Caffrey/McGurk
Album: Transition
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.caffreymcgurk.blogspot.co.uk

This present teaming of two of Lancashire's finest and most experienced established folk performers, Nick Caffrey (ex-Th' Antique Roadshow) and Ed McGurk (of Bandersnatch), is an inspired one. Together they present an unpretentious, engaging mix of songs mostly drawn from tradition, interpreted with a flair and understanding which is intensely accomplished in both execution (technique) and communicative power but whose artistry - refreshingly - doesn't shout at the listener.

In a way, I guess you could call their approach old-fashioned, in that it espouses the time-honoured values of thoughtful preparation, interpretive decisions taken with taste and good judgement, and a proudly concentrated (and yet entirely unassuming) expertise in performance, with a natural incorporation of appealing and well-judged harmonies. These vital qualities, while captivating in the duo's live act, have in essence been captured equally well in the masterful and perceptive production of this studio recording by Brian Bedford; the internal balance, both between the two voices themselves and between the voices and the guitar and/or concertina, is commendably faithful, and every note and syllable is cleanly rendered without a trace of self-evident artifice.

The duo's readings are themselves a model of clarity, expressively convincing and in-character without over-dramatising, while at the same time never losing the necessary sense of drama within the texts. There's no way you could be disappointed with such assured and sensitively configured performances of folk staples like Bold Robbers' Fate, My Love's In Germany or Benjamin Bowmaneer and more recent (but by now well-nigh traditional!) compositions like My Donal, Dark Island and Fiddler's Green (the latter, sensibly amalgamating both John Conolly's original version and his own rewrite, being among the finest on record).

The disc finale is an interesting and poignant inclusion: She Touched You, penned in the 1970s by the virtually-unknown Jim Herd. Some items are performed in sturdy a cappella mode, including Corpus Christi Carol, A Souling Song and Rob Malaney's driving setting of Cicely Fox Smith's poem A Lancashire Hare: And not quite all of the album is composed of duet work: Nick, who's noted for his interpretation of classic ballads, gets to perform The Braes Of Yarrow (a snip at just 5½ minutes, but both concise and compelling), while Ed gives us a heartfelt, mellifluous take on Davy Steele's Farewell To The Haven. The disc comes complete with admirably detailed and authoritative booklet notes too.

The disc's title "transition" might imply an incomplete artistic statement, and yet the impact is always of one that's considered and fully formed statement - although Ed and Nick might legitimately counter that observation with the comment that the living tradition will always allow for a certain amount of organic growth of interpretation, which is an ongoing transition of sorts. Nevertheless, no such semantic quibble needs to come into play when judging the disc as a work of real quality, and a valued addition to one's collection.

David Kidman