THE HOSEPIPE BAND - Kettleburgh Fete
Kid Menthal Music KM 068CD
This, the fifth release by the Colchester-based Hosepipe Band, delivers a great idea for a dance band – record twelve sets of tunes, then get six of your regular callers (how many have they got, for goodness’ sake?) and have each of them provide a dance for each set. The result is that, with this one CD, not only do we get a grand set of tunes, but we can learn things to do with our feet as we listen!
The dances are mostly ones which the callers have devised themselves, and the instructions are concise and quite straightforward, without too much use of callers’ jargon, so no excuses for not having a go. Credits to Mary Panton, Elaine Barker, Andrew Swaine, George Monger, Jonathan Seath and Phil Lyons for contributing the dances.
The music is as polished as ever, with the six-member band playing mandolin, Melodeons, hurdy-gurdy, concertina, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion, bagpipes, recorders, flute, hammered dulcimer, bass guitar and footbass between them. The tune sets combine traditional and self-penned numbers, and, as you might expect from such a range of instrumentation, the music builds up in a nicely-layered manner, getting the pace just right for dancing, but also meriting a listen to in its own right. There is great interplay between the musicians, who are obviously having a great time recording.
A fine addition to the collection for anyone interested in English ceilidh dancing.
Gordon Potter
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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 75 of The Living Tradition magazine. |