A collection of traditional style folk songs given fascinating arrangements by David Carroll to whet the appetite of purist traditional folk song fans. Finally, ‘Gentlemen Of High Renown’, which gives the album its title, enjoys an arrangement reminiscent of early 70s Fairport until Gulland weighs in with more crumhorns and a brief snatch of hunting horn. It’s far from being politically correct but it provides Bold Reynold with a rousing finish. From 2 January we’ll be featuring significant albums reviewed 2003-2023 in our featured album sequences as part of GRTR!@20

JETHRO TULL ‘The Broadsword And The Beast’ (40th Anniversary deluxe 8CD/DVD, four-disc vinyl) Warner Music They call it “a fusion of friends” and old pals they are indeed, David Carroll who used to roll with SPINNING WHEEL and has called recently on the members of FAIRPORT CONVENTION and GRYPHON – Dave Pegg and Chris Leslie from the former collective plus Dave Oberlé, Graeme Taylor and Brian Gulland from the latter – as well as THE PROFESSIONALS’ Tom Spencer, also known from THE MAN THEY COULDN’T HANG, and Lucy Cooper to assist him in recording a debut solo album. Titled “Bold Reynold” and scheduled for release on January 20th, 2023, it presents a stunning sonic panorama wrapping a nice selection of traditional fare, “The Battle” from THE STRAWBS repertoire and “The Last Leviathan”: the Andy Barnes’ anti-whaling piece which displays the ensemble’s epic leanings. When you see “and friends” in a billing you tend to think of a group of worthy but unknown local musicians. On Bold Reynold, however, the friends include three Gryphons: Dave Oberle, Brian Gulland and Graeme Taylor; two Fairports: Chris Leslie and Dave Pegg plus Lucy Cooper and Tom Spencer. David himself is a veteran of the 70s with a career including instrument making and innumerable groups, which is presumably where he made such good friends. Brass Monkey> Songs> The Foxhunt Bold Reynolds / Reynard the Fox / Gentlemen of High Renown / The Foxhunt / Old Snowball LIZZY HARDINGHAM is a young folk singer-songwriter who burst onto the folk scene in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Her latest studio album of self-penned songs explores the relationship between music and mental health.

The finished product should appeal to anyone who’s ever enjoyed the collected works of Albert or Freddie King or any of the fine musicians who recorded for the Stax organisation during its creative heyday, and roots music enthusiasts should find it well nigh indispensable.

Straight in at No.1 is James Yorkston, Nina Persson and The Second Hand Orchestra’s The Great White Sea Eagle (Domino Recordings), the follow up to James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra’s The Wide, Wide River – a Guardian Top 10 Folk Album of 2021. The record didn’t start life as a follow up; in early 2021, Yorkston began visiting his studio in Cellardyke, Fife and for the first time, started writing songs on the piano as opposed to his usual guitar, as he gazed upon the sea outside his window. After sending the first five or six songs to Karl-Jonas Winqvist (the ringleader/conductor of TSHO), they began to discuss working on the music together. With Yorkston’s shift from guitar to piano, they thought about what other changes they could make to their process which led to the involvement of a guest singer and the legendary Nina Persson (The Cardigans) was brought into the fold. They followed the same methodology as The Wide, Wide River – apart from James, Nina and KJ, none of The Second Hand Orchestra had heard the music prior to entering the studio – and the arrangements were made up on the spot.With instrumentation ranging from crumhorns, cor anglais and uilleann pipes through fiddle, tabla, bouzouki and dulcimer to bass, drums and electric guitar and all stops in between, this is a soundscape not to be missed. On Tuesday 7 February the Official Charts Company in partnership with English Folk Expo revealed the Top 40 best-selling and most streamed folk albums released in the January reporting period in the UK. The chart is first announced to the public at 7pm GMT as part of the Official Folk Albums Chart Show presented by Folk on Foot via their YouTube channel. The services of renowned Gryphon, Fairport, The Professionals and The Men They Couldn’t Hang members provide accomplished support on the album.