Lederman travelled to [[Estonia]] to perform at the [[Viljandi, Estonia|Viljandi]] Folk Festival.<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /> Also in 2005, he told the story of the youth and growth of Canadian artist [[Tom Thomson]] through music. This was in conjunction with a special exhibit about Thomson. The Durham West Arts Centre describes him as a noted musicologist, historian, and performer.<ref name="DWAC">[http://www.dwac.ca/programs/ianBell.html Durham West Arts Centre: Music in the Thomson Homes: A lecture demonstrated with music]</ref>
Ian Bell has performed at the Edmonton Folk Festival (AB) and the Mariposa Folk Festival (ON) as well as festivals in Ottawa ON, Winnipeg MB, Owen Sound ON, Lunenberg NS, Montmagny, and Yellowknife NWT.<ref name="BellContact" />


In March, 2011, Muddy York and the O'Schraves played a benefit concert to raise money for the Matthews Memorial Hospital Association to hire a doctor for the hospital in the central Algoma district, on the north shore of Lake Huron.<ref name="island">[http://www.islandclippings.com/issues/Issue_788.pdf Special Concert: Muddy York and the O'Schraves]</ref><ref name="SooStar">{{Cite web |url=http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3000493 |title=The Sault Star: Time to get down and dirty with Muddy York |access-date=2011-07-26 |archive-date=2011-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929175521/http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3000493 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Muddy York also appeared in Sault Ste. Marie at an Algoma Traditional Music concert with Jeff Beck of the Cowboy Junkies and the O'Schraves. They have also worked at the Algoma Traditional Music Camp as both performers and teachers.<ref name="SooStar" />
Ian Bell was Folk Artist in Residence for 1993 at Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener ON. <ref name="BellContact" />


Bell appeared on dozens of recordings as a sideman as well as several under his own name.<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /> He plays [[guitar]], [[button accordion]], [[harmonica]], [[mandolin]], [[smallpipes]]{{clarify|date=August 2016}}, and [[fiddle]].<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /> Bell still plays regularly for old-time [[square dance|square]] and [[contra dance]]s across [[Southern Ontario]].<ref name="TCD-thaw" /> On these occasions, two or more musicians provide live music for the dancers.
Recent performance history: In 2004 Bell performed in the "Roots of American Music" Festival at the [[Lincoln Centre]] in [[New York City]]. <ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" />


Bell has played music with these performers:<ref name="sonic" /><ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="BellRecord" />
In July 2005 Ian Bell and Anne Lederman travelled to [[Estonia]] to perform at the [[Viljandi, Estonia|Viljandi]] Folk Festival. <ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /> Also in 2005, he told the story of the youth and growth of Canadian artist [[Tom Thomson]] through music. This was in conjunction with a special exhibit about Thomson. The Durham West Arts Centre describes him as a noted musicologist, historian, and performer.<ref name="DWAC">[http://www.dwac.ca/programs/ianBell.html Durham West Arts Centre: Music in the Thomson Homes: A lecture demonstrated with music]</ref>

In March, 2011, Muddy York and the O'Schraves played a benefit concert to raise money for the Matthews Memorial Hospital Association to hire a doctor for the hospital at in the central Algoma district, on the north shore of Lake Huron.<ref name="island">[http://www.islandclippings.com/issues/Issue_788.pdf Special Concert: Muddy York and the O'Schraves]</ref><ref name="SooStar">[http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3000493 The Sault Star: Time to get down and dirty with Muddy York]</ref> Muddy York also appeared in Sault Ste. Marie at an Algoma Traditional Music concert with Jeff Beck of the Cowboy Junkies and the O'Schraves. They have also worked at the Algoma Traditional Music Camp as both performers and teachers.<ref name="SooStar" />

Ian Bell appears on dozens of recordings as a sideman as well as several under his own name. <ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /> He plays [[guitar]], [[button accordion]], [[harmonica]], [[mandolin]], [[smallpipes]], and [[fiddle]].<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /> Bell still plays regularly for old-time [[square dance|square]] and [[contra dance|contra dances]] across [[Southern Ontario]]. <ref name="TCD-thaw" /><ref name="BellContact">[http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Bio_%26_Contact.html Ian Bell Music: contact]. Will find independent corroboration later. </ref> On these occasions, two or more musicians provide live music for the dancers.

Ian has played music with these performers:<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="BellRecord" /><ref name="sonic" />
* [[Wade Hemsworth]]
* [[Wade Hemsworth]]
* Anne Lederman
* Anne Lederman
* [[Dave Zdriluk]]
* [[Dave Zdriluk]]
* Geoff Somers
* [[George Wade]]
* Tom Leighton
* [[Rudy Vallee]]
* [[Geoff Somers]]
* [[Tom Leighton]]
* [[David Woodhead]]
* [[David Woodhead]]
* [[Denis Rondeau]]
* [[Denis Rondeau]]
Line 45: Line 42:
* [[Friends of Fiddler's Green|The Friends of Fiddler's Green]]
* [[Friends of Fiddler's Green|The Friends of Fiddler's Green]]
* [[Enoch Kent]]
* [[Enoch Kent]]
* [[The Allison Lupton Band]],<ref name="CBC-Lupton">[http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Allison-Lupton Alison Lupton on CBC]</ref><ref name="Lupton-bio">[http://www.allisonlupton.com/bio.php Alison Lupton bio]</ref>
* [[The Allison Lupton Band]],<ref name="CBC-Lupton">[http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Allison-Lupton Alison Lupton on CBC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301032334/http://radio3.cbc.ca/ |date=2011-03-01 }}</ref><ref name="Lupton-bio">{{Cite web |url=http://www.allisonlupton.com/bio.php |title=Alison Lupton bio |access-date=2011-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326122725/http://www.allisonlupton.com/bio.php |archive-date=2012-03-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Patio Dave & The Lanterns]]
* [[Patio Dave & The Lanterns]]
* [[The Bilge Rats]]
* [[The Bilge Rats]]
* The Dawnbreakers: [[Kate Murphy]], [[Brian Pickell]] & [[Geoff Somers]]
* The Dawnbreakers: Kate Murphy, [[Brian Pickell]] & Geoff Somers


Ian’s accompanists and band-mates have included these performers:<ref name="BellContact" />
Bell's accompanists and bandmates have included these performers:<ref name="BellContact" />
* [[Oliver Schroer ]] &ndash; violin
* [[Oliver Schroer]] &ndash; violin
* [[David Travers-Smith]] &ndash; trumpet, producer
* [[David Travers-Smith]] &ndash; trumpet, producer
* [[Geoff Somers]] &ndash; fiddle, mandolin
* [[Geoff Somers]] &ndash; fiddle, mandolin
* [[Anne Lederman]] &ndash; fiddle, piano
* [[Anne Lederman]] &ndash; fiddle, piano
* [[Brian Pickell]] &ndash; guitar ,mandolin
* [[Brian Pickell]] &ndash; guitar, mandolin
* [[Tom Leighton]] &ndash; piano
* Tom Leighton &ndash; piano
* [[James Gordon (Canadian musician)|James Gordon]] &ndash; singer, guitarist
* [[James Gordon (Canadian musician)|James Gordon]] &ndash; singer, guitarist


The CD ''My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions'' was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award&mdash;"Traditional Singer of The Year".<ref name="sonic" />
The CD ''My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions'' was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award&mdash;"Traditional Singer of The Year".<ref name="sonic" />


=== Musical Contributions ===
===Musical contributions===
Much of the early Ontario instrumental music on "Scatter the Ashes" was discovered through original research into the personal tune books of 19th-century Ontario musicians. Sources included the Allan Ash Manuscript, the John Buttrey manuscript, the James Dow manuscript, and the Ira Doan manuscript. Many of the songs were learned from period broadsides and newspapers and from field recordings.<ref name="tradmusic" />
Much of the early Ontario instrumental music on "Scatter the Ashes" was discovered through original research into the personal tune books of 19th-century Ontario musicians. Sources included the Allen Ash Manuscript, the John Buttrey manuscript, the James Dow manuscript, and the Ira Doan manuscript. Many of the songs were learned from period broadsides and newspapers and from field recordings.<ref name="tradmusic" />


Contributions to the music industry: Ian’s original songs have been performed and recorded by, among others,<ref name="BellContact" />
Contributions to the music industry: Bell's original songs have been performed and recorded by, among others,<ref name="BellContact" />
* [[Anne Lederman]]
* [[Anne Lederman]]
* [[Ian Robb]]
* [[Ian Robb]]
Line 71: Line 68:
* [[Lee Murdock]]
* [[Lee Murdock]]


In 1985, Ian Bell served as the artistic director of the Marioposa Folk Festival, a multi-day folk music festivalthat has been running in Ontario since 1961.<ref name="CdnEncy">[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Params=U1ARTU0002214 The Canadian Encyclopedia, Mariposa Folk Festival"]</ref>
In 1985, Bell served as the artistic director of the [[Mariposa Folk Festival|Marioposa Folk Festiva]]<nowiki/>l, a multi-day folk music festival that has been running in Ontario since 1961.<ref name="CdnEncy">[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mariposa-folk-festival-emc The Canadian Encyclopedia, Mariposa Folk Festival"]</ref>


Contributions to [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]: As a long-time freelance broadcaster, Ian has often worked with [[Stuart McLean]] on [[CBC Radio]]'s ''[[Vinyl Cafe|Vinyl Café]]''. Ian has co-written and been music director for five Vinyl Café national concert broadcasts. For seven years Ian was a regular contributor to the weekend Fresh Air program on CBC radio. Over the years, Ian Bell appeared several times on [[Peter Gzowski]]'s ''[[Morningside (radio program)|Morningside]]'' as well as these CBC programs:<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /><ref name="sonic" />
Contributions to [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]: As a long-time freelance broadcaster, he has often worked with [[Stuart McLean]] on [[CBC Radio]]'s ''[[Vinyl Cafe|Vinyl Café]]''. Bell has co-written and been music director for five Vinyl Café national concert broadcasts. For seven years he was a regular contributor to the weekend Fresh Air program on CBC radio. Over the years, Bell appeared several times on [[Peter Gzowski]]'s ''[[Morningside (radio program)|Morningside]]'' as well as these CBC programs:<ref name="sonic" /><ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" />
* ''[[Ideas]]''
* ''[[Ideas (radio show)|Ideas]]''
* ''[[Gabereau]]'' ([[Vicki Gabereau]])
* ''[[Gabereau]]'' ([[Vicki Gabereau]])
* ''[[Crossroads]]''
* ''Crossroads''
* ''[[This Morning]]''
* ''[[This Morning (radio program)|This Morning]]''
* ''[[Radio Noon]]''
* ''[[Radio Noon]]''


Contributions to Canadian television shows: Ian has contributed to many film scores and performed [[period music]] for the TV series, ''[[The Road to Avonlea]]'' and appeared in some episodes.<ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" /><ref name="sonic" />
Contributions to Canadian television shows: Bell has contributed to many film scores and performed [[period music]] for the TV series, ''[[The Road to Avonlea]]'' and appeared in some episodes.<ref name="sonic" /><ref name="BellContact" /><ref name="Davies" />


=== Music Education ===
===Music education===
Toronto's "Mariposa in the Schools" program is a charity started by the [[Mariposa Folk Foundation]] in 1970.<ref name="CdnEncy" /> For forty years, the program has been bringing performed art into Toronto schools: instrumental music, song, storytelling, puppeteering, and drama.<ref name="MITS-prog" /> Ian Bell has been part of it for years and has developed several programs that share traditional music with young people. His school programs have been taught to classes ranging from Kindergarten to Gr. 8. the programs include these:<ref name="Davies">[http://www.iandavies.com/bell.htm Ian Bell performer bio]. Will find independent corroboration later.</ref>
Toronto's "Mariposa in the Schools" program is a charity started by the [[Mariposa Folk Foundation]] in 1970.<ref name="CdnEncy" /> For forty years, the program has been bringing performed art into Toronto schools: instrumental music, song, storytelling, puppeteering, and drama.<ref name="MITS-prog" /> Bell has been part of it for years and has developed several programs that share traditional music with young people. His school programs have been taught to classes ranging from Kindergarten to Gr. 8. the programs include these:<ref name="Davies">[http://www.iandavies.com/bell.htm Ian Bell performer bio]. Will find independent corroboration later.</ref>


* Canadian Heritage Music - "Breathe life into Canadian history"
* Canadian Heritage Music - "Breathe life into Canadian history"
Line 91: Line 88:
* Tamaracker Down - "Old-time Ontario Step Dancing"
* Tamaracker Down - "Old-time Ontario Step Dancing"


Ian Bell was still delivering programs through MITS as recently as 2010. <ref name="MITS-prog">[http://www.mariposaintheschools.ca/Mariposa/Page/Files/280_MITSProgramGuide2010.pdf Mariposa in the Schools Program Guide 2009&ndash;2010] (PDF)</ref>
Bell was still delivering programs through MITS as recently as 2010.<ref name="MITS-prog">[http://www.mariposaintheschools.ca/Mariposa/Page/Files/280_MITSProgramGuide2010.pdf Mariposa in the Schools Program Guide 2009&ndash;2010]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (PDF)</ref>


==Discography==
==Discography==
Ian Bell's recordings include these albums:<ref name="BellRecord">[http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Ians_Recordings.html Ian Bell Music: recordings]</ref>
Bell's recordings include these albums:<ref name="BellRecord">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Ians_Recordings.html |title=Ian Bell Music: recordings |access-date=2011-07-02 |archive-date=2012-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326122710/http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Ians_Recordings.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 2009 – ''My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions.'' traditional songs and tunes with Geoff Somers, Anne Lederman, Oliver Schroer, Denis Rondeau, The Bilge Rats, Pat O’Gorman, Shane Cooke and others.
* 2009 – ''My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions.'' traditional songs and tunes with Geoff Somers, Anne Lederman, Oliver Schroer, Denis Rondeau, The Bilge Rats, Pat O’Gorman, Shane Cooke and others.
* 2007 – Shallow Water. Original Songs and tunes music inspired by Port Dover and lakeside life.
* 2007 – Shallow Water. Original Songs and tunes music inspired by Port Dover and lakeside life.
Line 103: Line 100:
* 1991 – The Farmer Feeds Us All. Mostly traditional and historic music, on cassette tape. Out of print.
* 1991 – The Farmer Feeds Us All. Mostly traditional and historic music, on cassette tape. Out of print.
* 1990 – A Grand Musical Entertainment. Traditional and historic music, on cassette tape.
* 1990 – A Grand Musical Entertainment. Traditional and historic music, on cassette tape.
* 1984 - Scatter The Ashes - Muddy York. Innovative arrangements of old songs and fiddle tunes from the 19th-century [[Allan Ash]] manuscript and other sources. with Anne Lederman.
* 1984 - Scatter The Ashes - Muddy York. Innovative arrangements of old songs and fiddle tunes from the 19th-century [[Allen Ash]] (1818 &ndash; 1882) manuscript and other sources. with Anne Lederman.


== References ==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
==External links==
* [http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Welcome.html Ian Bell Music, home page]
* [http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Welcome.html Ian Bell Music, home page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826171031/http://www.ianbellmusic.ca/Ian_Bell/Welcome.html |date=2011-08-26 }}
* [http://www.iandavies.com/bell.htm Ian Bell performer bio]
* [http://www.iandavies.com/bell.htm Ian Bell performer bio]
* [http://www.iandavies.com/bellinfo.htm Ian Bell, more recordings and performances]
* [http://www.iandavies.com/bellinfo.htm Ian Bell, more recordings and performances]

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ian}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ian}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
<!--- Categories --->
[[Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard]]
[[Category:Canadian folk singers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Norfolk County, Ontario]]

[[Category:Canadian folk singers]]
{{Canada-musician-stub}}
[[Category:Singers from Ontario]]

Latest revision as of 00:09, 27 October 2024

Ian Bell (born 1954) is a Canadian folk musician, composer, and singer-songwriter who has been active in the Canadian folk music scene since the 1970s. With Anne Lederman, he was part of the seminal Canadian folk group Muddy York. He has been the leader of The Dawnbreakers and Professor Chalaupka's Celebrated Singing School. Bell has performed at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and the Mariposa Folk Festival, among others. He has contributed to the development and preservation of Canadian folk music for more than twenty-five years. He sings both old songs and his own original compositions. His music has a Celtic flavour. He is a versatile musician who plays several instruments.

Bell spent most of his time as a part-time musician, also working in museums, the last being curator of the Port Dover Harbour Museum on Lake Erie. He left the museum in 2013 and has been working in music and art since.

Early life

[edit]

Bell was born[when?] in Simcoe, Ontario, grew up in Waterford, and lives now in Paris, Ontario.[1] Some of his original songs evoke the landscape and history of southwestern Ontario.[2]

Career

[edit]

Bell's career includes composing and playing instrumental music, singing, songwriting, storytelling, artist in residence, director of music festivals, and working as a freelance broadcaster.

His original songs have many themes: blacksmiths, bikers, Charles Atlas, woolly mammoths, fishermen, and love.[3] His performances include his own stories: "funny, touching, unlikely, mostly true, and always entertaining."[3] Venues range from Roy Thomson Hall to barns[2] and from the Glenn Gould Studio to rural church basements[3] and art galleries.[4]

Performance

[edit]

In 1978, Ian Bell, Kate Murphy, and Anne Lederman joined up to form Muddy York, to play the traditional songs and dance music of Canada, especially Ontario.[5][6] The group's name, Muddy York, refers to an old epithet for Toronto.[7] (See Name of Toronto.) They played in venues from church basements to barn dances to festivals, in Ontario and the western provinces. In 1982 Kate Murphy left the group but Bell and Lederman continued.[6] They became well known and played at Expo 86 in Vancouver, BC.[3]

Bell has performed at the Edmonton Folk Festival (AB) and the Mariposa Folk Festival (ON) as well as festivals in Ottawa ON, Winnipeg MB, Owen Sound ON, Lunenberg NS, Montmagny, and Yellowknife NWT.[2]

Bell was Folk Artist in Residence for 1993 at Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener ON.[2]

Recent performance history

[edit]

In 2004 Bell performed in the "Roots of American Music" Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York City.[2][3]

In July 2005, Bell and Anne Lederman travelled to Estonia to perform at the Viljandi Folk Festival.[2][3] Also in 2005, he told the story of the youth and growth of Canadian artist Tom Thomson through music. This was in conjunction with a special exhibit about Thomson. The Durham West Arts Centre describes him as a noted musicologist, historian, and performer.[4]

In March, 2011, Muddy York and the O'Schraves played a benefit concert to raise money for the Matthews Memorial Hospital Association to hire a doctor for the hospital in the central Algoma district, on the north shore of Lake Huron.[8][9] Muddy York also appeared in Sault Ste. Marie at an Algoma Traditional Music concert with Jeff Beck of the Cowboy Junkies and the O'Schraves. They have also worked at the Algoma Traditional Music Camp as both performers and teachers.[9]

Bell appeared on dozens of recordings as a sideman as well as several under his own name.[2][3] He plays guitar, button accordion, harmonica, mandolin, smallpipes[clarification needed], and fiddle.[2][3] Bell still plays regularly for old-time square and contra dances across Southern Ontario.[5] On these occasions, two or more musicians provide live music for the dancers.

Bell has played music with these performers:[1][2][10]

Bell's accompanists and bandmates have included these performers:[2]

The CD My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award—"Traditional Singer of The Year".[1]

Musical contributions

[edit]

Much of the early Ontario instrumental music on "Scatter the Ashes" was discovered through original research into the personal tune books of 19th-century Ontario musicians. Sources included the Allen Ash Manuscript, the John Buttrey manuscript, the James Dow manuscript, and the Ira Doan manuscript. Many of the songs were learned from period broadsides and newspapers and from field recordings.[6]

Contributions to the music industry: Bell's original songs have been performed and recorded by, among others,[2]

In 1985, Bell served as the artistic director of the Marioposa Folk Festival, a multi-day folk music festival that has been running in Ontario since 1961.[13]

Contributions to CBC: As a long-time freelance broadcaster, he has often worked with Stuart McLean on CBC Radio's Vinyl Café. Bell has co-written and been music director for five Vinyl Café national concert broadcasts. For seven years he was a regular contributor to the weekend Fresh Air program on CBC radio. Over the years, Bell appeared several times on Peter Gzowski's Morningside as well as these CBC programs:[1][2][3]

Contributions to Canadian television shows: Bell has contributed to many film scores and performed period music for the TV series, The Road to Avonlea and appeared in some episodes.[1][2][3]

Music education

[edit]

Toronto's "Mariposa in the Schools" program is a charity started by the Mariposa Folk Foundation in 1970.[13] For forty years, the program has been bringing performed art into Toronto schools: instrumental music, song, storytelling, puppeteering, and drama.[14] Bell has been part of it for years and has developed several programs that share traditional music with young people. His school programs have been taught to classes ranging from Kindergarten to Gr. 8. the programs include these:[3]

  • Canadian Heritage Music - "Breathe life into Canadian history"
  • Sound Production Program - "How do instruments work?" and instrument building classes
  • From There to Here, From Then to Now - "celebrating our past through songs, dance, music, and humour"
  • Unplugged but Resonant - "light-hearted exploration of the physics of sound on many traditional instruments"
  • Tamaracker Down - "Old-time Ontario Step Dancing"

Bell was still delivering programs through MITS as recently as 2010.[14]

Discography

[edit]

Bell's recordings include these albums:[10]

  • 2009 – My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions. traditional songs and tunes with Geoff Somers, Anne Lederman, Oliver Schroer, Denis Rondeau, The Bilge Rats, Pat O’Gorman, Shane Cooke and others.
  • 2007 – Shallow Water. Original Songs and tunes music inspired by Port Dover and lakeside life.
  • 2000- Signor Farini & Other Adventures. Original Songs and traditional tunes, with The Dawnbreakers. Mostly original songs inspired by life in southwest Ontario. CDs available on request.
  • 1996 – Free Range. Original Songs and instrumental music accompanied by the Dawnbreakers. CDs available on request.
  • 1993 – Singing In A Strange Land. Shape note music from Waterloo Co., Ontario, on cassette tape
  • 1992 – Brightest & Best. Early Christmas Music and shape note music, with Prof. Chalaupka’s Celebrated Singing School, on CD.
  • 1991 – The Farmer Feeds Us All. Mostly traditional and historic music, on cassette tape. Out of print.
  • 1990 – A Grand Musical Entertainment. Traditional and historic music, on cassette tape.
  • 1984 - Scatter The Ashes - Muddy York. Innovative arrangements of old songs and fiddle tunes from the 19th-century Allen Ash (1818 – 1882) manuscript and other sources. with Anne Lederman.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Ian Bell artist information
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Ian Bell Music: contact Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine. Will find independent corroboration later.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ian Bell performer bio. Will find independent corroboration later.
  4. ^ a b Durham West Arts Centre: Music in the Thomson Homes: A lecture demonstrated with music
  5. ^ a b "Toronto Country Dancers: Muddy York". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  6. ^ a b c Traditional Folk Music: Muddy York, "Scatter the Ashes," Early Ontario music
  7. ^ Rayburn, Alan, Naming Canada, p. 236
  8. ^ Special Concert: Muddy York and the O'Schraves
  9. ^ a b "The Sault Star: Time to get down and dirty with Muddy York". Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  10. ^ a b "Ian Bell Music: recordings". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  11. ^ Alison Lupton on CBC Archived 2011-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "Alison Lupton bio". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  13. ^ a b The Canadian Encyclopedia, Mariposa Folk Festival"
  14. ^ a b Mariposa in the Schools Program Guide 2009–2010[permanent dead link] (PDF)
[edit]