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continued to record solo albums during the 1970s and 1980s and was very much a popu- lariser of the ‘Texas’ or ‘show fiddle’ style.


This is a collection of home recordings made during visits by Hartford to Howdy’s home in 1986, the year prior to Forrester’s death. The tunes here give more of a glimpse of the roots of Howdy’s mature style, and are a missing link between the stringband styles of bands like The Skillet Lickers and the pol- ished, technically supercharged contest-style fiddling of which Forrester was an architect. Many of the these tunes came from his uncle, Bob Cates, whose Hickman County tunes Howdy absorbed while a youngster. There are some rarer gems here such as Tumbling Creek, Liza Jane and Uncle John Wills’s Lost Indian for those interested in finding new material, as well as some interesting Howdy versions of standards like Cotton-Eyed Joe and Going Across The Sea. The mood is relaxed and the playing is easy and graceful, with Hartford’s banjo adding a driving but respectful accompaniment to the fiddling.


Ruth Keggin


RUTH KEGGIN Turrys Purt Sheearan Records PSRCD002


The second album by Manx Gaelic singer Ruth Keggin is, like its 2014 predecessor, a concise, well-crafted record. Wisely sticking with her regular trio of double-bassist Vanessa McWilliam, flute and concertina player Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, and super-inventive guitarist David Pearce, she’s established a sound that is immediately identifiable and distinct from the Island’s other leading groups.


Flitter Dance is the simplest and most ubiquitous of Manx session tunes, but these musicians render it as something genuinely thrilling. It’s a trick they repeat with Napoleon’s Chanter – a set of Irish marches popular on the Manx session scene. The inter- play between Keggin and Ó Ceannabháin’s flutes (silver and timber, respectively) pushes all the right Flook/Lúnasa buttons, while McWilliam’s supple double-bass playing recalls the early Clannad.


All exciting stuff, but what of the main event, herself? It’s a confident singer who would grant the opening one minute and ten seconds to her guitarist, before singing a note, but that’s what Keggin does here. When she makes her grand entrance, on Irree Ny Greiney, it’s the warmth and expressive- ness of her voice that grabs the listener’s attention rather than her (hugely impressive) range and technical ability.


Ruth Keggin has, to put it simply, a voice that one could never tire of hearing, whether singing in English – as on Carval, or Manx songs like Tra Va Ruggito Creest with its beautiful unaccompanied opening verse. The material is a satisfying mix of traditional and new songs by talented Manx writers Bob Cars - well and Annie Cossack while Keggin’s dispar - ate influences are revealed in the inclusion of Heeym Yn Geurey (a Manx translation of Runrig’s Chi Mi’n Geamhradh) and her auda- cious combining of the Manx traditional/ Emma Christian Ushag Veg Ruy with the Lead Belly/Nirvana Where Did You Sleep Last Night as Little Red Bird In The Pines.


The CD clocks in at a (a vinyl-release per- fect!) 39:50 and is packaged in a gorgeous cover designed by Tristan Gell with photogra- phy by Set Murray. Released with assistance from the Isle Of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin, this tiny Celtic Island has a Gaelic singer to be proud of.


ruthkeggin.com Steve Hunt


OLD SALT Up River Overseas Appel Records APR1369


Three Belgians, and a Swede, an American and a Scotsman combine to rework some old American standards including Cumberland Gap, Wayfaring Stranger and Oh Death and intersperse them with some clever composi- tions in the same vein by the band’s American singer/banjo player, Dan Wall. His Yodel Waltz, sung in a vaguely early-Dylanish voice is perhaps the outstanding track. They bring this combination off in a good-time music mood with lively, likeable, straightforward arrangements and an overall sound that falls somewhere between old-timey and skiffle. It would be difficult to sum up their approach better than they do themselves in the notes when they write, “We love to bring the ambi- ence of pub sessions and our experience of street performance to the stage with the hope of creating an engaged and interactive performance, ideally, nice and cosy around one microphone.”


www.tsmiske.be/stek9/default_appel.asp Vic Smith


HOWDY FORRESTER & JOHN HARTFORD


Home Made Sugar And A Puncheon Floor Spring Fed Records SFR-CD-110


You may be aware of John Hartford as the author of Gentle On My Mind, his work with The Byrds and The Dillards, his pioneering of Newgrass or his appearance in the the Coen Brothers classic movie and soundtrack O Brother Where Art Thou?. He was also a reg- ular on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Johnny Cash Show, as well as finding time to be a Mississippi steamboat pilot. However, his last band and last few albums reflected his love for pre-bluegrass old-time music, and he spent a great deal of time doc- umenting old tunes and fiddlers such as Ed Haley, as well as taking time to visit older musicians at home, playing and recording with them. He was a great musical enabler and a walking archive


Howdy Forrester had grown up in rural


Tennessee in the 1920s before moving to Nashville in his teens and landing jobs playing at the Grand Ole Opry and other radio shows. He went on to join Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys for a number of years before before becoming a full-time member of Roy Acuff And His Smoky Mountain Boys in 1951. He


A wonderful document of two master musicians in conversation, both musical and vocal, perfect for a night in with a glass of whisky, or even two…


www.springfedrecords.com Jock Tyldesley


REEM KELANI Live At The Tabernacle Fuse CFCD050


Anyone who’s experienced a live perfor- mance by UK-born Palestinian singer Reem Kelani will know how exhilarating an experi- ence it is. She can make the biggest hall or festival feel intimate as she jokes and engages with the audience while performing her unique combination of Palestinian folk songs with jazz edges.


In theory at least, this double live album, a belated follow-up to the excellent studio recording Sprinting Gazelle from a decade ago, should make absolute sense. But hang on, I’ve got a problem with live albums. Give or take a few stellar in-concert sets from the likes of James Brown, Muddy Waters, Bob Marley and BB King, live albums are just not usually something I return to.


However, I’ve already given Live At The


Tabernacle repeated plays and can’t see myself easing off any time soon. It’s a record- ing of her concert at the titular Notting Hill venue, as part of the 2012 Nour Festival of Middle Eastern and North African Arts, on which she’s accompanied by US pianist Bruno Heinan, Palestinian Tamar Abu Ghazaleh on oud, Brit bassist Ryan Trebilcock and Italian percussionist Antonio Fusco.


The two CDs correspond to the two sets they played that night. Complete with intro- ductions, ad-libs and asides from Reem (we even get festival organiser Alan Kirwan’s wel- come speech). There are reinterpretations of songs from the debut album (including the beautiful Galilean Lullaby and the all-stops- out title track), along with traditional tunes and pieces reflecting the struggles in Pales- tine, Egypt and Tunisia. Even a quick burst of It’s A Long Way To Tipperary at one point. Throughout, the ensemble play it note-perfect, by turns fiery and lyrical while Kelani pours her bittersweet soul into every note, conjur- ing up the spirits of the great divas of Arabic music, jazz and cabaret, all the time remain- ing absolutely herself.


It’s worth shelling out for the beautifully presented CD version rather than settling for the download. You get a fat booklet with notes, lyrics and pictures. Looks like BB, Muddy, JB and the Tuff Gong have got some serious competition in the live album stakes.


www.reemkelani.com Jamie Renton


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