All Ashore
Sounds of East Anglia SEA003
1. The Egg Hornpipe, Shipdham Hornpipe, Sailor's Hornpipe - Rig-a-Jig-Jig; 2. Butter and Cheese and All (song) - Peter Coleman; 3. Pigeon on the Gate - Mike Crisp (melodeon) with (i) Lenny Whiting and (ii) Percy West stepping; 4. Austrian tune/Oh, Oh, Antonio/Bless ‘em all - Ray Hubbard (melodeon); 5. You Can't Tell 'em Nothing, They Know (monologue) - Ray Hubbard; 6. Rushall Woods (song) - Ray Hubbard; 7. Sustead Schottische/Mountain Belle Schottische - Rig-a-Jig-Jig; 8. Man of Kinsale (song) - Barbara Jane; 9. Pony Trot Polka - Mike Crisp (melodeon) with Doreen West stepping; 10. Grace Darling (song) - Richard Blake; 11. Rosalie my Prairie Flower - Des Miller (mouth organ); 12. Waiting for the Day (song) - Richard Davies; 13. Yarmouth Hornpipe - Chris Holderness (fiddle) with Richard Davies (stepping); 14. The Chicken Reel - Richard Blake (dulcimer); 15. Rig-a-Jig-Jig/Starry Night for a Ramble/Woodland Flowers - Rig-a-Jig-Jig; 16. My Life Story - Ray Hubbard; 17. Joe, the Carrier Lad (song) - Ray Hubbard; 18. Waltz for the Veleta - Rig-a-Jig-Jig; 19. The Sailor's Farewell to his Horse (monologue) - Peter Coleman; 20. Hold yer Row (song) - Chris Holderness; 21. Redwing - Rig-a-Jig-Jig.
You may have read in my review of their first CD that Rig-a-Jig-Jig is both a band and a Norfolk history project started in 1999 by Des Miller to collect and document information about the traditional musical history of Norfolk. Since then Chris Holderness has joined the project and further research work has led to the production of a short book, Shipdham: Traditional Music Making in a Norfolk Village; a CD, Father Went to Yarmouth; and to exhibitions of the collection in village halls all over Norfolk. Des and Chris collect peoples' memories of local music making in the form of taped interviews which are transcribed, photographs, recordings and film, and currently have a large and growing archive. This, then, is their third CD project.
Much of what needs to be said can be found in that previous review, though a comment about their titles might be appropriate. Nothing about 'All at Sea' as a title seemed unusual, but the appearance of 'All Ashore' makes one ask whether the former contained mainly maritime material, and this one mainly terrestrial. But I've now been informed that the first was 'All at Sea' because it was recorded on a sailing boat in Wells harbour, and therefore at sea, whereas the second, 'All Ashore', was recorded on dry land.
At any event, neither suffers by the slightly inappropriate title - and I feel that this latest offering is actually superior to the earlier one. One reason for this is the presence of some different 'friends' - Mike Crisp with some excellent melodeon playing for stepdancing, and Ray Hubbard provides a monologue, a story and two songs, Joe, the Carrier Lad and Rushall Woods, which is extremely funny. Added to which, the band sounds a little more in control of itself on this record ... I enjoyed it.
Rod Stradling - 28.11.14
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