This Wildlife Album is a celebration of nature and music with all profits going to the           World Wildlife Foundation and the Ulster Wildlife Trust.

The album features artists and music ranging from folk, rock, and fusion through jazz, blues and baroque, consisting of  twenty one tracks either specifically recorded for the project or previously unreleased. Some deal with ecological themes some do not. 

The Artists:

Cara Dillon, The Dennison Quartet, Helen McGurk, Martyn Joseph, Duffy Power, Leafhound, Catherine Harper, Tina McSherry, Jan Akkerman, Janet Holmes, Bert Jansch, Roy Harper, Steve Ashley, Gordon Giltrap, Rick Monro, Martin Hayes, Colin Reid, Andy Irvine, Fairport Convention, Dennis Cahill, Brooks Williams.

1. Cara Dillon. The Other Side (3:05)

2. The Dennison Quartet. Passing Away: For The Dodo & The Great Auk (3:36)

3. Helen McGurk/Legends Of Tomorrow. My Heart Is Broken (4:48)  

4 Martyn Joseph. If A Tree Falls

5. Duffy Power. Sweet Again (3:47)

6. Leafhound. Sad Road To The Sea (3:14)

7. Catherine Harper/Ensemble De Lassus. Bon Jour Mon Couer (1:44)

8. Tina McSherry/The Wildlife Ensemble. Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy (3:50)
9. Jan Akkerman. Rain Happens (5:07)

10. Janet Holmes. Long, Long, Long (2:23) 14.                                                              
11.  Bert Jansch. Blues For A Green Earth (2:44)

12. Roy Harper. Jabberwocky (1:40)

13. Steve Ashley. Say Goodbye (5:48)

14. Gordon Giltrap. Here Comes The Sun (2:44)
 
15. Rick Monro/Susan Enan/Iain Archer
 
16. Martin Hayes/Legends Of Tomorrow The Master Of Silence (Trip To Ennis) (4:23)
 
17. Colin Reid Gymnopedie (3:26)
 
18. Andy Irvine with Ian Anderson Moreton Bay (5:26)
 
19. Fairport Convention I’m Already There (6:04)

20. Dennis Cahill. Sleepwalk (2:48)

 21. Brooks Williams. The Master Of Silence (Slight Return) (5:30) 

The Wildlife Album was created by Colin Harper - a member of the Ulster Wildlife Trust and a seasoned music writer & biographer as a way to raise funds and awareness for both the UWT and the World Wildlife Fund. 
 
The Ulster Wildlife Trust
The Ulster Wildlife Trust is the largest locally based conservation organisation in Northern Ireland with a membership of more than 2,500 and is a partner in the 47 strong national network of Wildlife Trusts, with a combined membership of over 356,000 and a network of more than 2,500 nature reserves throughout the United Kingdom. http://www.ulsterwildlifetrust.org

World Wildlife Foundation
• The world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation;
• A truly global network, working in more than 90 countries;
• A challenging, constructive, science-based organisation that addresses issues from the survival of species and habitats to climate change, sustainable business and environmental education;
• A charity dependent upon its five million supporters worldwide - some 90 per cent of our income derives from voluntary sources such as people and the business community.
• An organisation that makes a difference  http://www.wwf.org.uk

About The Wildlife Album by Colin Harper

For several years in the nineties I got by as a writer on music. In Belfast. I look back on it as a great adventure - a miracle, perhaps, that I made enough money to live, but such a privilege to have met and to have chronicled the curious histories of some dreamers and pioneers much crazier than I, in society’s eyes. As the song says, ‘I met my heroes then/I made them all my friends…’ And when it came to this little adventure many of those heroes, I’m proud to say, answered the call. 
 
Twelve of the twenty one tracks here were recorded/commissioned specifically for this album. Of the remaining ten, four - from Fairport Convention, Steve Ashley, Leafhound and Duffy Power - derive from existing albums (albeit one, Duffy’s, currently unissued), one (by Janet Holmes) is an outtake from an existing album, and the remaining five from my own perhaps largely unfathomable accumulation of collaborative recorded works. 

It would be too complicated to explain why most of this canon exists: much of it, truly, never had any commercial aspiration - recording music was a just a way of dealing with things in life that troubled me. And, in a way, several years on, that’s just what this project is all about: being now in a position of relative security (as part-time writer and full-time librarian), I find that I still have, niggling away, an unrelenting distress at the state of the world and, not least, our custodianship of its creatures.  

One imagines that most of the developed world, these days, would be appalled at the idea of people routinely sailing off to remote parts of the globe to kill penguins with wooden clubs. In the 18th and early 19th centuries this was acceptable behaviour - the private collectors and museums of Europe racing to acquire specimens of the flightless, doomed creature for which the word ‘penguin’ had first been coined. The craze and demand were such that history records the very day and place where the very last pair of Great Auks in the world were found and destroyed: a little volcanic rock several miles off Iceland in the middle of the Atlantic, almost (but not quite) inaccessible, June 22nd 1844. What a bloody fantastic day for civilisation that was.  

Errol Fuller, whose books on the Great Auk and its fellow travellers to extinction have been a singular inspiration, believes it took a timescale of probably no more than 40 years, a couple of centuries earlier, for mankind to consign another flightless bird, the Dodo, to oblivion. We don’t even, properly, know what this creature looked like any more. The moral issues of taxidermy aside, not even one genuine stuffed Dodo exists. Not one. And yet, more monstrous still, for it is within living memory, a developed nation managed to somehow ‘run out’ of a large mammal, found nowhere else in the world - the Thylacine, an extraordinary dog-like relative of the Kangaroo. The last individual of its kind died, after brief years of powerless, looming realisation among its keepers, at a zoo on Tasmania in 1936.  

In the same way that the noble and ancient civilisation which erected the stone gods of Easter Island doomed themselves to an impoverished, primitive survival into the modern era by the deforestation of their island - incredibly, realising too late that without trees they had no means to build boats, and without boats no means to escape their now desolate isle - mankind, in our coexistence with the fauna of the world, has a depressing record of ineptitude, complacency and crime. Who shall be next? The Red Squirrel? The Whale? The Tiger? The Dormouse? The Polar Bear? The Stoat? And then, when all else is gone, shall we come for the Penguin, lingering on, powerless as the Auk, in the last place on Earth? 

Thank God - as an easily dispirited individual - for empowering organisations like the (global) World Wide Fund For Nature and the (local) Ulster Wildlife Trust. As the powers of the world oil the wheels of their will, insofar as it affects environmental matters, with prevarication, discussion and spin, it is comforting to put faith in bodies who can fight fire with fire - countering prevarication with agendas, discussion with purpose, spin with fact. I know that I wouldn’t have the heart for it; but I’m glad that there are those who do.  

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to the Ulster Wildlife Trust and the World Wide Fund for Nature for coming aboard what could well have been mistaken for a leaky vessel captained by a day-dreaming loony; to Errol Fuller for his inspirational books and the use of his art; to Michael Keeney for his tremendous flexibility and commitment to engineering the Cara Dillon and Andy Irvine sessions at the drop of a hat; to Enda Walsh and Gary Aiken, again for their flexibility and generous studio terms; to the dream team (Mark 1) of Mark Case and Rick Monro for their generous work on CD and website design respectively; to the dream team (Mark 2) of Peter Muir and Pat Tynan, at Market Square Records/Singsong PR, for daring to run with this on a national level; to Heather, for putting up in general with my eccentric, and usually expensive, schemes and for her own compassion for the wild of the world (may the Bear and the Penguin sleep easier in that knowledge); and, finally, to every one of the musicians who gave time and energy to the project - many squeezing in recording and travel time in the middle of extremely busy schedules. Thank you. Let us hope some good may come of it. 

“… A frustrating experience for those into a rigid ‘file under’ regime, but there’s a weird kind of coherency about it all. [Tracks by] Colin Reid, Cara Dillon and Tina McSherry provide essential places to visit…”           * * * * Fred Dellar, Mojo                                 
“With the Band Aid 20 single followed by the Millenium Stadium benefit for the tsunami victims, less high-profile causes might be feeling the pinch at the moment, which would be a shame in the case of The Wildlife Album…”                                                          * * * Andy Gill, The Independent                     
  
Additional Information About the Music
We believe this may be the first wildlife charity album since the Beatles gave a track to Spike Milligan’s No One’s Gonna Change Our World project for the WWF in 1969. 

* Of the 21 tracks 18 are exclusive to the project .
Inspired by author/artist Errol Fuller’s books The Great Auk and Dodo: From Extinction To Icon, and by the process of revisiting a career’s worth of his journalistic work in assembling his recent anthology Irish Folk, Trad & Blues: A Secret History (The Collins Press, October 2004), Harper wondered if he might be able to do something proactive - using his musical contacts - on behalf of wildlife conservation. 

During the mid ‘90s Harper - from Belfast, and an active supporter of Northern Irish talent across musical genres - produced two locally groundbreaking multi-artist CDs Alive In Belfast: The Warehouse Sessions (1995) and Live At The Belfast Empire (1996), which included pre-fame tracks by the likes of Cara Dillon and Iain Archer (co-writer of Snow Patrol‘s recent hit ‘Run‘). During that period he also recorded (purely for fun) his own material - occasionally with the help of passing international visitors like Irish trad legend Martin Hayes and US acoustic guitar hero Brooks Williams. Looked at dispassionately in 2004, there were, he felt, enough worthy tracks ‘in the can’ to build a viable charity album around. He began ringing round his heroes from the wider musical world to see what else could be acquired...

“From a whimsical, small-scale notion it grew into something much bigger, and much scarier in terms of pulling it off,” says Harper. “Most of the people I asked are legends - innovators and cult heroes from folk, trad and rock - and literally everyone I asked said yes. It’s an honour to be trusted to ‘deliver’ by the likes of Andy Irvine (Planxty), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Jan Akkerman (Focus) and Bert Jansch (Pentangle) - these people have incredibly busy touring schedules, and for them to take time out to record something for some guy in Belfast with a crackpot idea is very humbling.” 

Additionally, Harper ‘commissioned’ new work from Roy Harper (no relation), Martyn Joseph, Gordon Giltrap and others, and organised recording sessions for acclaimed County Derry vocalist Cara Dillon; for Newtownards-based opera diva Catherine Harper (no relation) in collaboration with Bangor jazz maestro Linley Hamilton; for Belfast’s Dennison String Quartet; and for a super-group of local musicians, including pianist Brian Connor (Van Morrison, Eleanor McEvoy) and guitarist Colin Reid (Eddi Reader band, solo), around former Tamalin vocalist Tina McSherry.

“Part of the thrill of this project, aside from its central purpose of raising money for wildlife conservation,” says Harper, “is putting world-class talent from Northern Ireland, like Cara Dillon, Tina McSherry, Colin Reid and Janet Holmes, on the same platform as legendary international artists. It’s crazy - but it might just work!”

 Accredited Press & Radio:

For further information and review copies contact Pat Tynan Media

Phone 01895 636935 Mobile 07985 400297

pattynan@btinternet.com

In December 2004 Belfast-based music writer Colin Harper unveiled The Wildlife Album, an essentially freelance fundraising venture on behalf of international environmental charity the World Wildlife Foundation and the Ulster Wildlife Trust, it featured an eclectic array of local and international folk, rock, jazz and classical artists. 

The album gained tremendous coverage and airplay, and has sold widely and steadily via retail and its dedicated website (www.thewildlifealbum.com) representing sales to thirty countries across six of the world’s seven continents. Antarctica is the elusive continent thus far but as Harper notes: ‘We come to save penguins, not sell them stuff.’

A year on, Harper and the WWF/UWT launch The Wildlife Album 2 entitled Live In Hope with every track based on the theme of nature. Simon Barnes nature columnist for the Times provides the C.D. booklet notes while the cover features the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker - the ‘American Dodo’ which reappeared recently in the Big Woods of Arkansas. Artists featured include Roxy Music, Jethro Tull, Richard Thompson, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jan Akkerman, Steve Hackett, Shaun Davey, Bert Jansch and Bruce Cockburn.

The lead track is the classic 1971 single ‘Eagle Rock’ by Aussie rock legends Daddy Cool which has been a hit single and retro poll-topper several times over down under, and features prominently in the acclaimed recent horror film Wolf Creek… yet has never received a release in the Western Hemisphere till now.

Led by the charismatic, indefatigable Ross ‘The Boss’ Wilson (www.rosswilson.com.au), Daddy Cool themselves reformed earlier this year for a Tsunami benefit concert in Australia, and a four hour retrospective DVD is released in that part of the world this month. 

Exclusive Live In Hope contributions come from Welsh singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph, Scottish singer-songwriter (and 2005 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards multiple winner) Karine Polwart, Dutch guitar hero Jan Akkerman and cult English rocker Andy Roberts (ex-Liverpool Scene / Plainsong / Grimms). 

Track Listing - Live In Hope - The Wildlife Album 2

1. Daddy Cool - Eagle Rock (1971) 4:11

2. Karine Polwart & The Gladsome Rags - Follow The Heron (2005) * 3.09

3. Jethro Tull - One Brown Mouse (1978) 3.21

4. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Open Country Joy (1973) 3.55

5. Bruce Cockburn - If A Tree Falls (1988) 5.43

6. Andy Roberts - The Raven (2005) * 3.32

7. Steve Hackett - Song To Nature (2005) 3.05

8. Shaun Davey/Liam O’Flynn - A Walk In The Ocean (1990) 4.20

9. Robin Lent - Sea Spray (1971) * * 3.19

10. Martyn Joseph - Dolphins Make Me Cry (2005) * 4.25

11. State River Widening & Anne Briggs - Lowlands (2004) 4.55

12. Bert Jansch - Black Birds Of Brittany (1979) * * 4.38

13. Roxy Music - South Downs (1980) * * 5.10

14. Duffy Power - The River (1973) * * 2.31

15. Janet Holmes - Oh Cumberland (2005) * 3.53

16. Jan Akkerman - Wildflower 2 (2005) * 4.34

17. Lal Waterson - Flight Of The Pelican (1996) 3.43

18. Ali MacKenzie’s Compass Rose - Rathlin Sound (2005) * 4.45

19. Richard Thompson - Summer Is Icumen In (live, 2004) * * 2.59

* Recordings exclusive to this album / * * Rare or otherwise unavailable on CD 

Live In Hope: The Wildlife Album 2 is available via its website www.thewildlifealbum.com

Label: Market Square Records – Distribution: RSK Entertainment.

Accredited Media: 

For a review copy, images and to interview Colin Harper contact

Pat Tynan Media
PO Box 785
Ickenham
Uxbridge
Middx
England UB10 8WQ

Tel: +44 (0) 1895 631336 Mobile 07985 400297
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