Ordinary Angel is an extraordinary CD. Extraordinary firstly because of the quality of performers and performances it features. The list of artists who have contributed tracks to this compilation sounds more like a roll call of Scotland's finest performers. Extraordinary also because, for a compilation, an unusually high proportion of its tracks were specially recorded for this CD. Extraordinary too because the CD is to celebrate the all too short life of the eponymous ‘Ordinary Angel’, and to raise funds for an establishment which did so much to provide her with more time than the illness she had would normally allow.

Sheila and Stephen McCabe grew up in Airdrie but since 1996 had been living with their three young children in the Isle of Skye. In 2002 Sheila was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer to which she succumbed, after an extraordinarily brave struggle, in Spring of this year. She was only 41. The skills of the Liver Unit at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary provided Sheila with hope, strength and, above all, time which she otherwise might not have had. In recognition of this, Stephen began to plan the production of a fund-raising CD, and ‘Ordinary Angel’ is the outcome of his efforts.

‘Ordinary Angel’ is a 14-track, 54-minute CD, featuring tracks by Blair Douglas, Michael Marra, Ann Martin, Donnie Munro, The Jennifer Forrest Band, MacKenzie, Dr Angus Macdonald (a GP colleague of Stephen’s), Peatbog Faeries, Arthur Cormack, Ingrid Henderson and Iain MacFarlane. Most of the tracks were recorded specifically for the CD and none of the musicians accepted payment for their contributions. Nor did the Pelican Design of Portree, who designed the CD’s booklet, and Vital Spark Studio where the CD was mastered. Similarly Dr Charles Crichton, another of Stephen’s colleagues, donated a stunning image, as did Ross Hendriksen and Hamish MacDonald - images which are now incorporated in the booklet design, and Sony provided an extraordinarily generous deal for the CD pressing. In effect, the only body to benefit financially from this project will be the Liver Fund, which was set up by Professor James Garden (Regius Professor of Surgery at the Liver Unit in Edinburgh) to support research in the treatment of victims of liver disease.

Ordinary Angel is altogether a remarkable product - beautifully presented and jam-packed with great and, in many cases, previously unheard performances by some of Scotland’s foremost musicians. In short, an extraordinary tribute to an ‘Ordinary Angel’.