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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=10-Apr-2015&lang=fr&s=10205
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=10-Apr-2015&lang=fr&s=10205
10-Apr-2015
by Rob Howard
|
 Calum MacLean, one of Scotland’s finest accordionists and composers of music in both Scottish and Continental genres, passed away on April 3rd at the age of 80. Calum MacLean was born in Tobermory, Isle of Mull in 1934. The youngest of a family of eight, he was given a single row melodeon at the age of nine, progressed to a 2-row Hohner diatonic, and then took up the 5-row Continental chromatic at the age of fourteen, which Calum persevered with, teaching himself to read and write music. In his formative years, Bobby MacLeod, the Isle of Mull’s other great accordion star player, influenced Calum’s playing. In 1970 Calum won the Coupe d' Europe (European Championship) in Bad Godesberg, Germany, and went on to establish himself as one of his nation’s finest musicians, performing many times on BBC TV and radio. Essentially a solo accordionist rather than part of the dance band scene, Calum was also a great composer of music for accordion, and was particularly adept at writing pieces that are pastiches of French musette, Swiss, Latin, Italian, etc. Many of his 300+ compositions have been published, and also recorded. The composers Calum MacLean particularly admired over the years include Pietro Frosini, Pietro Deiro, and Scotland’s Ian Holmes. The range of music featured on Calum MacLean’s recordings is varied and impressive, and his style is much admired. Calum and his wife Jean were married for over 50 years and his son Calum Jnr is now keeping up the family musical tradition. |