Andrew Cronshaw

Ochre (Cloud Valley CV2008)

Andrew Cronshaw plays the zither. This, his latest project is to take 7 English folk songs as a starting point and get a number of musicians (from the Middle East, Greece and Wales) to join him. The idea is to "see how they react to and build on music exotic to them - that of England".
For example 'A Rosebud in June' becomes 'The Colour of the Rose' and 'Lord Bateman' turns into 'Sofia the Saracen's Daughter'. Among others are 'Lucy Wan' and 'The Broomfield Hill'.
What does it sound like and does it work? The tracks can be very long ('Rosebud in June' is nearly 13 minutes) and ethereal. After an exposition of the tune, the remainder of the track is improvisational. Since there is no recognisable structure, it is difficult to follow what is happening. Probably one for late night listening.

members.aol.com/cloudval/

Ivan North.

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