Canada 150: the 15 Greatest Canadian Pipers & Drummers (deceased)
#14: Luke Allan
Luke Allan virtually reinvented the way a bass drum could and should be played, and was a driving sonic force behind the vintage 78th Fraser Highlanders. His playing can be heard today on many recordings, and his influence can be felt in virtually every pipe band today. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with the pipe section, Allan discovered that less is often more, and his use of tacit is still unsurpassed. The legendary Alex Duthart once famously referred to Luke Allan as the greatest pipe band drummer in the world. He started his bass drumming career with the Grade 1 City of Toronto and, after the 78th Frasers, played with the Grade 1 Metro Toronto Police with his son-in-law Drew Duthart, and finally with the Grade 1 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel).
Nice work! John Wilson published 3 collections of pipe music, the third being the Canadian Centenial collection…all three of which I continue to use and teach my students today…
Mike Baker
It is interesting that none of the excellent 15 selected musicians appear to be players who played predominantly for dancing. Today, we seem to be band players, solo competitors or piobaireachd pipers. Would there be any interest in a list of 150 ceilidh/dance pipers.