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Tabernacle Folk The Tabernacle, London
So your son is a 13-year old violin prodigy with a taste for old American and British fid- dle tunes? They’re not going to take him at the Mickey Mouse Club and Britain’s Got Tal- ent isn’t exactly known for recognising instru- mental talent. So why not organise an all-star roots music day and give him a slot? That’s exactly what Billy Hill’s mother Sheila did, calling in his tutors Pete Cooper and Tunde Jegede, as well as the ever-reliable Eliza Carthy and America’s Tim Eriksen.
Set in Notting Hill’s impressive Taberna- cle arts hub, the turnout was disappointingly low for such an interesting and culturally var- ied bill, but those of us who were there enjoyed it a great deal. Tim Eriksen opened the first of the two concerts. His distinctively Southern nasal howl is quite something, as was his effortless accompaniment of fiddle, banjo, guitar and the Mexican 12-string bajo sexto. He was later joined by Eliza Carthy for the duo set that they had apparently been talking about for the last 20 years. It was a ragged, under-rehearsed mixture of tunes and songs, with the songs in particular leav- ing one or the other (mostly Tim) a bit lost, but when they did come together it worked well and could be quite fiery. Something to be developed maybe.
Eliza Carthy & Tim Eriksen
The second concert was opened by Pete Cooper and Richard Bolton on fiddle and cello respectively. I already knew Pete was a good violinist, but this collaboration deserves to have the pair hoisted into the top ranks of folk duos. As Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas have proved in Scotland, cello and fiddle real- ly do combine well, giving a tender, atmo- spheric sound that bring out the best aesthet- ics from both classical and folk music. Pete has a firm, measured voice that serves the songs well without being spectacular, and Richard occasionally alternated to play guitar.
Billy Hill had made an appearance earlier
alongside Tunde Jegede, Richard Bolton and two other violin-playing youngsters. But it was in his solo set that he particularly made his mark. Far from being an indulgence on the part of his mother, he earned his place on the bill with some very polished and emotive
playing that would have been impressive from someone twice his age. Look out for the fRoots cover feature in 2022.
Eliza Carthy returned for a second collab- oration in the final set, this time joining Tunde Jedege for a series of newly-developed fiddle and kora duets. These had a quiet, intricate beauty that finished the performance in a soothing but spectacular manner. It revealed a different side to Eliza’s talents as a musician and well deserves a recorded release.
Although I gather from the various web- page changes that the scope of the event was scaled down from its initial grand plans, and a couple of the African acts I expected to be there weren’t, it was a definite success and one that deserves support should it run again next year.
Christopher Conder
Photo: R. Kaby
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