The broad range of styles and the - well, not disrespectful, but maybe unbiased - treaty of the classical and traditional material is what makes this album so enjoyable to me.
The acoustic guitar is Evans prefered instrument this time, only two Bach compositions are played on amplified guitar. According to the liner notes, Evans "plays a steel string acoustic guitar, a "cello guitar", an electric guitar, a normal Spanish guitar and a 12 string Spanish guitar."
Summer Song is a gentle, moody piece for acoustic guitar and strings, Greensleeves suddenly erupts into a (very musical) drum solo, Purcell's Ayre is acoustic guitar only.
Evans' own In an English Manner is a lovely piece that seamlessly combines a swinging rhthm section with strings and some fluent soloing on acoustic guitar. Easily one of my favourite tracks. Pavane: Lady Long of Wraxall is an Evans original that sounds "more classical" than the subsequent Bouree from Bach, which in turn swings in a completely natural fashion.
The 1st movement from Bach's Double Violin Concerto and the Two Part Invention stand out for the combination of acoustic 12- and 6-string guitars that create a kind of harpsichord effect. Scarborough Fair makes especially striking use of the string section. The Girl with the Flaxen Hair is a gorgeous arrangement for solo guitar. Maybe a bow to Johnny Smith who recorded the same piece on his solo album "The Man with the Blue Guitar"?
Longing for Baia returns from the "Mark Twain" album posted here recently. Again it is wrongly credited as a traditional, though it is in fact a Dorival Caymmi original. A Pastoral Scene is another beautiful solo piece, while Bach's famous Air gets a jazzy treatment. Evans was of cource not the first to swing Bach, but had he chosen a less well-known piece, we probably wouldn't even recognise it's a baroque composition, so natural feels the metamorphosis into a jazz piece.
Evans continued his attempts at arranging for string quartet from the Mark Twain album, but the strings are more in the forefront here. Evans was probably more secure now about his writing for strings. The liner notes call the string sound on Summer Song and Longing For Baia "hazy", some may find it a bit sugary, though. I find them simply lovely, especially on the title track and Scarborough Fair.
A very enjoyable album, perfect for a rainy sunday afternoon. More Evans coming soon :-)
The Frank Evans Consort: In An English Manner
Saydisc (UK) SDL233, 1972
1 Summer Song (Frank Evans) 2:35
2 Greensleeves (Traditional) 3:17
3 Ayre by Purcell (Arr. by Frank Evans) 2:20
4 In an English Manner (Frank Evans) 4:10
5 Pavane: Lady Long of Wraxall (Frank Evans) 2:01
6 Bouree (Johann Sebastian Bach) 2:28
7 Double Violin Concerto, 1st Movement (Johann Sebastian Bach) 4:02
8 Scarborough Fair (Traditional) 4:07
9 The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (Debussy) 2:33
10 Longing for Baia (Dorival Caymmi) 3:02
11 Two Part Invention in D Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach) 2:12
12 A Pastoral Scene (Frank Evans) 1:58
13 Air from the Suite, No. 3 in D (Johann Sebastian Bach) 3:08
Frank Evans (g) Graham Sothcott (b, g on 7,11) Ian Hobbs (d) Ian McTier (b on 7) The Barton String Quartet (on 1,4,8,10)
10 comments:
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Wow! Didn't even know about this one. That's what I call a great bit of digging. Many thanks, LPR.
Lovely music. And a terrific digital transfer. The audio quality is excellent. Thanks LPR.
Glad you like the music and transfer, friends.
Once again, you've come up with something so obscure that I probably would never have heard of, except for you. Once again, thanks so much.
I go nuts for acoustic guitar instrumentals as well as those featuring any of the guitar relatives.
A guy who put out some great instrumentals in the 70s was John Miller. He had two albums on the Blue Goose label, "First Degree Blues" and "How About Me". There were mostly vocals on these, not my cup of tea, but a few, just outstanding, solo guitar tracks. These albums have only been reissued by CD Japan and only one is sill available.
For something a little different, check out an album called "Wizard of the Strings" by Roy Smeck. also on Blue Goose. Smeck was a vaudeville performer who played guitar, hawaiian guitar, banjo, and mandolin in his stage act and did so for quite a long time. This record was made from cleaned-up old 78s and his guitar and hawaiian guitar instrumentals were great. This album has been reissued on CD.
Thanks for the suggestions Howard.
Got vinyl rips from two John Miller albums and really like 'em. Also heard Smeck, loved his hawaiian guitar stuff.
Big thanks for this LPR. I don't know how but I completely missed the 'Mark Twain' post before. Shame on me! Two must have albums. Cheers!
Wonderful album LPR! Difficult to describe (although you did a fine job) but that's a plus I think as it means it carves its own niche to a certain degree. The strings are used quite effectively and with very nicely written parts. I love to hear 12-string guitar utilized and it is used in many places here very nicely. Amazing how a little brushy snare drum behind classical music creates a simple but effective hybrid as well. This has that the feel of talented musicians following their muse without regard to commercial constraints and it produces some really interesting and beautiful music. This is really a treat to listen to. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it Kris. We both like these genre-bending albums, don't we ;-)
Just finished listening to this, thanks very much, a great recording!
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