http://www.navigatorrecords.co.uk
Songs Of Separation is the brainchild of musician Jenny Hill, a collaborative recording project (June 2015) by ten of England and Scotland’s finest female folk vocalists and musicians. A beautifully constructed piece of work not only does it tell the old, old story of separation and emigration; forced or otherwise but it also brings to the fore the ability of those performing.
Sublime vocalist Karine Polwart, and New York fiddle playing vocalist Hannah Read kick off the record with “Echo Mocks The Corncrake” and “It Was A’ For Our Rightful King” (Robbie Burns) respectively. The latter is a hugely innovative affair as banjo and Mary MacMaster’s harp and masterful harmony vocals assist Read’s commanding tones. Then you have the likes of “Sad The Climbing”, and boy isn’t this a treat as the girls voices perform a cappella fashion. Not for the one and only time the beauty of voice (sometimes aided by fragments of bird song) holds centre stage; fine though the playing of Butterworth, MacMaster, Read, Eliza Carthy, Hill, Kate Young, Hazel Askew, Polwart, Rowan Rheingans and Hannah James.
Record on the Isle Of Eigg, a fairy tale setting in the Scottish Inner Hebrides where you the secretive Corncrake still return to nest in the summer, a place rich in nature’s beauty and totally tranquil other than have these lucky musicians descend on the island to replicate some of the natural beauty of the setting. What a wonderful place to escape to for a few days (for tickets with the box office).
“Sad Am I” is performed in Gaelic and like with the previous mentioned tracks it is something special. So too is beautiful piece “Cleaning The Stones” (Eliza Carthy), and equally fine “Sea King”, sung by Kate Young the song takes on a restless, near stormy feel as time passes. Rheingans likewise impresses on “Soil And Soul” one the greatest attractions, and powerful hold on those either about to set sail or return to the auld sod is invariably that of the land. Polwart and Carthy handle the harp assisted “Over The Border” in wonderful fashion; especially during the songs’ formative period where the focus is sat squarely on the mighty voices of two of British folk music’s finest talents.
Maurice Hope