ALISTAIR RUSSELL & CHRIS PARKINSON - A Glass And A Mile
Glade Recordings GLDCD0113
This is another fine outing by this pair of English stalwarts steeped in the Irish tradition and bashing out a mixed set of almost exclusively trad tunes and songs. A notable exception is the album’s killer punch – Mark Knopfler’s Piper To The End - a stunning modern antidote to war-mongering. Welcome perennials include The Galway Shawl, The Blarney Roses (coupled with the wonderful tune Going To The Well For Water) and Red Is The Rose, amongst others of their ilk. They are obviously well trialled in a live context, which in many respects is my preferred setting for most of this material, knowing that this pair are such consummate performers (and that Alistair Russell is a hugely experienced sound engineer).
Anyway, it turns out that the pair have recorded effectively ‘live’ in AR’s own Glade Recordings studio in The Music Room at Cleckheaton (just without an audience). I’ve nevertheless found the CD refreshing and entertaining, and the musical mix of Russell’s guitar and Parkinson’s melodeon and accordion perfectly complement each other, and form a familiar backdrop for Russell’s voice, which has gained depth with maturity. The quality of the recording is also a tribute to, and thus a salient advert for, the Glade Recordings studio, which is obviously more than adequately equipped. Now these two gents are living reasonably close to each other, they’ve more scope for offering themselves for joint bookings as well, which must be worth a punt if you’re anywhere near West Yorkshire.
Grem Devlin
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 96 of The Living Tradition magazine. |