John Fleagle

Singer/instrumentalist John Fleagle created some of the most lyrical and inventive performances of medieval song. With a background in jazz and traditional singing, his voice captivated audiences at festivals around the world. His contemporary style of interpretation breathed life into poems some seven or eight hundred years old--be they in Old French, Latin, Middle English or Gaelic. He fashioned compelling arrangements of his songs on beautiful reconstructions of medieval stringed instruments: lute, gothic harp and hurdy-gurdy, which he also designed and built. Fleagle is well known to radio audiences here and abroad for his epic musical storytelling adventures, including the Voyage of Saint Brendan and the Roman de Silence. He can be heard, as well, on Erato, New Albion and BMG records. Of his dramatic approach to performance, the Boston Globe wrote: "John Fleagle, that solitary singer, was marvelous (indeed almost literally so) in evoking the atmosphere of a time when our ancestors gathered 'round of an evening to hear of striking deeds and distant places, of magic, danger, evil and piety, of a world in which anything might have a religious import and miracles did happen." ???? - May 17th, 1999 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.