 | | Reviews | | |  FFYNNON
Celtic Music From Wales
Green Linnet GLCD1221
Fed up with fast Irish reels and craving Celtic music with a difference? Enjoy bands like Ar Log and Calennig but up for a fresh approach to Welsh song? Then go and check out Ffynnon (pronounced Fun-on): the members of this three-piece, boasting an impressive portfolio of touring, radio, tv, film and academic credentials between them, perform deep-rooted Celtic songs with a rare degree of originality.
Vocalist Lynne Denman leads the trio through sixteen diverse tracks with intriguing arrangements courtesy of Stacey Blythe on keyboard/accordion and Dave Reid on second keyboard and a six-string bass which half the time he plays like a melody instrument. This restricted palette works beautifully and a certain jazz influence is of the cool, meandering variety rather than the wilder sax-led jazz-folk fusions we've heard much of lately.
Mainly from Wales with a nod to other Celtic traditions along the way, the songs include settings of 17th, 19th and 20th century poetry, a Scots border ballad and Welsh dialect songs - an eclectic mix with only the inclusion of Northumbrian song Felton Lonnin complete with Geordie accent striking a slightly odd note. Denman contributes haunting vocals, several song tunes and the album's closer, a very canny Welsh/English macaronic. Reid's own tune Y Rhaeadr (The Waterfall) showcases his wonderfully unorthodox approach to bass playing and both his and Blythe's versatility shines at every note.
Current favourites in a CD which grows more fascinating with every listen are Pais Dinogad (Dinogad's Smock) - a 6th century nursery rhyme with a compelling spoken counting line; Cwcw Fach (Little Cuckoo) with its acapella overtones of a medieval carol and Le Petit Cordonier (The Little Shoemaker) - a deliciously dancey Breton tongue-twister sung to perfection. Serious talent here and this album's a real grower.
Mel McClellan - January 2003
Sadly, shortly after this review was written, Dave Reid died of a heart attack.
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Folk & Acoustic
