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Leveret
LEVERET Inventions RootBeat Records RBRCD38
Listening to Leveret’s third album calls to mind an expression once uttered by my friend Tom King (leg- endary pub landlord, philosopher and traditional music aficionado) as we wit- nessed a particularly fine group of Irish musicians, late
one night in Slough. “Ah,” he breathed, “the music just walks out of them.” That’s been true of Andy Cutting, Rob Harbron and Sam Sweeney since before ever they sat down together as Leveret, but, for some strange (and doubtless spurious) reason, their previ- ous recordings haven’t affected me quite as keenly as this one does.
Perhaps the secret lies in these ten tracks all being original compositions by the band members, thus removing the baggage of cloth-eared expectation that comes with tra- ditional dance tunes. They (the tunes and the players) are, of course, deeply implanted in tradition, and the fact that Harbron’s open- ing Rain On The Woodpile has an A part that reminds me of an Irish reel that I can’t recall the name of is merely a mark of its inherent authenticity. Several tunes, including Sweeney’s Proud Grove and Harbron’s Corton Ridge evoke specific locations, while others, like Cutting’s Henry Blogg and Lola Flexen honour individual people (or, in the case of Byron’s, an Old English Sheepdog) known to the composer. Recorded live at Real World Studios, every one of them emerges as a per- fect assemblage of melody, harmony, spon- taneity and precision.
Leveret aren’t really about the idea of three virtuosi forming a supergroup to show off their chops, but rather are a three-way conversation between musicians for whom the accordeon, concertina and fiddle are merely conduits for their authentic voices – a means of articulating something intangible, beyond the limitations of language. It’s there- fore appropriate that the booklet notes are wholly comprised of handwritten notation for the tunes. The music just walks out of them.
leveretband.com Steve Hunt
GWYNETH GLYN Tro Bendigedig BEND11
Gwyneth Glyn is one of the most inspirational and con- sistent musicians in Wales and Tro is a kind of reposi- tioning. After releasing three Cymru-centric albums between 2005 and 2011, she spent time supporting the Senegalese kora player Seck-
ou Keita (himself an accompanist on Tro) and collaborating, as Ghazalaw, with the Indian ghazal singer Tauseef Akhtar.
Even though lyrically the song is quite
different, the opening track Tanau (Fires) has a dreamy Vashti Bunyan quality Diamond Day-style. The fourth track Ffair (Fair) is a blandly-titled (to this mind) setting of the supernatural She Moved Through The Fair. Here “arranged and translated by Gwyneth Glyn”, it is a fascinating development that propels the legacy of Padraic Colum, that towering figure in the Celtic Revival, and (no
Gwyneth Glyn
piss-take) Charlotte Church, a further step on into the ether. For me, Ffair embodies and epitomises what that blurry entity we call ‘the tradition’ is all about. Glyn also includes among the thirteen tracks, three originals in English – Dig Me A Hole, Far Ago and What’s A Girl To Do?. Dig Me A Hole is so good it seems destined for a ‘bright’ June Tabor future.
Tro is an inspired title for this brilliant album. The word has multiple meanings on themes ranging from turn(ing) and change to stirring (tea). Indeed, so pregnant with possi- bilities is it, it is fitting that varying defini- tions (in Welsh) and translation (into English) surface three times in the booklet notes. The packaging is superb. It begins with Andy Mor- gan’s English-language short story Under Moonlit Waters (haven’t cracked its relevance yet) and includes bilingual lyrics (inconsistent- ly the three English-language songs aren’t translated into Welsh) and credits (alas not broken down track by track, but the ffidil on Dig Me A Hole sounds like Rowan Rheingans). The Bendigedig (‘blessed’) imprint is a collab- oration with the Ceredigion-based Theatr Mwldan. A wow-factor release.
bendigedig.org through
www.proper-records.co.uk Ken Hunt
LAL & MIKE WATERSON Bright Phoebus Domino REWIGCD102X
Not a great deal can be added to what has already been said about this hugely welcome reissue of quite simply one of the greatest folk recordings of all time. Indeed, I’m con- stantly debating whether this or No Roses by Shirley Collins (also just reissued) is my
Photo: Andy Morgan
Photo: © Judith Burrows
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