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DNA: DELYTH & ANGHARAD JENKINS - Adnabod

DNA: DELYTH & ANGHARAD JENKINS - Adnabod
Fflach:Tradd CD347H

Welsh Celtic Harp player Delyth Jenkins will be no stranger to readers having been on the scene for some time, in the instrumental trio Aberjaber and more recently as a solo performer. On this CD she is joined by her fiddle playing daughter, Angharad, who also has made a name for herself as part of the Welsh folk band Calan, amongst other things.

Here we have a lovely mixture of traditional Welsh material and some of their own stuff. In the main it is fiddle and harp with a very relaxed, mellow feel. The melody and accompaniment moves easily and gracefully between them as they weave their way around each other with an intuitiveness that undoubtedly comes from sharing the same genes.

While the mood is in the main very chilled out, the music moves ably through different styles – some pieces sound very churchy, some have a hint of Klezmer music, others have a slight Breton feel and one track is even slightly old-timey, though the over-riding impression is that this is music of their homeplace. Wales is very much in the spotlight.

They play the air of a beautiful song, Glyn Tawe, though don’t sing it as they realise their limitations. (If only others would have a similar sensibility and not feel they have to add songs to instrumental albums when they are not in a position to do them justice!) Sadly though, in the last track of this beautiful album, they are joined by Lleuwen Steffan and Vincent Guerin for a song. And while this song is good, it doesn’t really work here – it jars against the mood of the rest of the album somewhat.

Adnabod means “to know one another”. This pair certainly does, and it shows.

Fiona Heywood

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This album was reviewed in Issue 97 of The Living Tradition magazine.