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STEVE TILSTON & JEZ LOWE


The Janus Game Tantobie TTRCD115


The Janus Game is an equal-handed collabo- ration between two of this country’s finest, most-respected singer-songsmiths. The twin- faced Roman deity Janus (god of beginnings, gates, transitions and endings) simultaneous- ly looks to the past and the future: precisely what Jez and Steve have each been doing in their own individual way for decades – draw- ing on folk tradition for inspiration while enabling the music to express a contempo- rary social conscience. These two distinctive musical personalities have, through the co- writing process, come to discover and rejoice in a special rapport and artistic coherence.


The genesis of this collaboration was five years ago, when Steve and Jez were sharing a bill at Johnny D’s, a (now defunct) Mas- sachusetts club. This album’s closing track pays tribute to that local music scene, while another song’s a fond salute to Wizz Jones, an influence and guiding light to so many fel- low-musicians. Many of the album’s songs embody the writers’ characteristic themes, examining the impact of heritage and history on present-day life, expressed in a language that matches nostalgia with playful, lively wit tempered with the realism of experience. Jez’s native north-east provides the backdrop for The Wagga Moon (a commentary on Hartle- pool’s fading steel industry) and Shiney Row (an old couple’s small-town reminiscences), while the history of landscape informs On Beacon Hill. Emigration is the escape to warmer climes in search of a new beginning (the poignant Leaving For Spain), while there’s piquant commentary on perennially relevant themes such as the refugee’s plight (Lucky Sami), religious differences and ambi- guities (Crosses, Crescents And Stars), and war (Tattered And Torn).


For all that each song is co-written, many exhibit identifiable musical trademarks of one or other artist (Steve on the title song’s Mediterranean gait, the stepping rhythm of Lucky Sami, the principal motif of Tattered And Torn, and the relaxed jazzy blues of the Wizz tribute; Jez on the jaunty melodic con- tours of Mrs Einstein and The Wagga Moon). The instrumental blend is canny too, Steve’s fluid guitar and occasional arpeggione bal- ancing Jez’s bouzouki, harmonica, dulcimer, mandolin and accordeon with excellent sup- port from Kate Bramley, Hugh Bradley, Mark Boyce and producer David Crickmore.


The Janus Game proves a delicious and inspiring dovetailing of two major songwrit- ing talents, one which feels to have even more mileage to run.


www.stevetilston.com www.jezlowe.com


David Kidman


BUDIÑO Paralaia Arredor ISBN 978-84-617-5549-3


I first met Xosé Manuel Budiño in the early 1990s while on the way to a gaita competi- tion in Lugo with my friend the late Raúl Piñeiro. Raúl spotted the young Xosé Manuel, with his gaita case, in the street and stopped the car to ask him if he was going in the com- petition. Xosé Manuel said no, he wouldn’t bother. But, as I remember it, he changed his mind and he won.


In 1997, on a label called Bolobolo, came


Budiño’s first CD, Paralaia. He gave me the CD when I ran into him again, this time in Cologne where he was playing with Uxía. In the subsequent fRoots review I wrote:


“With a nucleus of fiddler Jacky Molard, singer Mercedes Peón, guitarist Soïg Siberil


Jez Lowe & Steve Tilston


and trikitilaria Kepa Junkera in a set of tunes largely by Budiño, and songs largely either written or found by Peón (it would be worth having even just for her singing, captured on record at last), it’s richly varied, full of ideas, energy, immensely tight playing and con- stantly refreshed by light and shade.”


“There’s bass, played by Xan Hernández, and Leandro Deltell’s robust percussion, and it gets pretty hefty sometimes, but never lead- en. Budiño’s tunes are intricate, developing on traditional forms but never losing sight of a shapely melody in a style which, while draw- ing on styles and musicians from other cul- tures, is very clearly Galician; it seems that, while undoubtedly encouraged by the linger- ing kiss with Irish music, Galician-rooted music is now emerging with a new vision.”


It’s still a favourite album, won awards, was a key point in the Galician revival and evolution, and I stand by all I said then (except that actually the core band was Budiño’s first own band, all of whom became leading figures on the scene: Xabier Díaz on accordeon, Pedro Pascual on bouzouki and mandola, Xan Hernández and Leandro Del- tell, with Peón, Molard, Siberil and Junkera as very involved guests). And it’s not only a great Budiño album, it’s a great Mercedes Peón album.


Now, 20 years later, Budiño has re-released it – and what a package it is! A nine-inch square hardback book designed by Ana Zon, with each track strikingly illustrated by her own colourful double-page collage artworks.


Welcome back Paralaia! budiño.com


Andrew Cronshaw BERT JANSCH


Living In The Shadows Earth Records EARTHLP014


Unlike most other reissue labels, Earth Records doesn’t produce facsimiles, but rather creates luxurious packages with origi- nal design and artwork. Their latest release is a four-LP/CD set comprising Bert Jansch’s three studio albums from the 1990s, with a bonus disc of demos, outtakes and unreleased material and extensive sleevenotes by Jansch biographer Colin Harper.


1990’s The Ornament Tree – a late-flow- ering companion piece to 1966’s Jack Orion, is comprised mainly of Irish and Scots tradition- al songs. Accompaniment is provided by Peter Kirtley and Nigel Portman Smith (from the then-current Pentangle lineup), fiddlers Paul Boyle and Richard Curran, Steve Tilston and Maggie Boyle. It’s the presence of Maggie Boyle (named by Bert as: “my favourite singer, along with Anne Briggs”) that proves


most significant, lending not just flute, whis- tles and her impeccable vocals, but providing the album’s impetus via her passing Jansch a copy of Sean O’Boyle’s The Irish Song Tradi- tion. Jansch himself is in particularly fine voice throughout; the record’s many high- lights include a chamber-folk Rambling Boys Of Pleasure, a memorable reading of Dave Goulder’s The January Man and a positively jaunty version of Tramps And Hawkers.


The second disc, 1995’s When The Circus


Comes To Town was widely touted as Bert’s ‘comeback’ record. Whilst songs like Open Road and No-One Around evoke his mid-’60s heyday, this is far from an exercise in misty- eyed nostalgia. Jansch’s writing is both per- sonal and political, casting his eye over the state of the nation in Step Back – “young people sleeping rough at night…” and open- er Walk Quietly By, which addresses the lack of health care provision for people with men- tal health problems. The Lady Doctor From Ashington is a lovely instrumental tribute to the counsellor who helped Bert’s recovery from alcoholism, while romance rears its head in Honey Don’t You Understand?, with the singer declaring his desire to “throw flowers down at your feet”.


Following the ‘folk’ The Ornament Tree


and the ‘singer-songwriter’ When The Circus Comes To Town, 1998’s Toy Balloon was Bert’s ’90s ‘rock’ record, with Jansch joined by the likes of Johnny ‘Guitar’ Hodge, pedal steel A- lister BJ Cole and Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers. A rumoured collaboration with Jimmy Page sadly failed to materialise, leav- ing Pee Wee Ellis (sax player to James Brown) to pick up the solos on incongruous blues- rockers like Sweet Talking Lady. More famil- iar territory is mined in She Moved Through The Fair and Jackson C Frank’s Carnival, while Jansch proves his melodic prowess is undimmed on Bett’s Dance, Paper Houses and the title track – which features a particularly lovely slide solo by Hodge.


Listening to the final disc confirms the suspicion that Bert Jansch’s cast-offs and sketches were actually better than many cele- brated artists’ finest efforts. Of particular interest are the instrumental works-in- progress with John Renbourn, who, at a piece’s premature conclusion, jocularly (and rhetorically) asks: “that was sounding alright, wasn’t it?”. Hearing Renbourn’s voice is an unexpected joy, but also a sad reminder that he, Maggie Boyle and Bert Jansch are all gone from us too soon. This beautifully-pro- duced set is a fitting testament to a neglected decade in the life of a singular talent who was, and is, both loved and admired by both musicians and audiences.


bertjansch.bandcamp.com Steve Hunt


Photo: Karl Andre


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