Jackie Leven Said

The first CD contains the story, Jackie Leven Said, written and read by Ian Rankin, from Ian and Jackie's live show at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival. Ian tells the story in short chapters which are illustrated by musical interludes and complete songs performed by Jackie and keyboard player Michael Cosgrave. The story evokes the suffering (and healing) of a Scottish family coming back together for a funeral in Fife on the east coast of Scotland. Although a work of fiction, the story resonates strongly with the life experiences of both Ian and Jackie who are themselves both from this part of the world. It sparkles with humour. At the end of the storytelling, Ian and Jackie then have a wildly funny knockabout discussion of what it means to come from Fife, with Jackie departing from the subject in his uniquely crazy way. The songs sung by Jackie reflect and blend the lives of Ian and Jackie, but also touch on the inner life of Ian's acclaimed fictional hero cop, the haunted genius that is Detective Inspector John Rebus, himself a Fifer.