83 f
HARP AND A MONKEY All Life Is Here Own label
If the group name chosen by Martin Purdy, Simon Jones and Andy Smith suggests some twee-folk abomina- tion along the lines of Sebastian & The Owl, all pre- conceptions are blown out of the water with Walking In The Footsteps Of Giants,
which recounts how, four years after the Kinder mass trespass to secure public rights of way, many of the participants responded to a plea for volunteers in the Manchester Evening News and headed “straight from factory, best foot forward, over the Pyre- nees,” to join the International Brigade in the struggle against Franco’s fascists.
It’s a hugely arresting opening state- ment, and one that perfectly encapsulates their modus operandi, linking the local to the global, the past to the present and the per- sonal to the political, and doing it all with a thumping great tune.
Harp And A Monkey paint from a similar sonic palette to Britfolk adventurers The Owl Service in their skillful blending of traditional folk instruments like banjo, harp and accor - deon with melodica, glockenspiel, electronics and spoken word samples. However, whereas Steven Collins’ collective look to Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy and Anne Briggs for repertoire and inspiration, their northern counterparts cite Ewan MacColl, Bernard Wrigley and Harry Boardman as their antecedents, with reworked versions of The Manchester Angel (heard on this issue’s fRoots 48 compilation) and The Molecatcher featuring alongside their own balladry.
Singer Martin Purdy has a voice which bears comparison with Oysterband’s John Jones in its range and authority, his Lancastrian vowels also occasionally evoking John Cooper Clarke when delivering lines like: “tupper- ware and tinfoil, flasks of lukewarm tea”.
For all their dazzling instrumental ver- satility (this band came about via a collec- tive decision to challenge themselves by each learning to play at least one unfamiliar instrument), the song itself is always placed firmly front-and-centre, whether recount- ing historical tales of The Gallipoli Oak and The Pilgrim’s Cross, invoking the names of heroic female role-models in Dear Daughter or taking delight in the use of regional dialect words and delicious phrases like “hairy black tongue.”
Jamisa Jalis
A self-proclaimed “cottage industry with ambition”, Harp And A Monkey are a band who know who they are, where they’ve come from and where they’re trying to get to. Pas- sionate, political, playful and, undoubtedly one of the most vital and charismatic things happening in English folk music right now.
www.harpandamonkey.com Steve Hunt
JAMISA JALIS Dali Kula Compound Sounds CS03
Jamisa is in Brikama, one of the larger towns in Gambia, home to many jali or griot families. Guardians of Mand- ing culture and history, jalis fulfil an important social role, and they ensure a con- tinuing line of highly-talent- ed musicians to play distinc-
tive music that reaches the heart as fast as an intravenous drip. Kora and balafon – gourd harp and wooden xylophone – are the main instruments, plus voice and percussion. What we have here with these young Jamisa jalis, led by Jali Sherrifo Konteh, recorded by Vic and Tina Smith, is not concert hall music, but backyard music for the pleasure of them- selves, family and friends. It rolls and drifts like smoke, timeless and classical. No pres- sure, no stress, anything but shallow. We’re lucky to have access to it. Hear a track on this issue’s fRoots 48 compilation.
www.compoundsounds.com Rick Sanders CHIPINDURA MBIRA TRIO
Pasichigare: Mystic Mbira Music of Zimbabwe Ingoma 5 065001 844010
Receiving another album, this time a double CD help- ing from Chartwell Dutiro’s cultivation, is like receiving a new blend from an expert wine-maker of the most experienced vineyards in (insert your favourite high quality wine region here).
First off, you know it’ll be just great.
Here’s an mbira veteran who knows exactly how to balance the right combination of instruments to create a charming bouquet of traditional, spiritual and sometimes down-
fRoots readers each buy an average of more than 40 CDs a year, plus more than 100 paid downloads!
The tens of thousands of fRoots readers worldwide buy 70% of their CDs online. A sale is as far away as a click.
fRoots readers buy very few other music magazines – and the maximum crossover with any other music title is only 29%.
They are heavily influenced in their purchases by fRoots. 95% have bought CDs as a result of reading about them in our pages, and 99% keep their back issues.
To uniquely target the most dedicated folk, roots and world music CD buyers, call our advertising manager Gina Jennings on 0117 317 9020 or email
ads@frootsmag.com
This space should be yours! f
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108