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Reviews<br />
DART SONGS<br />
Blue Jewel<br />
HD01<br />
Listen to the debut album by Blue Jewel and you<br />
will no doubt be fascinated, intrigued perhaps,<br />
but certainly impressed with the amazing<br />
instrumentals, particularly with Steve Bank’s<br />
lead ddle.<br />
The intrigue would come from hearing the CD<br />
with just the title as a guide to content. One can<br />
see the relevance in some songs, like the delightful<br />
setting of John Maseeld’s poem which begins<br />
I Must Go Down To The Sea Again, and the<br />
Stoke Gabriel Wassail, but other songs, mostly<br />
composed by Steve, and most of the instrumentals<br />
do require reference to the sleeve notes to<br />
appreciate fully the subtlety and imagination that<br />
has gone into this themed album.<br />
The low voice, almost chant like, on Yew seems<br />
strange on rst hearing but is highly appropriate<br />
when one realises it is the 1,000 year old tree<br />
talking. The Glenn Miller kind of big band<br />
sound is also most tting to Memory Tree, a song<br />
about the initials of an American G.I, carved on<br />
a tree near Galmpton. Interesting history, too, is<br />
expressed in the account of a 15th century battle<br />
at Blackpool Sands. The only song for which the<br />
lyrics and sleeve notes still left me puzzled as to<br />
the action was Madre De Dios.<br />
I really enjoyed the instrumental pieces. From<br />
All Aboard, a medley of three nautically named<br />
Elizabethan tunes to the peaceful Flood & Ebb<br />
and the Baltic Wharf medley, all are brilliantly and<br />
atmospherically played. Particularly imaginative<br />
in concept are Moonlight Smolt, with the celtic<br />
harp and alto ute (played by guest musicians<br />
Luc Walpot and Jo Gosling) and the Duchess of<br />
Death suite, with the foreboding brass opening<br />
followed by intricate ddle work in the chase<br />
effectively creating a mystery worthy of Agatha<br />
Christie’s Greenway House on the Dart.<br />
Steve Banks, Pat Butterly & Elliott Blackler of<br />
Blue Jewel and their guest musicians have created<br />
a memorable and enjoyable album.<br />
Colin Andrews<br />
MAN WALKS INTO A PUB<br />
Robb Johnson<br />
IRR077<br />
Man walks into a pub - so what I was distinctly<br />
unimpressed with the sheer ordinariness of this<br />
album. Mediocre lyrics about commonplace<br />
situations, forgettable tunes, and competent but<br />
unimaginative guitar accompaniment - I couldn’t<br />
nd anything to enthuse about. Even the sleeve<br />
notes contained yet more doggerel and generally<br />
bore little relationship to the songs on the CD.<br />
According to his website, Robb, who is a<br />
resident singer at Hove <strong>Folk</strong> Club, has achieved<br />
some national and international acclaim for his<br />
songwriting, with some of his compositions<br />
having been taken up by other artists. I can’t<br />
imagine this album doing much to enhance his<br />
reputation as a singer/songwriter, but he probably<br />
goes down well when he walks into a pub with his<br />
guitar.<br />
Colin Andrews<br />
39
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