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Kalász believes that imposing ‘facts’ and ‘values’ onto traditional music is wrong. He seeks a freedom of expression “under the least amount of influence” and revels in his musical statements – such as this album – being openly subjective rather than defini- tive. He sees no problem in a general igno- rance of traditions and traditional music, per- haps sensing in that ignorance the freedom and the opportunities to showcase the genius of the largely forgotten, especially the Tran- sylvanian fiddle player, Micu, whose pyrotechnic variations are licence to “test the boundaries of musical style”, despite the ensemble being confined, for intimate recording purposes, in a Buza wine cellar.
In addition to these flits of beseeching violin, together with swooning cimbalom, and warm cobza lute, there’s a constant preoccupation with savagely austere and elegant dance. Straight, unadorned retellings travel subtly from tranquillity into the highly wrought.
fono.hu John Pheby JOAN BAEZ
VIV LEGG & THOMAS McCARTHY
Jauling The Green Tober Viv Legg & Thomas McCarthy TMVL0302
What are the chances in 2018 of there being two singers from different Traveller commu- nities being able to make recordings of songs from their own rich family traditions? Pretty unlikely but here is just such an item!
Thomas met Viv on a trip down to Bod- min to sing for her local folk club and the idea of this album emerged during that con- versation. His emergence as a major tradi- tional singer has been one of the major events in traditional song circles this century. London-born, his highly decorated singing and repertoire reaches back to his family’s County Offaly background. Viv’s background is as part of the Orchard/ Renals/Legg fami- lies of West Country Travellers and her singing is among the finest of a pretty talented bunch. It has many of the traits of English Gypsy singing but overall it is more straight- forward than his.
On the face of it, this is something of an unusual combination – their unaccompanied singing is never heard together –but in prac- tice it works very well indeed. Apart from the contrast their interesting styles provide, they
Whistle Down The Wind Proper PRPCD146P
To mark her final year of formal extended touring, Joan’s first studio collection since 2008’s Day After Tomorrow could be seen as bringing her full circle in that it takes on board both the folky (or overtly folk-inspired) and the political or socially- conscious strands of writing. Here, after much reflection fol- lowing a hectic decade of achievements, Joan’s finally managed to gather together a new collection of just ten songs from some of her favourite composers.
Several of these songs embrace the theme of acceptance (i.e. her present state of being at ease with where she’s reached in her life), notably Tom Waits’ apposite survivor’s song Last Leaf and Josh Ritter’s Be Of Good Heart. Joan’s choices also illustrate her san- guine acceptance of how her voice has changed over the past decade, involving the inevitable loss of some of her trademark high-soprano upper-register but with the concomitant gain of a deeper soulfulness that now better expresses and reflects her lifetime’s experiences. A good demonstration of this change occurs on the second Josh Rit- ter composition here, Silver Blade, which harks back to Silver Dagger, one of the songs that had appeared on Joan’s first album. That
bring some lovely little-heard songs to this album. Both bring a totally involved story- tellers’ commitment to their singing so that when Viv sings Good For Nothing Man or her version of Lovely Lasses From Banyon with the interjection of many Romany words, and when Thomas tells varied stories in song like The Golden Vale Of Limerick and Mikey O’Leary Courted A Fairy, the listener is with them all the way.
This is the third album that Thomas has released with the control that this ‘own label’ allowing him to sound at his best.
It is worth pointing out that extensive performing opportunities outside their own communities have allowed both to develop confidence in live performance and studio. It is alongside the great albums of great Scot- tish Travellers who were also involved in the early days of the revival that this release needs to be considered.
thomasmccarthyfolk.com Vic Smith
track also demonstrates the sensitive quality of the new album’s production (by award- winning Joe Henry, incorporating a crack small team of uncredited musicians), which expertly underpins Joan’s still-peerless voice.
The whole collection sounds tailor-made for Baez, and specific highlights come with Tim Eriksen’s I Wish The Wars Were All Over and the disc’s ‘significant discovery’, the pow- erful The President Sang Amazing Grace by undersung singer-songwriter Zoë Mulford. Also most persuasive are Civil War (written by Joe Henry), Eliza Gilkyson’s The Great Correc- tion, and the thoughtful political statement Another World (from the pen of Anohni, for- merly Antony Hegarty). And Mary Chapin Carpenter’s heartfelt The Things That We Are Made Of benefits much from being accorded an uncomplicated musical setting.
All told, this is a fitting artistic statement for this stage of Joan’s illustrious career, and one which may well constitute her final stu- dio collection. If that’s the case, then Joan will surely be going out on a high.
joanbaez.com David Kidman
DUCK SOUP Everything And… Heber HEBECD009
Here is the third album from this trio who continue to follow their very individual path and their unique way of presenting folk song, music and related material. The presence of Adam Bushel’s orchestral marimba on nearly every track no longer surprises but it does help to maintain their inimitable, distinctive sound. He varies this with two bowed instru- ments, the phonofiddle and the musical saw.
I’ll consider the instrumentals first, for this is where they are they are at their most inventive. They continue to plunder the repertoire of the Québécois melodeon player Alfred Montmarquette (Huzzah!) for excel- lent material and there are some fine tunes from old manuscripts from Sussex, the county where they all live; outstanding among these is The Banks Of The Nile from a 19th Century family tune book. In most of these Dan Quinn’s melodeon has its usual lovely dance- able quality but he is absent from This Is My Lady which is presented as a mandolin duet between Ian Kearey and Adam that has an almost baroque quality. Ian’s multi-instru- mental skills are reflected in his contributions here, whether he is sliding accompaniments
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