Live/Reviews

Live in Concert – Harmonica Festival, Klingenthal, Germany, September 2018. With Donnie Mackenzie (guitar) and Màrtainn Skene (keyboard) – Donald Black Band. A very warm receptive audience.

 

Donald and Màrtainn with lively audience – Piping Live Festival Glasgow, August 2018

 

Donald and Màrtainn – Encore – Piping Live Glasgow, August 2018. Note the police siren at beginning of set. They were chasing us for speeding!

 

Glasgow College of Piping Concert, September 2015

Donald Black was in flying form at his concert last Friday, September 18th……. He certainly didn’t disappoint…… Armed with an array of mouth-organs and backed by Màrtainn Skene on piano and accordion and Donnie MacKenzie on guitar, he put on a great show…… Donnie and Martainn made a great backline…… With the tone that he produces from the mouth organ, when it comes to slow Gaelic airs, I don’t think Donald Black can be beaten.

Robert Robertson, "Glasgow Letter", Oban Times, 24-09-15

Celtic Connections Concert, 25 January 2013

Donald “made a long awaited and welcome return to Celtic Connections on Friday,25th January in the National Piping Centre. Accompanied by Ross Wilson on keyboard and Allan Nairn on guitar” he “enthralled the audience with some tremendous highland music. An experienced performer, Donald ‘sooked and blawed’ his way through strathspeys, reels, pipe marches and slow airs, thoroughly entertaining the audience throughout……..Interspersing the tremendous music with good humour made for an entertaining evening to the capacity crowd……….The evening was concluded with a lengthy set of approximately eleven different tunes and resulted in rapturous applause. This concert finished all too early and the audience would quite willingly have remained in their seats considerably longer being entertained by the wit and tremendous music of this musical genius.”

Danny Matheson, Celtic Music Radio website

College of Piping Concert, Glasgow West End Festival, 2010

“I have been privileged to attend many Donald Black concerts and this was up there with the best of them.”

Neil Murray, "Glasgow Letter", Oban Times, 01-07-10

The Vikingar, Largs

“Musicians Donald Black and Malcolm Jones showed why they are among the most respected in the Scottish scene.”

John Blair, Largs

Edinburgh Festival

“Holding an audience in thrall is what any performer hopes to achieve, and supreme musicians, Malcolm Jones on accordion and Donnie Black, with his mouthorgan did just that at this years Edinburgh Festival during their frenzied foot-stomping set. The pace was Electric at the Ross Bandstand in the city’s Princes Street Gardens as the duo connected with all ages … punctuating their performance with whoops, clapping and jigging feet.”

Melinda Gillen, Celtic World

Tonder Folk Festival, Denmark

“… a most convincing mixture of sure-footed professionalism, sense of entertainment, and a complete absence of anything pretentious. What a pleasure it would be to have this duo back.”
Thorbjorn Sjogren – Folk and Musik
“… Donald Black and Malcolm Jones … offered colourful dance tunes filled with energy, but there was also room for the more romantic works.”

An evening in Visemollen

Hebridean Celtic Festival, Isle of Lewis

“… a virtuoso performance of harmonica playing … Donnie Black’s range of repertoire was exceeded only by the power and emotion of his playing. I felt drawn into Donnie’s world of … musical expression and this stayed with me through into the following day. I think we all felt privileged to have enjoyed a wonderful performance from such a fine artiste. Malcolm Jones provided guitar and accordion accompaniments carefully controlled to allow Donnie maximum space for his interpretations …”

Stornoway Gazette

Macnas, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh

“The duo of harmonica player Donald Black and Runrig guitarist Malcolm Jones … brought a shiver of blues to the Highland tune sets.”

Kenny Mathieson, The Scotsman

Macnas, Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow

“… the river in spate mastery of Donald Black, to accompaniment by Malcolm Jones ranging from propulsive box playing to yearning … guitar atmospherics.”

Rob Adams, The Herald

Celtic Connections Festival, Glasgow

“… Black proved that this oft-maligned instrument can be just as expressive, just as colourful as any of its big cousins …”
Rob Adams – The Herald
“… The instrument isn’t often thought of as a Scottish dance band instrument, but in the hands of Argyll born Donald Black, it comes across in a whole new fleet-footed light.”
Sue Wilson – The Scotsman
“… there was more than a touch of the traditional Highland ceilidh about this near sell-out show … combining rock-steady country-dance timing with an appealingly skittish swing, Black adorned his sets of jigs, reels and marches with a silky breadth of tone.”

Sue Wilson, The Scotsman

Edinburgh Folk Festival

“Donald Black is a great player of the traditional dance band style on the non-chromatic harmonica … he treated the audience … to some exquisite slow airs … and gorgeously syncopated reels … we left breathless.”

Norman Chalmers, Scotland on Sunday

Balnain House, Inverness

“Donald … had an amazed audience calling out for more … with native artfulness which made the place sing…”

Johnny Campbell, Living Tradition

Taigh Dhonnchaidh, Ness, Isle of Lewis

Black and Jones Raise the Roof “A packed Taigh Dhonnchaidh witnessed a star performance from two of the brightest lights on the Scottish traditional music scene. Ace harmonica player Donald Black and multi-talented Malcolm Jones of Runrig … offering a virtuoso performance to a highly appreciative audience.”

Stornoway Gazette

Cowalfest, Strone & Strachur

“Seemingly relaxed stage presence belies the enormous professionalism and thought that goes into making their whole concert into an event … The experience is essentially not cerebral, but their natural, crisp rhythm gets us in the gut and the heart in a primal way.”
Mark Morpurgo – Cowalfest
“Donald, accompanied by Malcolm Jones of Runrig fame, captivated the audience… This was international class traditional Scottish Mouth Organ playing of immense enjoyment to both harmonica aficionados and those who find it hard to believe that the humble harmonica can sound so good.”

Dave Hambley, British Harmonica League

S.P.A.H., Kansas City, USA

“It was great to hear you at S.P.A.H.”

Charlie McCoy, Nashville, USA