FolkWorld #63 07/2017

CD & DVD Reviews

Ewan McLennan / George Monbiot "Breaking the spell of loneliness"
Fellside Recordings, 2016

Artist Video

www.ewanmclennan.co.uk
www.monbiot.com

This is one of those rare albums that has really emotionally touch me to a point of nearly crying - the lyrics are just so relevant and bring ever so effectively across the sad topic of loneliness in our society. The album is the result of an unusual collaboration of journalist and author George Monbiot and award winning Scottish folk singer Ewan McLennan. The idea of the album was born after a Guardian article by George Monbiot about social breakdown went viral and publishers approached him to write a book about this topic. But as he could not think of anything more depressing than sitting in a room for 3 years to write a book about loneliness, he had the idea of something more engaging: a concept album of songs. Respected young folk singer Ewan McLennan was soon on board - so the lyrics on the album are written by George, turned into music and performed by Ewan.
The album is an emotional tour de force, bringing home the message of the wrongs of society: The togetherness of the big families from the between the wars years two generations ago has turned to loneliness; children are given no opportunity to explore the outdoors; many people have nobody to talk to day in day out; libraries and post offices as social hubs have closed down, and if you go to a shop instead of a chat at the till you may find that the person at the till has been replaced by a machine. This topic is all brought into beautiful sad lyrics, wonderfully sung by Ewan, and backed by his guitar, banjo or harmonica as well as an illustrous backing band of Donald Shaw (Harmonium), Sid Goldsmith (slide guitar and guitar), Lauren Maccoll (violin, viola) and Beth Porter (Cello).
While most of the songs on the album have a sad spirit, the album is framed by songs of hope - "Such a thing of society" celebrates how even if we are told to fight against each other our society is all about helping each other; and "We shall overcome" is like a call to weapons - what can I the listener do against loneliness in our society?
A brilliant piece of music and documentation of our society.
© Michael Moll


Daoiri Farrell "True born Irishman"
Own label, 2016

Artist Video

www.daoiri.com

This young Irish folk singer has already found many fans, including several very well known Irish musicians, with his expressive trad folk style singing. This was recently further cemented by his winning of two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2017: the Best Traditional Track Award for ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ from this album, and the Horizon Award for best newcomer.
His second album features again a collection of Daoiri's favourite songs - lesser known traditional songs and songs of contemporary Irish songwriters. I personally like best the more upbeat songs on the album, but there is a depth of the young mans singing throughout the album. Accompanied by a range of great folk musicians, including Tony Byrne (guitar), James Mahon (Uillean Pipes), Robbie Walsh (bodhran) and fiddle (Pat Daly), all of the songs are well arranged around the charismatic voice of Daoiri. This is a great singer of whom we will hear much more in the future.
© Michael Moll


Fintan McHugh "wait till the clouds roll by"
Own label, 2016

www.fintanmchugh.com

Another young Irish folk singer with huge potential, Fintan McHugh presents on his debut a collection of traditional songs of Irish,English,Scottish and American origins, combined with a couple of self penned songs. Fintan has a beautiful and distinctive voice, with a gentle Irish lilt, perfectly suited for traditional Irish material. The songs have been recorded in single takes without overdubbing, giving the music a natural and live feeling - it is a solo album, with Fintan accompanying himself on guitar, cittern and harmonica. A couple of the highlights of the album include a nearly archaic, stunning a Capella version of "A stor mo chroi " and a lively version of the blacksmith effectfully played on cittern and harmonica. His own songs on the album have more of a 60s folk pop style, yet come across as attractively as the traditional ones. This very talented young singer is doing well to follow the footsteps of great Irish singers such as Sean Keane whose early style reminds me of Fintan's.
© Michael Moll


Donal Clancy "On the lonesome plain"
Own label, 2016

www.donalclancy.com

All good things come in three, so continuing the theme of new albums of brilliant Irish singers, Donal Clancy's new work is as exquisite as the albums of the two reviews above. Family connections to the legendary Clancy Family (Donal's father and brothers of The Clancy Brothers) do not need to be mentioned as reference for Donal Clancy, as much as Donal has made a name for himself as an ace trad musician. Accordingly his latest album is a real treat of traditional Irish music.
Donal is a strong ballad singer, with a warm Irish singing style, and his choice of traditional ballads is excellent. Perhaps most powerfully sung is the ballad "Drill, ye tarriers" about a hardy bunch of Irish miners in 19th century America. "Strike for victory", the only self penned song on the album, about the Irish proclamation of independence, is another highlight. Yet half of the album is dedicated to instrumentals played solo on guitar, a result of "a renewed interest in guitar playing" by Donal, and it is here that Donal can showcase his talents as one of the most gifted guitarists to interpret traditional Irish tunes. The album is solo, with only guest appearances on one song. A stunning album.
© Michael Moll


Maes / Martin / Gruel "Feule Caracal"
Buda Musique, 2017

Artist Video

A collaboration of two innovative French accordionists, Christian Maes and Jannick Martin, and ethnic percussionist Etienne Gruel. The sleeve notes describe this as "an adventurous trio, pushing back the frontiers" - and indeed do they push back frontiers. The music is highly experimental, improvised and innovative, crossing the boundaries of Celtic and world music, and spanning from lively and pleasant folk music and pure noise. The music (all composed by jannick or Christian except one traditional one) lives from its surprises and unexpected next moves, and this album is certainly not boring - yet it is not always the easiest to listen to.
© Michael Moll


Groupa "Kind of Folk Vol. 1 - Sweden"
All Ice, 2016

www.groupa.se

This long standing Swedish/Norwegian trio continues on their new album with what they are known for. For their new album, Groupa say they searched through old transcriptions and recordings of traditional Swedish music, and then painted "with thin watercolour notes" their own version of Swedish songs and tunes.
As we are used to from Groupa, the traditional Swedish music becomes unique by the unmistakable percussion/noises from household instruments/bells/stones by Terje Isungset. And it is indeed this percussion which is on many of the tunes of this album the dominant force, putting Mats Eden's fiddle and Jonas Simonsson's flute more into the background. While I know that watching the percussion live in action is quite an experience, I remain somewhat unconvinced by just listening to it on CD. For me, the best numbers on this album are those focussed on traditional tunes on fiddle and flute, and even there I find the occasional bells and other sounds somewhat irritating.
© Michael Moll


Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith "Night Hours"
Fellside Recordings, 2016

Artist Video

jimmyandsidduo.com

This is an excellent collection of ballads - traditional, contemporary and self written - all in the traditional English folk spirit of telling poignant tales in song. The songs are powerfully presented by Jimmy and Sid, a young English duo from Norfolk. Some of the highlights include the duo's own title track "Night Hours" about the loneliness of night working in the city; the traditional "Bonny Bunch of Roses" around a imaginary conversation between Napoleon Bonaparte's son and Napoleons second wife; and the powerful original "The Ballad of Yorkley Court" about a group of land workers setting up a community in the Forest of Dean  and then face eviction. Skilfully supported by wonderful London based trio Teyr, this is one delightful album showcasing two superb singer/songwriters who will have a bright future on the English folk music scene.
© Michael Moll


Tom Paxton "Boat in the water"
Own label, 2017

Artist Video

www.tompaxton.com

Celebrating his 80th birthday in October this year, Tom Paxton is truly a living legend, and a folk singer of superlatives. I had to read this twice - apparently Tom's new album is, quite incredibly, his 63rd recording; there will be very few more prolific musicians out there. In addition to regular American tours, he has done over 50 tours in the UK and Ireland over the years.
"Boat on the water" proves that Tom is very much still game when it comes to writing and performing songs. A mixture of brand new songs and a few old songs not heard for long time, the album portrays the singer as a musician who continues to write songs with deep meaningful lyrics, and whose singing continues to have character and charm. Here's to Tom being able to continue to charm us with his songs for many years to come.
© Michael Moll


Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme "Princes et habitants"
Own label; 2016

www.falquetgemme.com

This album offers everything you would hope for of a great Quebecois French Canadian folk duo - superb fiddle and guitar playing, a strong mix of traditional and contemporary songs and energetic fiddle tunes, and of course foot percussion. This duo makes two thirds of the popular trio Genticorum. And yes as the title suggests there are princes represented - the album opens with a great version of Le Prince d'Orange (the Malicorne classic) and close to finishes with an elegant Le Prince Eugene. Instrumentally, Yann not only sings and plays guitar but sometimes gets out his accordion or guimbarde. A lovely album.
© Michael Moll


Gailfean "Won't you come out tonight"
Own label, 2016

www.gailfean.com

A wonderfully lively Irish trad album, where there's no hint at all that it's been recorded in the States. The four gentlemen skilfully play their way through traditional jigs and reels, hornpipes and waltzes - featuring guitar (Don Penzien), fiddle (Brian Conway), accordion (John Whelan) and bodhran (Mairtin de Cogain). Mairtin is also a great singer, and his trad Irish style songs are for me the highlights of the album, including "Sarah", "Ni na La" and "Oro Se do Bheatha Bhaile". Appealing in its classic trad Irish style, this is an enjoyable album.
© Michael Moll


Caoimhin Vallely "Caoimhin Vallely "
Own label, 2016

www.caoimhinvallely.ie

There are not many outstanding pianists around on the Celtic folk scene (perhaps because they are not the best instruments to take to a pub session?!?). And there are even fewer who record solo albums - despite the piano being such a wonderful instrument to interpret traditional music.
So here I am in for a treat. Caoimhin became first known in the scene as fiddler of the band North Cregg but has since emerged as one of the most gifted piano players in Irish folk. He is co-founder and current member of Irish band Buille. Recorded at home while the children were at school, this album feels relaxed, with Caoimhin being confident of experimenting with the music, such as using unconventional tonalities and harmonies, while staying true to the soul of the traditional tunes. Most of the album features solo piano, yet there are also a couple of songs presented by brilliant guest singers Karan Casey and Fiona Kelleher, and the occasional addition of percussion by Brian Morrissey.
A rare treat of solo piano folk music, full of harmony, energy and beauty - and with 75minutes it's a generous amount too .
© Michael Moll


Sväng "Hauptbahnhof"
Galileo, 2017

www.svang.fi

Finland is known for its curiosities, including in folk music acts - and Sväng features right at the top of the league of most curious folk acts. It's four harmonica players - and that's all. This album is a retrospective of their first 14 years of existence, with the addition of four new tracks, everything exclusively on the mouth organ. The tracks are either traditional from Finland or Eastern Europe, or composed by the boys in a broadly traditional style. As a first the album features also a song - the American "I'm gonna meet my mother in glory".
As a music reviewer one should never say I have heard it all before - this is certainly the first album of its kind I have come across, and it certainly has its charme and is full of creativity.
© Michael Moll


Zoe Mulford "Small brown birds"
Own label, 2016

Artist Video

www.zoemulford.com

This folk singer songwriter divides her time between the Uk and the US, taking inspiration from both appalachian and English traditions yet creating her own songwriting style. Zoe's songs are sometimes steeped in traditional themes, yet also cover current affair topics - be it a satirical song about our richest "zillionaires" or a sad song about the 2015 shooting Emanuel AME church in Charleston SC. Her pleasant vocals are backed by Zoe's banjo, as well as a range of guest musicians including one of the great English folk fiddlers Tom Kitching.
© Michael Moll


Nick Wyke & Becky Driscoll
"The songs of Edward Capern, the postman poet"
Own label, 2017

www.englishfiddle.com

He was known as Devon's Robert Burns: Edward Capern, a Victorian poetic postman who used his rounds to compose his poems. While renowned at his time, his poems have, until recently, been largely forgotten - until this album.
The fiddle duo of Nick and Becki has been celebrated as one of the promising English duos. On this project, they have taken the poetry of this postman and put it to original music inspired by 19th century Devon folk melodies. The poems are inspired by Victorian life and landscapes, and while most have been put to music and sung by the duo, there are also a couple of spoken word poems, read by Chris Braund. The duo has set the songs to music on fiddle, piano and guitar.
© Michael Moll


Mischpoke "Bloyer fun blo"
Timezone, 2016

www.mischpoke-hamburg.de

What a superb inspirational Klezmer band! Mischpoke have created their very own blend of Klezmer, taking the music to new dimensions - there's a jazzy piano, lively accordion and fiddle, groovy double bass and of course a clarinet (sometimes being a groovy bass clarinet). All instruments and musicians are being given space to shine on their own and in ensemble. The music is inspired by other styles, and features inspiring arrangements that display creativity and talent, creating atmosphere, energy and drama. The band from Hamburg features Magdalena Abrams on clarinet, Cornelia Gottesleben on violin, Alexander Hopff on piano and accordion, Frank Nagura on guitar and Maria Rothfuchs on double base. While the tunes on the album are inspiring, my personal highlights of the album are however the Yiddish songs, featuring the stunning vocals of the band's clarinetist.
Full of charme and variety, this is the best Klezmer album I have heard for a long time.
© Michael Moll


Lau "Decade - the best of Lau 2007-2017"
Own label, 2017

www.lau-music.co.uk

This Scottish trio has been making waves on the British folk scene for the last decade, including BBC Folk Awards recognition. To celebrate their 10th anniversary, here's an anthology of the best tracks from their albums from 2007 to now.
Bringing together three stars of the Scottish scene, the musical talents of fiddler Aidan O'Rourke, accordionist Martin Green and guitarist and singer Kris Drever, are undisputed. Nevertheless I have struggled to get into some of Lau's previous albums; the level of experimentation meant that, for me, the tunes felt as if they sometimes lost focus and direction. This collection of some of their best recordings works much better for me; I enjoyed the songs and tunes on the album (all composed by one of the Laus) - a very attractive collection of original tracks.
© Michael Moll


Granny's Attic "Off the land"
Wild Goose Records, 2016

www.grannysattic.org.uk

These three young men's trademark are strong interpretations of traditional English ballads - an attractive collection of shanties, of ballads about sibling rivalry and murder ("Two brothers") or of mining ("The Coalowner and the pitman' wife"), and other traditional topics. With expressive voices and powerful harmonies, the trio make superb balladeers. Yet they are also talented instrumentalists - Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne plays melodeon and concertina; George Sansome the guitar and Lewis Wood the fiddle and mandolin. The album's instrumentals are mostly composed by the band's Lewis in a trad English style. Granny's Attic are another exciting new band on the thriving English folk scene.
© Michael Moll


I Draw Slow "Turn your face to the sun"
Compass Records, 2017

Artist Video

www.idrawslow.com

Like the Hydes, the band I draw slow is build around a brother and sister act - yet Louise (lead singer) and Dave Holden (guitar and mostly backing vocals) are Irish musicians playing Americana music. In addition to these two, I draw slow also brings in a fiddler, banjo player and double bassist, plus a few guest musicians on the album, most notably a trumpet on three tracks. Apart from one traditional track, the album features solely original tracks. While the overarching theme of the music is Americana/Appalachian, this is presented with an Irish songwriting approach, and successfully blends folk with pop and gentle country. Louise has an attractive voice, and I found that the album has grown further with me on repeated listening, with some of the songs, such as the opening song "Maria", being very catchy and just getting stuck in your mind.
© Michael Moll


Estbel "Saar"
Nordic Notes, 2017

www.estbel.ee

The album starts with a lively BalFolk tune, to continue with a Scandinavian sounding song sung by two female voices - but in a language that is not Swedish or Norwegian. I had to look at the sleeve notes to clear my confusion: and of course ESTBEL stands for Estonia-Belgium - with the quartet bringing together two Estonian singers, Leana Vapper and Sänni Noormets, and two Flemish musicians, the brothers Hartwin and Ward Dhoore (of Trio Dhoore). The result is pleasant and interesting indeed: the Belgians' accordion, guitar and mandolin sounds create a beautiful and varied background to the dreamy vocal harmonies of the Estonian singers. The music is further enriched by the musical talent of the Estonian girls playing fiddle and Estonian bagpipes. The album varies between gentle songs with Estonian lyrics which at times edge folk pop, and lively energetic tunes in balfolk style. Estbel's debut album features solely compositions by band members. An original debut of a great band.
© Michael Moll


Ensemble Vinorosso "Unterwegs"
Kaleidos Musikeditionen, 2017

www.ensemble-vinorosso.de

This world music orchestra successfully performs traditional music from the Mediterranean and Black Sea with a classical orchestral like up. A thirty strong ensemble, vinorossa features a string section of violinists, violincellists and double bassists, a brass section and wind instruments plus piano, button accordions and percussionists. Just like their music is international, so are the musicians: While the orchestra is based in Germany, between them, its musicians have roots in more than a dozen countries from around Europe and the world. Klezmer and gipsy music make a particularly strong element in their music, with a blend of traditional and newly composed tracks. The orchestral world music arrangements quite often have the drama of film scores, played with passion and emotion.
© Michael Moll


Sharon Shannon "Sacred Earth"
Celtic Collections, 2017

Article: Sharon's Sacred Earth

www.sharonshannon.com

After her recent superb foot stomping duo album with Alan Conor, on Sacred Earth Sharon Shannon is back to the musical free spirit that we are used to from previous recordings. Featuring a host of guest musicians from a wide range of music styles, the music does not know many boundaries. The album was co/produced by Justin Adams, the guitarist in Robert Plant's band. Sacred Earth is supposed to blend Sharon's Celtic accordion style with African roots music, and while this is the theme for quite a few tracks, the music does venture well outside of African and Celtic traditions.
The album starts with a Sharon Shannon composition - while Rusheen Bay sounds as if it was a very Irish tune, it is arranged in an African world music style. Sharon's accordion drives all the tracks and makes them all distinctively Sharon Shannon numbers - some tunes stay safely in Irish music territories, while others venture out to other traditions and arrangements. With the three songs on the album, Sharon shows again that she does not care about musical boundaries - "The machine" features pop/rap singing, "Lets go" is a rockabilly/ blues number, and Finbar Furey sings Jim reeves hit "He'll have a go"; for me these songs kind of work - and are still distinctively Sharon Shannon numbers. © Michael Moll


Monster Ceilidh Band "Mutation"
Haystack Records, 2017

Artist Video

www.monsterceilidhband.co.uk

This is certainly not your average traditional Scottish Ceilidh dance band. The title of their new album is quite appropriate, given that this band is mutating ceilidh music into a heady danceable modern folk music. Often the tunes start innocently with acoustic, trad based music on fiddle and/or accordion- before groovy beats and samples set in to take the listener on an adventure into a rich diversity of modern arrangements. The band features two fiddlers (Shona Moody and Grace Smith), an accordionist(Amy Thatcher), a mandolinist (Kieran Szifris), a bassist (David de la Haye) and a drummer (Joseph Truswell). This band continues in the tradition of the various other progressive folk bands on the Scottish scene (the likes of Peatbog Fairies and Shooglenifty), with an exciting blend of old and new which knows no musical boundaries. A ceilidh with the Monsters must be a most memorable energetic and hypnotic experience!
© Michael Moll


Yuly Tovar "Songs from Mexico"
ARC Music, 2017

This is probably the first ever Mexican CD I have reviewed. Mexican singer Yuly Tovar has an impressive and powerful voice which earned her the reputation of "Queen of Mexican song". The songs are nearly all composed and arranged by the album producer, Jose Angel Romero 'el cuervo' - with the exception of two bonus tracks at the end of the album. While I fully appreciate the wonderful voice of this singer, I am less keen on Romero's arrangements - featuring trumpet, violin, and Mexican guitars, as well as keyboards, the music heads quite often into Mexican music cliches and easy listening, which for me distract from the quality of the singing. It's only in the two bonus tracks, composed and arranged by Gao de la Cruz, where music really does justic to the singing , with more creative and lively arrangements; while at that point it's too late to convince me of the album, these two tracks are enough to fully convince me of this exceptional singer.
© Michael Moll


No Crows "Why us?"
Own label, 2016

Artist Video

www.nocrows.net

A bit of an unusual band: Based in Ireland, No Crows blends a number of different styles - moving from lively Irish trad style via to music influenced by folk pop, flamenco, Latin, Balkan, jazz, acoustic rock and bluegrass. Sometimes the tone of the music and song is reflective and gentle, at other times more energetic. The wide range of influences comes also from the varied backgrounds of band members - with Irish, Mallorcan, Swiss and Russian origins. The songs and tunes are all composed by band members, and feature guitars, fiddles, percussion,Cello, bass, mandolin. The band states that, rather than being pigeonholed, they'd like to be referred to as folk orchestra - although with its classical connotations I think an orchestra might put them into the wrong pigeonhole!
This is creative and pleasant music, which fully displays the musicians' passion and enjoyment of playing together.
© Michael Moll


Finbar Furey "Paddy dear"
Banshee Music, 2017

Article: Sharon's Sacred Earth

www.finbarfury.com

Finbar Furey is one of the living legends of the Irish folk scene. His latest album is again fully focussed on his singing and songwriting. With his 70 years of age, Finbar's voice sometimes struggles to get to the low notes, yet the album shows the singer all relaxed and at peace with himself. This further increases the charme about the songs, their warmth and the stories they tell - about freedom, love or the Famine. Finbar's own instruments - whistle, banjo, guitar and uilleann pipes - make great accompaniment to his songs; however, Peter Eades' addition of keyboards (including drum machine) on a number of songs make the arrangements somewhat schmaltzy. The album features on one song his daughter Aine Furey on vocals, and on another one, the Jim Reeves hit "He'll have a go", terrific accordionist Sharon Shannon - the latter also featured on Sharon's latest album "Sacred Earth".
© Michael Moll


The Henry Girls "Far beyond the stars"
Beste!Unterhaltung, 2017

Artist Video

www.thehenrygirls.com

The three McLaughlin sister Karen, Lorna and Joleen, aka Henry Girls, present another album full of great harmony singing. On their new album, the most dominant style is in my view attractive acoustic Irish pop, yet this is blended with their trademark Irish take on Americana and bluegrass, as well as Irish folk. Most of the songs are written by the sisters and tend to have catchy lyrics, some being love songs, yet others tackling more current topics such as the emigrant crisis in "Ocean of war", women's rights in "Rebel Girl" or in "Slow down" the need to slow down in today's busy lives before your life is all planned up. The ladies play banjo, harp, fiddle, accordion and piano, creating beautiful contemporary folk/pop arrangements. Produced by Calum Malcolm, who has produced albums for the likes of Capercaillie, Simple Minds, Clannad and Wet Wet Wet, the album shows how the Henry Girls have further refined their own syle, which will undoubtably further increase their fame and following at home and abroad.
© Michael Moll


Nick Keir "1953-2013"
Greentrax, 2017

Scottish folk singer Nick Keir was best known as long standing member of legendary folk trio The McCalmans. Sadly he died, much too young, in 2013. This double album suitably celebrates Nick's work, showcasing 37 of his songs, over 2 hours and 15 minutes. Having been part of the Macs for 30 years, it might have been easy for some to overlook what a talented and quite prolific songwriter and solo singer Nick was. His songs often reflect the spirit of his home town of Edinburgh and its people, with so much charm and appealing and accessible lyrics. The first of the two albums directly starts with two of my favourite Nick Keir songs, recorded with the McCalmans: “Festival lights” – the unofficial anthem about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and “Portnahaven” about escaping early in the morning to a favourite place. While other songs have been sourced from the McCalman catalogue, the majority of the tracks on this double album come from Nick's four solo albums. The songs have the comfortable feeling of familiarity and warmth, with Nick's wonderful relaxed and warm style. The quality of many of the songs is outstanding, and one can only hope that the publication of this album will give other singers the inspiration to take some of Nick's songs into their repertoire. Thank you to Greentrax to make this wealth of songs available again.
© Michael Moll


Tammorra "Anthology 1995-2017"
Buda Musique, 2017

Tammorra is a folk/world band from Sicily. After a ten year break, the band recently decided to get back together again, and to mark the occasion they published this album featuring five songs from a 1999 live album and 5 apparently newly recorded songs. Playing only original song material in Sicilian dialect, the music is focussed on vocal arrangements with attractive and interesting musical interludes in between the vocal sections - on traditional wind instruments, sax, flute or tambourine. The five-men-band also features a range of percussion instruments, guitars including electrical and classical, bouzouki and bass. Unlike other Sicilian bands, Tamorra does not take us on breathtaking races through Tarantellas, their material has a bit more measured pace.
Another band representing the rich and very active folk music scene of Sicily. Welcome back to the folk music circuit!
© Michael Moll


Socks in the Frying Pan "Without a Paddle"
Own label; 2017

Artist Video

wwwsocksinthefryingpan.com

A band with a silly name, and a CD with a silly cover photo, of three man in a boat attempting to paddle with pans and a spoon. Yet the music of "Socks in the Frying Pan" is no nonsense at all!
The young Irish trio combines the talents of brothers Shane and Fiachra Haynes, on accordion and fiddle/banjo, and singer and guitarist Aodan Coyne. I just love their instrumentals; wonderful interpretations of traditional Irish tunes, played with passion and energy, with the rich sound of accordion, fiddle and guitar: Brilliant music that makes me smile.
The selection of songs takes the listener somewhat away from Irish traditions - venturing to Americana (songs by Joe Newberry and Ricky Skaggs), contemporary singer/songwriting (Foy Vance's "Guiding light) or the "Dublin Blues" by late Guy Clarke - yet returning to trad with a lovely interpretation of "When I first came to Caledonia". The interpretation of the songs make the best of the strong musicianship of the boys.
I would love to see this trio in live and find out how the balance of excellent musicianship and the silliness pans out (pardon the pun) on stage.
© Michael Moll


Artisan Row "Wild Winds"
LoLa Records; 2017

Article: Wild Winds from Artisan Row

artisanrow.bandcamp.com

Two beautifully intertwined low whistles start this album, with piano and guitar joining in the set of reels a bit later. Then, on track two, a banjo starts leading the melody paired up with piano, which is soon matched with a groovy alto saxophone. Back to the duo of low whistles with piano, to lead us into a gentle lullaby "Sleep now", an original song based on an early poetry collection of James Joyce. These three tracks set the scene for Artisan Row's repertoire on this album. The quartet brings together four of the artisan talents of the London traditional Irish music scene: Conor Doherty (Guitars, vocals, Elma McElligott (sax, flute, low whistle), Pete Quinn (piano, keyboards) and Karen Ryan (banjo, mandola, fiddle, low whislte). Amongst the songs, there's another one of inspired by Joyce's poetry, the traditional "Mary and the soldier", and a song found in Sam Henry's classic collection "Songs of the People".
Apart from lrish jigs and reels - traditional and self composed - the band also plays two sets of Balkan Horo/Oro tunes. A sophisticated blend of traditional Irish music with a contemporary twist that transcends musical boundaries.
© Michael Moll



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