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English folk music is part and parcel a different animal than Celtic music, though the two share much
in common. Both have long and storied reputations going back a millennium. Both use acoustic
instrumentation that includes violins, accordions, and guitars of differing stripes. Having said this,
English and Celtic folk music are different in ways I cannot quite describe. Our perception may be
too colored by movie soundtracks and popular treatments of the island's folk music. At any rate,
Dave Swarbrick has released English Fiddler to help clear up, or perhaps cloud further, the
distinctions.
Mr. Swarbrick is considered the major exponent of British folk fiddling. The 62-year-old
Yorkshire transplant from London learned to play fiddle from a local talent before becoming a
letterpress printing apprentice. During the time of his indenture, Swarbrick toured and recorded
widely. After living abroad in the early 1990s, Swarbrick moved home and has continued to tour
and record. On this release, Mr. Swarbrick presents a series of ten of his compositions. These
pieces range from the lilting "My Heart’s In New South Wales" to the dance "The
Seven Keys" and the jazz-intricate "The Wives/The Battlers." Swarbrick excels on
the slower pieces. "Boadicea" is a beautiful ballad as is the medley "Crazy Man
Michael/To Althea From Prison/White Dress/Rosie."
Swarbrick’s music is immediately engaging, drawing the listener into a dimension apart form
that heard here in America. Behind Swarbrick’s fiddle is a thousand years of beautiful English
melody.
For more information, see Dave
Swarbrick and Naxos World Records.
~ C. Michael Bailey
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Track Listing: My Heart’s In New South Wales; The Seven Keys; Boadicea; The Wives/The Battlers; Mrs. Marriott;
March Of The Last; The Pepperpot/Banksie; Carthy’s March/The Lemon Tree; Crazy Man Michael/
To Althea From Prison/White Dress/Rosie; Miss Stevenson/Turnabout.
Personnel: Dave Swarbrick—Violin; Martin Carthy, Kevin Dempsey—Guitar; Dave Pegg—Bass; John
Kirkpatrick—Button Accordion; Beryl Marriott—Piano.
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