Carmina

Carmina is a name used by two different bands: a French death metal group and an English folk and jazz band. The name also carries Celtic folk and jazz associations in the verified facts.

French death metal band

The French Carmina is an unsigned death metal band playing an old-school style. The group appears on the CDR compilation Obscure Infinity issued by the underground French label Nihilistic Holocaust, and on the split 7-inch Terror v’s Terror with fellow French death metal band Morgue. It also releases a four-track demo in 2004. The line-up is Alexis on guitar, Damien on bass and vocals, Michaël on drums, and Stu on guitar and vocals.

English folk and jazz band

The English Carmina forms in Bristol in the early 1990s, when Rob King and Pippa Marland begin writing songs together. Their music combines folk, jazz and Celtic themes in original songs. King plays acoustic guitar, mandola and bodhran, while Marland sings and plays alto and soprano saxophone and Irish whistles. Both are award-winning songwriters.

The band tours internationally and appears at Cork Jazz Festival, The World Fleadh, Sydney St Patrick’s Day Parade, Glastonbury Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Madrid Folk Festival. It releases six albums, including two recorded in Dublin and produced by Donal Lunny, known for work with Planxty and Moving Hearts. Its repertoire is first published by Rough Trade and later held by Peter Gabriel’s Real World Music Publishing. The album Landmarks is recorded at Real World Studios.

Over the years, King and Marland work with a wide range of musicians, often from jazz or Irish traditional music. These include the late pianists Pete Jacobsen and Geoff Castle, as well as Richie Buckley, Diarmaid Moynihan, Nic France, Julian Nicholas, Gina Griffin, Nigel Thomas, Brian Morrissey, Ben Groenevelt, Adam Gittins, Vicki Burke, Roy Dodds, Dudley Phillips, Chris Haigh, James Blennerhasset, Brian Connor and Dave Goodier. The current line-up, called Carmina3, includes Pippa, Rob and Paul Bradley. Bradley is a singer and guitarist from the north of Ireland and has played with the band for more than ten years. The trio is noted for vocal harmonies between Pippa and Paul, and for guitar interplay between Paul and Rob.