Music diary, April 6, 2026
The name of Miguel Girão may not ring a bell to many folk music lovers – but it should. Originally from Portugal, he has lived in Scotland for many years already and his exquisite guitar playing has been heard in live shows and recordings by artists like Tern, pianist Amy Laurenson and the fiddle/cello duo of Jocelyn Petit & Ellen Gira.
I have had the pleasure of witnessing his skills live at some Celtic Connections gigs where he’s played with other artists and now I’m immensely enjoying his Northern Isles Suite, parts 1 & 2.
The Suite, released on two four-track EP’s in 2024 and 2026, comprises eight pieces based on melodies from Shetland and Orkney, arranged and – dare I say – re-imagined by Miguel for solo acoustic guitar. I have all eight pieces on one playlist since they seem to be one suite; the pieces of the second EP are numbered 5-8 so I believe it’s fair to consider volumes one and two as a whole.
Miguel’s music lives in the area between classical music and modern folk, with occasional jazz flavors. I wish to emphasize the word “lives” as the music is wonderfully warm, intimate and human. Last night, when the Finnish spring day was turning into darkness, I sipped my tea and let myself be wrapped in his guitar, not dozing off at all but completely alert to the details and images the music carried.
Doing an instrumental album with just your instrument and nothing must be a daunting exercise, but when it succeeds, it’s simply beautiful. Lauren MacColl’s Landskein, Mhairi Hall’s Airs, Ailie Robertson’s recent Echoes from Torloisk all contain stunning solo instrument pieces by these musicians, and I’m now adding Miguel’s Suites, a 100 % solo instrument work, to this company.
My knowledge of the tunes from Scotland’s northern islands is totally inadequate to analyze these arrangements’ relation to the tunes in their original form. All I can say is that Miguel’s playing is perfect technically and especially in the way he conveys the emotions and the colors in the music.
There are very few fast arpeggios here; he paints his music with a gentler touch and only occasionally flashes a very impressive fast run on the fretboard. The chord structures and progressions are beautiful without ever getting sugary.
As with the remarkable works I mentioned above, the Northern Isles Suite is restrained on the surface but has strong internal power that keeps a listener like myself glued to the music. It’s a huge pleasure and it’s also the kind of music I need in these very troubling times.
I thank Miguel for the wonderful music and sincerely hope many, many people will discover his works.
https://miguelgirao.bandcamp.com/album/the-northern-isles-suite
https://miguelgirao.bandcamp.com/album/the-northern-isles-suite-part-ii
FolkNotes 