Winter Songs, by Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning

Down In Yon Forest (Live) Music Video

Winter Songs

by Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Floating in this Confluence (single), Eremo, The Lord's Prayer, Nearer, My God, To Thee, Coming, Going, Winter Songs, Caim, Ravenna, and 55 more. , and , .

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1.	Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella 02:35	info	buy track
2.	Greensleeves 03:44	info	buy track
3.	Down in Yon Forest 05:23	info	buy track
4.	Sing, We Now of Christmas 05:03	info	buy track
5.	Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus 02:39	info	buy track
6.	One Last Flower 05:06	info	buy track
7.	Sussex Carol 03:10	info	buy track
8.	It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 04:01	info	buy track
9.	No Sandman, No Santa 04:18	info	buy track
10.	Morning Has Broken 02:54	info	buy track
11.	Down The Chimney 04:00	info	buy track
12.	Christ Child Lullaby 03:32	info	buy track
13.	The Waits Song 03:18	info	buy track
14.	As With Gladness, Men of Old 04:43	info	buy track
15.	Strolling Through Star Streets 06:48	info	buy track
16.	“We Follow a Star” 04:59	info	buy track
17.	Auld Lang Syne 05:09	info	buy track
18.	Greensleeves (Live) 03:21	info	buy track
19.	Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Live) 03:30	info	buy track
20.	The Waits Song / Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella (Live) 04:11	info	buy track
21.	Down In Yon Forest (Live) 04:03 video	info	buy track
22.	Down The Chimney (Live) 03:49	info	buy track
23.	Winterfold / Under The Wonder Sky (Live) 05:17	info	buy track
24.	A Christmas Childhood (Live) 02:38 video	info	buy track

about

Music from Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning's acclaimed Celtic Christmas studio albums plus seven live tracks with violinist, Wendy Goodwin from performances in 2010 and 2013.

credits

released November 4, 2022

Musicians:

Brian Dunning: Flutes, whistles, accordion, bodhran & pan pipes
Jeff Johnson: Keys & percussion

John Fitzpatrick: Violin (1, 3, 4, 7, 12, 17)
Wendy Goodwin: Violin (2, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 18 - 23)
Tim Ellis: Guitars & tipel
Phil Baker: Bass
Jami Sieber: Cello (3, 12)
Máire Breatnach: Violin & viola (9, 13)
Gwen Franz: Viola (13)
Greg Williams: Percussion (1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 17)
Mike Snyder: Percussion (5, 6, 9, 14, 15)
Roger Hadley: Percussion (11, 16)
Derri Daugherty: Guitar (11)

Produced, engineered & mixed by Jeff Johnson
Live tracks recorded by Travis Cibolski
Mastered by Golden Mastering, Ventura, CA

℗ © 2022 Ark Records, Inc. / Sola Scriptura Songs
Additional copyright information listed on individual tracks.

"Ancient Oak" by Fiona Marron Dunning © 2022
Cover design by Court Patton

By Jeff Johnson –

Irish flutist, Brian Dunning and I began working together in 1989 when we were both living in Portland, Oregon. Brian was playing with the contemporary Celtic ensemble, Nightnoise and between touring and recording with the band, he initially played as a sideman on several albums I was producing for my record label, Ark Records / ArkMusic.

I was presented with an idea by a publisher to produce music tied into a new trilogy by American author, Stephen Lawhead. “The Song of Albion” was a Celtic fantasy and it was a no brainer to ask Brian to join me on creating a soundtrack for the stories. So began a musical partnership that would last over thirty years. A collaboration which included many albums inspired by Lawhead’s evocative stories.

Brian and I were fortunate to be making music when we did. In the early 1990s, contemporary Celtic music was quite popular. While releasing our music on my private label, we often licensed our songs to larger labels releasing compilations in the Celtic genre, including Windham Hill and Hearts of Space.

In 1996, Brian and his family moved back to Ireland and shortly after that I moved my family to Camano Island, Washington. The internet was still developing so Brian and I would send musical ideas back and forth via post and then schedule the occasional trip to record together. Even though we lived so far apart, our musical collaboration continued to thrive.

In 2000, we were approached to make an instrumental album of the favorite hymns of Ruth Bell Graham (Mrs. Billy Graham). We were also asked to perform the music at a gala event in North Carolina celebrating Mrs. Graham’s eightieth birthday. That ensemble was comprised of Brian and myself joined by Belfast violinist, John Fitzpatrick and Portland guitarist, Tim Ellis. The event spawned more performances, as well as our first Celtic Christmas release, “A Quiet Knowing Christmas.”

Brian and I continued to record and perform new music throughout the next decade. We were fortunate to have our music featured regularly on nationally syndicated shows like John Diliberto’s “Echoes” and Stephen Hill’s “Hearts of Space.” In 2002, our song “Vows” was featured in the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s international blockbuster, “Gangs of New York.” And for many years, we toured “A Celtic Christmas,” playing in beautiful venues in front of enthusiastic listeners. In addition to John Fitzpatrick and Tim Ellis, other wonderful musicians joined us over the years on these tours including Slovakian cellist, Jozef Lüptak and Seattle violist, Gwen Franz. In 2008, Wendy Goodwin, a Portland violinist, joined the trio. The three of us would record and tour frequently over the next ten years. The live tracks included on “Winter Songs” are from concerts we performed together in 2010 and 2013.

In 2011, the trio was joined by American soprano, Janet Marie Chvatal and German baritone, Marc Gremm to form the Coram Deo Ensemble. One of the many wonderful venues where we performed was the fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein, in Füssen, Germany. It was here in 2010, in the great “Throne Room,” that Brian recorded the opening flute improvisation for the new song, “Coming, Going.”

The Celtic trio’s last concert was on December 17, 2017. Coram Deo’s last concert was the following year on December 16, 2018. Little did I know these would be the last concerts I’d have with Brian. We would record together in 2019, but decided not to do a Christmas tour that year, opting to wait until the coming year. The COVID-19 pandemic kept that from happening.

We enjoyed a great visit with one another in the Fall of 2021 at his home in Clane, Ireland. We were finalizing plans to tour again in the coming Spring when Brian died unexpectedly on February 10, 2022.

Two days after Brian’s passing, I left on a scheduled trip to Türkiye with a good friend who lives there part time. Early in the trip, the Covid virus caught up with me and I sequestered myself in my friend’s home while recovering. It was there that I watched Brian’s funeral via live internet stream. Many miles from Ireland that day, I joined Brian’s family and other close friends in grieving his untimely death at seventy years old.

Yet, when listening to his haunting improvisation that opens “Coming, Going,” one can hear Brian move and breathe in between musical phrases. It is a profound reminder that Brian remains very much present in the music he left behind.

Violinist, John Fitzpatrick shared a story with me of a time in his youth when he had to return home from a place on the west coast of Northern Ireland which he dearly loved to visit. There was an old fisherman who empathized with John’s longing to not leave. Yet he told him, “John, if there was no leaving, there’d be no coming.”

John, along with all of the others mentioned above contributed so much to the music Brian and I made over the years. Equally important were the contributions by drummers Brian Willis and Gregg Williams; percussionists Roger Hadley and Mike Snyder; bass players Rick Crittenden and Phil Baker; cellist Jami Sieber; violinists Johnny Cunningham and Máire Breatnach; guitarists Derri Daugherty and Sandy Simpson, vocalists Lynn Skinner and Sylvia Groener; actor, Barry McGovern and Brian’s son, Jack. This music is dedicated to all of these wonderful artists to whom I will forever be grateful.

Finally, a special thanks to dear friend, Kathy Hastings for her art featured on “Coming, Going.” Kathy and her late husband, David, along with designer, Court Patton, created the covers of nearly all of our recordings over the years. And to Brian’s wife, Fiona, who’s painting adorns “Winter Songs,” along with Brian’s dear sons, Gordy, Jack and Jules. And lastly, to my Susie, who has always been by my side these many years of the ‘coming and going’ of Brian’s and my friendship and musical collaboration.

Jeff Johnson
August 2022

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Jeff Johnson

ArkMusic recording artist, composer, producer, and Selah worship leader has released numerous solo recordings along with collaborations with Irish flutist, Brian Dunning inspired by Stephen Lawhead's novels and guitarist, Phil Keaggy. Jeff's latest release is EREMO, an ambient instrumental collaboration with Indie artist, John Van Deusen. ... more

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