Brendan Power
Brendan Power is a New Zealander who has developed a considerable reputation for his concert and recording work featuring the harmonica. Equally at ease on both the earthy Blues Harp as well as the sophisticated Chromatic Harmonica, he employs his own custom tunings to breathe fresh life into an often typecast instrument - especially in his original compositions, which feature on several of the 12 instrumental CDs he has released to date. These cover a diverse range of styles reflecting Brendan's eclectic tastes, everything from down-home Blues to Bulgarian folk music, Baroque, Country, Japanese and Irish traditional music, MOR, Rock and Jazz.
Since arriving to live in London in 1992, Brendan's stylistic flexibility and sympathetic ear have earned him some high-profile session work in a variety of musical fields. He has recorded with pop artists Sting, Desree, Van Morrison, Mel C, Paul Young and Shirley Bassey, classical guitarist John Williams, flautist James Galway, and Irish singer Mary Black, amongst others. He has twice toured as guest soloist in Japan, China and Russia (including two shows in the Kremlin) with the legendary Paul Mauriat Orchestra, played the Royal Festival Hall as soloist under Carl Davis, and played with Sting's band in several TV appearances.
Brendan Power : Lament for the 21st Century
Harmonica
A beautiful collection of recordings by UK-based New Zealander Brendan Power. Power is acknowledged by many as one of the most creative, skilled & versatile harmonica players around today.
Brendan Power : Tradish
Harmonica (UK Import)
This is a brand new 15 track CD over an hour long. It was recorded over a period of eight years as I toured with the Riverdance show, and afterwards. The length of time it's taken means that some tracks have parts recorded from different years and several different countries. But I have taken a lot of care to make sure it all hangs together.
Brendan Power : State of the Harp
Harmonica (UK Import)
My first commercial album, recorded in 1989 and released in 1990 by Jayrem Records. My dad lent me most of the money to record it, for which I'll always be grateful. It was a chance to bring in some favorite players from the local Auckland music scene of the time; there was a lot of talent around, especially in the young Polynesian musicians, and it was a privilege to work with them in the studio. Check out in particular the scary playing of the young Cook Islands guitarist Tere Ngaeruaiti (18 years old at the time).
Andrew White : Brendan Power : Live in Ireland
Folk / Celtic (UK Import)
This album was recorded live at various venues on the Feb 2000 Power & White tour of Ireland. It comprises 14 tracks, about equally divided between original tunes and songs written by Andrew and Brendan Power, basically the best of the recorded stuff from the various gigs.
There is an 'X Factor' that you get when hearing a recording of a live gig, which is generally missing in even the best studio albums - and this one has it in spades. It is as raw as it comes: no added effects, EQ or overdubbing - it's just as it was on the night, as testified by the enthusiastic and sometimes raucous crowd reaction.