John Harle: The Three Ravens (3 mins 37 secs) Album: Terror and Magnificence Argo 4526052
:: Track 2
Jim Moray: Early One Morning (4 mins 31 secs) Seattle Symphony, cond. Alan Hovhaness Album: Sweet England Niblick Is A Giraffe NIBL003
:: Track 3
O Lady Wind: The Anomoanon (4 mins 44 secs) Album: The Derby Ram Houston Party Records HPR101
BACKGROUND
Three tracks offering reinterpretations of traditional songs. First, John Harle's striking, haunting reworking of 'The Three Ravens'. This track, starting quietly and building slowly, by its end has laid well the ground for the more brashly up-to-date sounds of our next piece. Jim Moray's vibrant, vital version of 'Early One Morning' demonstrates that artist's ability to meld perfectly traditional songs and modern beats. After the saxophone subtleties of John Harle, Jim Moray's more defiantly contemporary music has prepared the listener for the (electric) guitar based track with which we end, 'O Lady Wind' - one of the best and (to my ear) most musically interesting tracks from The Anomoanon's 'The Derby Ram', an album of resettings of traditional lyrics to more experimental rock influenced music.