Dave Shepherd & Becky Price, Ashburnham

(2001) Beautiful Jo records  BEJOCD-36

Those not familiar with Ashburnham and who appreciates the Blowzabella’s sound, must buy this CD (advice to buy http://www.bejo.co.uk/bejo/html/shop.htm ): a great job with a great sensitivity, beginning with the schottish written by Dave - the title track -. The atmosphere is refined but intense at the same time, Dave Shepherd’s violin and Becky Price's piano come together beautifully. The packaging is fairly reticent about the graphical aspects, a bit 'exotic-colonial cover, and moreover with so respect to the title of this CD.

Chi non conoscesse questo "Ashburnham" e apprezza il sound "Blowzabella", deve proprio acquistare questo cd di non facile reperibilità: un lavoro magnifico, di grande sensibilità, a cominciare dalla scottish scritta da Dave che da titolo al disco. Le atmosfere sono raffinate ma intense nello stesso tempo, il violino di Dave Shepherd e il piano di Becky Price si incontrano meravigliosamente. La confezione è abbastanza reticente riguardo agli aspetti grafici, un po' esotico-coloniali, della copertina, e ancor di più lo è riguardo al titolo del cd.

Tracks:

1) ALL HANDS HIGH - All Hands High (trad) / The Green Ship (trad)
A hornpipe from the William Mittell collection published by the late Dave Roberts. We both have very fond memories of Dave, and this recording is dedicated to his memory. The second tune is found in the Winder Ms. from Wyresdale, Lancashire c. 1789.

2) TRIP TO BARNARD - Trip to Barnard (trad) / Two and Two (trad)
Two 18th-century jigs, the first from 'Northern Frisk - A Treasury of Tunes from North West England' (Dragonfly Music) and the second from 'Old English Dances' by Frank Kidson.

3) THROUGH THE WOODS LADY - Through the Woods Lady (trad) / Orla (Price)
A tune from the Tildesley Ms from Swinton Lancashire, from around 1860, played as a mazurka and coupled with a new mazurka of Becky's.

4) THREE SHEEPSKINS - (trad)
Another tune from the Winder Ms.

5) 5-STRING SCOTTISH - Time Past, Time to Come (Shepherd)
A scottish written by Dave to be played on the five-string fiddle.

6) BREAKDOWN - Fairies Revels (trad) / Breakdown (trad)
This set starts with our version of a jig from the H. S. J. Jackson collection (Wyresdale 1823) and ends with a tune of Northumbrian origin from Matt Seattle's 'Morpeth Rant' (Dragonfly Music).

7) TOM MELLIN'S - Tom Mellin's (trad) / Bobbing Joan (trad) / The Tumbler's Hornpipe (trad)
John Offord's tunebook 'John of the Greeny Cheshire Way' opened up a whole new world in English traditional music in the late 1980's, and provided us with the opening triple-time hornpipe of this set. The other two tunes come from the Winder Ms. and the Biggins Ms. (Leeds 1779) respectively.

8) JACK OF THE GREEN - (trad)
A traditional tune collected in Herefordshire by Cecil Sharp in the early years of last century.

9) YE MARINERS ALL - Ye Mariners All (trad) / The Oak Room (Shepherd)
An English 5/4 waltz set

10) ASHBURNHAM - Ashburnham (Shepherd) / Roslyn Castle (trad)
Ashburnham is a scottish by Dave. We created a second scottish out of a traditional air 'Roslyn Castle'. This version is from the West Midlands and is published in the 'South Riding Tune Book' by Paul Davenport.

11) THE GREEN BUSHES - (trad)
Not the usual tune for this song but one from Sussex which we found in the George Butterworth collection.

12) BETTY CAN DRINK NO WATER - Betty Can Drink No Water (trad) / Fill the Tankard (trad) / Four Bare Legs Together (trad)
Betty Can Drink No Water is a melody from the Winder Ms. The two 9/8 jigs are from the Browne collection (Lake District 1800) and Matt Seattle's edition of the Vickers Ms - 'The Great Northern Tune Book'.

13) NEWTONDALE - Newtondale Hornpipe (Shepherd) / The Blue John Hornpipe (Shepherd)
Two hornpipes by Dave, both inspired by traditional tunes.

14) THE DEBTORS SALUTATIONS - (trad)
An air from the Benjamin Cooke Ms. (c. 1770) in the Frank Kidson collection.

15) EASTER THURSDAY - Easter Thursday (trad) / Barn Elms (trad)
Two triple-time hornpipes from early 18th-century editions of 'The Dancing Master'.