Funded by Help Musicians UK the songs are interspersed with interviews with music therapists, mental health charities and guest musicians including Blair Dunlop, Nancy Kerr and Julie Matthews. The finished product should appeal to anyone who’s ever enjoyed the collected works of Albert or Freddie King or any of the fine musicians who recorded for the Stax organisation during its creative heyday, and roots music enthusiasts should find it well nigh indispensable. Finally, ‘Gentlemen Of High Renown’, which gives the album its title, enjoys an arrangement reminiscent of early 70s Fairport until Gulland weighs in with more crumhorns and a brief snatch of hunting horn. It’s far from being politically correct but it provides Bold Reynold with a rousing finish. A collection of traditional style folk songs given fascinating arrangements by David Carroll to whet the appetite of purist traditional folk song fans. With instrumentation ranging from crumhorns, cor anglais and uilleann pipes through fiddle, tabla, bouzouki and dulcimer to bass, drums and electric guitar and all stops in between, this is a soundscape not to be missed.

We are always interested in hearing from anyone that may consider being a reviewer for Fatea and joining the team. JETHRO TULL ‘The Broadsword And The Beast’ (40th Anniversary deluxe 8CD/DVD, four-disc vinyl) Warner Music Carroll’s long overdue solo debut, Bold Reynold, has now finally been captured for posterity by the good people at Talking Elephant and the contents feature his affectionate interpretations of a string of classics from the folk canon. On Tuesday 7 February the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo reveal the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released in the January reporting period in the UK. The chart is first announced to the public at 7pm GMT as part of the Official Folk Albums Chart Show presented by Folk on Foot via their YouTube channel. The traditional ballad False True Love is a fine start to the album and this is followed by another classic folk song She Moved Through the Fair, inspired here by the street singing of Margaret Barry.

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Any criticisms I have expressed are mere niggles (and personal idiosyncrasies) because Bold Reynold is an absolutely splendid album and I commend it to you whole-heartedly. Bold Reynolds / Reynard the Fox / Gentlemen of High Renown / The Foxhunt / Old Snowball (Roud 190) Mainly Norfolk: English Brass Monkey> Songs> The Foxhunt Bold Reynolds / Reynard the Fox / Gentlemen of High Renown / The Foxhunt / Old Snowball David Carroll spent much of the 1970s in vans travelling the country earning a crust from the then buoyant folk club and college circuits with folk band Spinning Wheel. The advent of punk led to a lessening of interest in older forms of music, so to supplement a waning income, a qualification in stringed instrument making and repair was gained, leading to a long and successful career in the musical instrument industry. Several bands, duos and solo performances followed over the years, as well as a steady flow of both live and studio session work on instruments as diverse as uilleann pipes and appalachian dulcimer as well as the more normal guitar, bouzouki and mandolin. After appearing on numerous recordings for other people the idea of a solo album fermented over several years and, bolstered by offers of help from many good friends (including all the above!) the ideas and arrangements finally surfaced in 2022. Locating proceedings in Graeme Taylor’s studio with Brain Gulland and Dave Oberle as perma-presences means that there is much that’s Gryphon like from the crumhorn breaks to Taylor’s fierce electric guitar- especially effective on the ‘Foxhunter’s Jig,’ yet that never overpowers Carroll’s ideas and settings. Likewise the familiar bass of Dave Pegg and Chris Leslie’s fiddle could suggest Fairport but assured production and sympathetic desk work from Taylor means no one dominates and balance is kept.

FORMED in 1969 Trapeze were a classic English prog band, popular on the college circuit who had been signed by Moody Blues for their Threshold label. Archie Churchill-Moss is one of the best young squeezebox players around, known for his work with Moore Moss Rutter and his duo with Tom Moore. This playful debut solo album is a chance for him to explore his creative potential and really showcase what he can do. They’ve got bold Reynold by the brush and will not let him go. Fairport Convention sing Reynard the Fox When you see “and friends” in a billing you tend to think of a group of worthy but unknown local musicians. On Bold Reynold, however, the friends include three Gryphons: Dave Oberle, Brian Gulland and Graeme Taylor; two Fairports: Chris Leslie and Dave Pegg plus Lucy Cooper and Tom Spencer. David himself is a veteran of the 70s with a career including instrument making and innumerable groups, which is presumably where he made such good friends. The second CD features an extensive jam dubbed Silver And Gold, featuring an annoying flute player.THE latest offering from Thomas Ruf’s admirable blues-based label focuses attention on the exuberant musical exploits of St Louis singer-guitarist Jeremiah Johnson. Wailing Again is the result, and devotees of Pugh’s stylish and inventive approach to music-making should enjoy gems such as Eddie Boyd’s 24 Hours and a fine revamp of their trademark song, Junior’s Wailing. These including She Moved Through The Fair and Banks of the Nile as well as a fine revamp of Dave Cousins’s classic The Battle, stylishly aided and abetted by assorted members of venerable institutions such as Fairport Convention and Gryphon, whose multi-talented Brian Gulland displays his mastery of the crumhorn, contra bassoon and cor anglais in the process.

Take off his head likewise his brush and give him three Hurrays. The Young Tradition sing The Foxhunt SINCE their debut album Tidings in 2020 this Yorkshire-based female band have had some changes of line-up but the current trio of Bella Gaffney, Holly Brandon and Kate Griffin still offer an exciting combination of superb harmonies and instrumentals. JANICE BURNS and Jon Doran are a young folk duo who met while studying at Newcastle University. Having released an EP two years ago this debut album uses mainly traditional songs to explore our relationship with nature and themes of love and loss. CHILDREN OF BODOM ‘A Chapter Called Children of Bodom (Final Show in Helsinki Ice Hall 2019)’ Spinefarm Records From 2 January we’ll be featuring significant albums reviewed 2003-2023 in our featured album sequences as part of GRTR!@20Themes of nature and freedom are explored in The Corncrake and the song from which the album title is taken The Greenmore Hare. There is also a powerful version of Four Loom Weaver the 19th century lament about the Lancashire cotton famine. A rousing ‘High Barbaree’, a famous tale of thwarted piracy is next and David proves my earlier point by restoring all the verses of ‘Poor Man’s Sorrow’ relating all the gory details of the miserable chap’s marriage’. LIZZY HARDINGHAM is a young folk singer-songwriter who burst onto the folk scene in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Her latest studio album of self-penned songs explores the relationship between music and mental health. Pugh had been based in Los Angeles ever since those days in a state of semi-retirement until the guitarist hit upon the bright idea of starting work on a new Steamhammer project in close collaboration with former Jefferson Starship stalwart Pete Sears, who’d actually lent a hand on keyboards on the original band’s debut album long long ago in 1968. A strong feminist theme runs throughout the album including in their treatment of the traditional songs. I Never Will Marry and Hares on the Mountains. But there is also the lively Appalachian feel of Fall on My Knees. Ending with a cover of the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams this is an album full of surprises.