Apprenticeship and Alan Stivell years At the age of 13, Daniel Le Bras obtained his first guitar after teaching himself how to play, inspired by guitarists like
Hank Marvin,
Bert Jansch, and
The Pretty Things. Daniel's father insisted that he study catering instead of music. At the age of 17, he performed locally in
Bal-musette, interpreting folk-rock songs by
Donovan,
Van Morrison, and
Rory Gallagher. Alan Stivell and his musicians embraced
Breton,
Scottish, and
Irish music, and were also later joined by
Gabriel Yacoub to form
Malicorne. Alan's father had made a reconstruction of the ancient
Breton harp in 1953, and Alan learned to play the harp,
bagpipes, and
Irish flute. Stivell opened Bras's eyes to the possibilities of Celtic music and its proximity to rock. Stivell rebranded Daniel Le Bras as "Dan Ar Bras" to show that he belonged to
Breton culture rather than French culture. In 1971, with "
Pop Plinn", "for the first time rock music was put in service for a traditional
Breton dance song." His electric guitar made the "essential element of Stivell's sound for more than a decade" Homesick for Brittany, Braz released the instrumental progressive folk album, "
Douar Nevez" in 1977. In three years, he recorded three Celtic music solo-albums. By this time, he was making sales in the United States.
1980s Braz released a collegian album of Irish
jigs and reels in 1979, entitled
Irish Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes and Airs with a band featuring
Davey Graham,
Dave Evans, and
Duck Baker. It was not commercially successful, and for several years, Braz moved away from
Celtic music. In 1981, he toured Europe promoting his album
Acoustic, a subdued collection of instrumentals, written by himself. He then joined a
blues-rock trio. Between 1984 and 1987, he toured the United States over a dozen times.. By the time Braz recorded
Musiques pour les silences à venir (Music for the Silences to Come) in 1985, he was being described as "New Age". After making another instrumental album, he moved in a new direction by recording a collection of songs in English,
Songs (1990). Most were written by him, plus one each by
Richard Thompson,
Sandy Denny,
Paul Brady, and
Donovan. He teamed up with
John Kirkpatrick to record a film score in 1992.
L'Héritage des Celtes Formation and success in 2006 Dan Ar Braz's greatest moment occurred in 1992, when the organizer of the
Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper asked him to create a live show uniting traditional music with modern styles. Dan had many contacts in Britain, France, and America, and delivered beyond all expectations.
Donal Lunny came from Ireland,
Karen Matheson came from Scotland,
Elaine Morgan came from Wales, and both
Bagad Kemper and
Alan Stivell came from Brittany. Altogether, 75 musicians were involved. The group called
L'Héritage des Celtes performed their debut show at the Quimper festival in July 1993, then went on to
Rennes in 1994. A hugely successful
studio recording recreated the show. It sold 100,000 copies in over ten countries – 15,000 in the first week of release – and a live album followed. Their fame within France was so great that in 1996 they represented France in the
41st Eurovision Song Contest, singing in
Breton.
Finisterres In 1997, they recorded the album "Finisterres" and again sold 100,000 copies. The music awards ceremony
Victoires de la Musique awarded them "Best Traditional Music Album" in 1998. They went on tour in France and played the biggest stages of Paris
Le Zénith and
Bercy Arena on
St Patrick's Day in 1999. But with more than 70 musicians on stage at once, the show was tremendously difficult to put on. In August 2000, the group played at the
Festival Interceltique in the
stadium of Lorient where Dan announced that it would be the final concert.
Return to solo work Dan Ar Braz returned to solo work.
La mémoire des volets blancs (2001) is a tribute to the deceased friends from his childhood, and is a nostalgic instrumental piece. He performed in another major show at the
Stade de France on
St Patrick's Day in 2002. For the following albums, he worked with his friends, singers
Clarisse Lavanant,
Jean-Jacques Goldman, and
Red Cardell. In 2012, with
Bagad Kemper, he produced
Celebration in Brittany, an album and a tour-unifier which gets closer to the spirit of L'Héritage des Celtes, but centers on Brittany. In 2015, the album
Cornouailles Soundtrack was produced, which takes a more contemplative turn, telling the story of his life in instrumentals that range from "
Moon River" and "
Oh Shenandoah" to Braz's own compositions in a style that echoes his musical heroes,
The Shadows. == Discography ==