CD REVIEWS FOR JULY/AUGUST 2009
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
BELLOWHEAD
Matachin
The wild and mighty 11-piece UK folk band are bringing their award-winning live act to Canada this summer.
Bellowhead will also be celebrating the Canadian release of their latest album Matachin as well as their previous album Burlesque.
Defying categorization, Bellowhead blend a myriad of styles and influences into their music. In support of the Canadian release they have embarked on a series of festival dates across Canada.
Between its 11 members, the band plays more than 20 instruments, ranging from bagpipes to a helicon and has six vocalists.
Their music ranges from the more traditional English music, while incorporating a mixture of styles from big band to soul jazz-funk and classical strings.
Fans and critics believe they are the best thing to happen to English music in a very long time.
Bellowhead will be appearing in western Canada at the following festivals: Edmonton Folk Festival - July 15; Vancouver Folk Festival - July 17, 18 and 19; Rogue Folk Club - July 20; Butchart Gardens - July 22; and Calgary Folk Festival - July 24.
For more information about Bellowhead see their website at: www.navigatorrecords.co.uk.
THE CELTIC TENORS
Hard Times
The Celtic Tenors have established themselves as the most successful classical crossover artists ever to emerge from Ireland.
Their new release Hard Times continues to break down common perceptions of the The Celtic Tenors with a collection of roots-based, harmony driven songs by writers such as Stephen Foster and Bob Dylan.
While each of The Celtic Tenors have been influenced by the musical traditions from their own individual parts of Ireland, Daryl Simpson, James Nelson and Matthew Gilsenan show great flexibility in melding voices to suit the appropriate classical, Irish and pop genres.
There are eleven tracks on Hard Times and The Celtic Tenors have put their own spin on such classics as Eric Clapton's Lay Down Sally, Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds, Kris Kristofferson's The Pilgrim and Shendandoah (traditional).
Hard Times is a gem and I'll be putting this one in my vehicle CD player. For more details, see: www.compassrecords.com.
PAOLO NUTINI
Sunny Side Up
Paolo Nutini is half Scottish and half Italian. He was born in Paisley, Scotland, where his family has lived for at least four generations.
His parents own a fish and chips shop in Paisley which was opened by his great-grandfather.
Paolo is noted for his very distinctive deep throaty voice and started his musical career by singing in his school choir.
His two million selling debut album, These Streets, was released in 2006 and established the young Scotsman as a leading light amongst the new wave of singer-songwriters.
Paolo's follow-up Sunny Side Up was just recently released and casts him in a whole other light.
"When I recorded my first album, there was a lot of angst," said Nutini, "I was very naive. I thought I was on top of the whole thing but I really didn't know what I was getting into.
"I wrote a song called Like A Diary about splitting up with my teenage sweetheart, Teri, but in the middle of the recording, I ran into her in a bar.
"It's been two years on and we've been together ever since. I had to go and record these songs when she was back in the frame."
Paolo's deep love of music is reflected in an album that is almost unfashionably eclectic, reaching deep into the roots of modern music.
It's strange to hear a 22-year-old in the Twenty-first Century raving about Cab Calloway, Wynonie Harris and Louie Armstrong.
"If I could lay it down and give you my favourite vocalists," Paolo said, "it's those old ragtime swing crazy mad cats, that I admire. These old songs are nice and sweet but scratch them and you get a different perspective. That's what I wanted.
"My grandfather was a big music lover, he adored opera and boogie woogie piano. It was really him that encouraged me to sing.
"He always wanted someone in the family to make music their living. Unfortunately, he's not around to see it but I'm doing just what he wanted and I'm doing it in his honour."
The Celtic Connection are giving away some Paolo Nutini, Sunny Side Up albums - check the front page for entry details.
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