Late Cut - Steve Turner
Review by Colin Hynson
As well as being a consummate folk musician and concertina–player, Steve Turner is a bit of a cricket fanatic. So I thought that there might be some significance to the title of this album. In cricketing terms a ‘late cut’ is a batting technique in which the batter hits the ball behind him. It looks like a simple shot but it’s actually difficult to do well. I could be reading too much into this, but the songs on this fine album are simple and cut-back yet are clearly the product of a musician that has spent many years immersed in and perfecting his craft.
Late Cut starts with ‘Lily of the West’, a traditional song arranged by Steve Turner. The song touches on those well–explored themes of English folk song, a rejected lover, jealousy and revenge. Steve Turner plays the concertina and provides the vocals whilst the guitar is played by Sam Carter.
That’s one of the lovely things about this album. Steve Turner is joined by other fine folk musicians. You’ll hear, amongst others, Sam Carter on the guitar, Eliza Carthy who lends her unmistakeable voice to harmony vocals, Gina Le Faux on fiddle and Martin Simpson appearing on the second track playing the banjo.
A project local to Dunfermline in which some local musicians were asked for songs to accompany weaving exhibits in the Carnegie Library and Galleries Museum. This album is built around the song and poem that were found, supplemented by original material. Some of the new songs are set to existing folk airs so that despite three contributors whose individual writing and performance styles can be differentiated, the material benefits from a cohesive approach. Enough preamble…
This is Marmite music. You hate it or love it. I love it, but recognise it is a niche market. It is ostensibly music to dance to, but with the complex arrangements and extremely long introductory passages and associated arrhythmical playing I cannot see it being used by any dance clubs for dancing to. The voices over-dubbed on some of the tracks are not very conducive to encouraging the dancers to concentrate on dancing. Chris Green has over-dubbed to infinity on all the tracks - he has only one guest musician Paul James who plays saxophone, the rest is all his own work, mastered by Steve Kitch.
Lucy Broadwood visited her cousin Herbert Reynardson in 1892. He lived in Adwell House, Oxfordshire. The gardener's wife, Patience Vaisey was a Hampshire lass and sang her repertoire to Lucy, probably very gladly because her husband the gardener at Adwell didn't like folk songs preferring instead hymns Ancient and Modern. There's no accounting for taste!
Two Score is performed by the line-up which has been in place since 2005, Andy Cutting – melodeon, triangle, Jo Freya – vocals, saxophones, clarinet, whistles, Paul James – vocals, bagpipes, saxophones, Gregory Jolivet – hurdy-gurdy, Dave Shepherd – violin, octave violin, viola, Barnaby Stradling – Bass, Jon Swayne – bagpipes, saxophones, whistle.
I have enjoyed Terence Blacker’s songs since I first saw him do a floor spot at The Everyman Folk Club about five years ago. I was immediately struck by how much his style of singing and guitar playing, as well as the subject matter of some of his songs reminded me of the great French chansonnier Georges Brassens. Other people have compared him to Jake Thackray; there are similarities, but I’d say Terence has the more laid-back, cool European style of Brassens. I love the way he pokes fun at the English middle-classes and their pretentions. Intentional or not, he seems to relish teasing listeners of a certain age - his and mine I suppose – by pointing out their lingering hopes or memories of romance, and their almost certainly doomed artistic ambitions. If younger people understood and applied his messages to their own situation they might be tempted to slit their wrists. Fortunately, they probably don’t believe it’ll ever happen to them.
Some of Terence’s older songs have certainly stayed with me; these include his greatest hit: Sad Old Bastards with Guitars, as well as I’d rather be French and The Young Girl with the Ukulele*. But here I’m considering his most recent recording, the 12-track Enough About Me. The first thing to say is that Terence is accompanied by a host of excellent musicians: Jon Loomes on violin, organ, ukulele, flute and backing vocals; Hugh Bradley on double bass, Murray Grainger on accordeon and shaker and Edwin Beasant on drums and harmonica. Together with Terence, Jon Loomes also recorded and produced this album. This “band” produce a great bluesy, jazzy sound which reminds me of one of my favourite retro French groups, Les Primitifs du Futur.