Mohsen And His Music

On Sunday I was in the grounds of Hatfield House for the Folk By The Oak one-day festival of folk music. This year there seemed to be a firm focus on youth with many young musicians and some acts clearly aimed at getting a younger audience than you'll find at a lot of festivals. But it didn't stop old codgers like me going along and enjoying myself too.

And so it was that in mid-afternoon I found myself talking to a member of The London Youth Folk Ensemble about our shared enthusiasm for the music of a concertina-playing Scotsman and the band Talisk or TΔLISK as they like to brand themselves.

On fiddle is Hayley Keenan......

…..and on guitar is Graeme Armstrong, both very fine musicians in their own right.

But the eye (and my camera lens) is inevitably drawn to the hair-raising concertina playing of Mohsen Amini. He launches into the tunes with unstoppable energy and gusto, crouching over his instrument to shoot out rapid-fire volleys of notes from his lightning fingers

Then he's leaning back exchanging glances with the other members of the band who produce some of the most exciting music you'll ever hear from just three musicians - and three people sitting down at that!

In 2016 Mohsen won the BBC Radio Scotland Young Musician Of The Year,
in 2018 he was named the BBC Radio 2 Musician Of The Year,
then in 2019 he was awarded the Fatea Awards Instrumentalist Of The Year.

Meanwhile the band Talisk have received a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award as well as Folk Band Of The Year and a Belhaven Bursary For Innovation at BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. They've appeared at festivals throughout the world, now including Folk By The Oak at Hatfield House!

I didn't take any video but here's a video borrowed from Talisk's website. They are playing a track called "Montreal" from their album "Beyond". From the sound of it Montreal must be an exciting place!

Take care.

Musicians

A few portraits of the musicians who joined in the big session in the barn at the Traditional Music Day at Stowmarket. Anyone can bring an instrument and join in with the straightforward, mostly English, tunes. When they all get going on a familiar melody it's a fine sound indeed. 

Take care.

Midnight, Gogs And Bunnies

The

Morris men and women

were out in force in Thriplow at the weekend.

Baldock Midnight Morris

were

formed when the town of Baldock was unable to find a Morris side to

dance at its historic Street Fair.

"Right then, we'll do it ourselves!"

Like many before and since they found that it's harder than it looks,

but since then things have snowballed and here they are dancing out

in Thriplow.

Gog Magog Molly Dancers

all have

a connection with the University in Cambridge,

as a result their dances are sophisticated, refined and intellectual.

Yeah, right!

Bunnies From Hell

"Where

 do these people come from?"

you may wonder.

And what kind of jobs do they have
when they're not dancing?

and,

just for me,

the wonderful sound of 

SEVERAL SQUEEZEBOXES!

and,

just for you,

here's a video of the goings on...
and you'll see that one of the bunnies has a nice fluffy pink tail!

Take care.

Random Remnants

....being a collection of things which I meant to show you earlier but didn't get around to.


Another Man From Thetford

The gentleman above should have taken his place among the four people with connections to the town of Thetford that I introduced you to in an earlier post. Meet Dr Allan Minns. He was born in The Bahamas in 1858 where he received a good education which led him to Guy's Hospital in London, where he qualified as a doctor. He went on to become the doctor at the workhouse in Thetford. He was elected Mayor of Thetford in 1904, the first black man to become a mayor in the UK. His grandmother had been a slave in the West Indies.


Roysia's Stone

Standing in my local town of Royston, right on the cross-roads of two ancient routes, is this great hunk of rock. The routes in question are the Icknield Way and Ermine Street, two of the oldest roads in this country (we're talking BC rather than AD here!). The rock was transported here by an ice-sheet during the last Ice Age; it's Millstone Grit, which probably means it started its journey in Yorkshire or Derbyshire! It's known as the Royce Stone and there's a hole in the centre which once supported the shaft of a preaching cross set up by Lady Roysia in Norman times. The names have been shortened over the centuries - Roysia's Stone became Royce Stone and the town became Royston.


A Rural Skyscraper

A high-rise office block in the sleepy village of Hatley? Well, it does house offices these days but that's not its original purpose. It's part of a farm which was rebuilt in the late nineteenth century to incorporate all the best practices of the age. Such farms were known as "model farms" and their owners were naturally proud of their creations. So proud in fact that they didn't want anything as unsightly as a water tower to upset their idea of perfection so they disguised it as (an admittedly rather tall) dwelling.


Strange Fruit

Stone pineapples are often featured as decoration on the gateposts of large houses. When the fruit first appeared in the UK, having been discovered by Columbus, it was horrendously expensive - it was many years before they could be grown under glass in this country. It became something which was only eaten when important guests were to be received. As a result it became a symbol of hospitality.


George Lawrence's Eastern Cousin

Recently I showed you George Lawrence's hammer dulcimer which is on display in Cambridge Folk Museum. Shortly after that I encountered this man busking in the streets of Cambridge playing what I believe is an Iranian santur, a very similar instrument. There are, in fact, variations on the dulcimer in just about every country between Ireland to China. 

Bear On The Roof !

It has to be Whittlesea, of course! I've shown you all kinds of beasts rendered in straw by our local thatchers. Naturally enough in Whittlesea it had to be a straw bear! (And if you've no idea what I'm talking about you need to look at this and subsequent posts). 


Take care.

Some Portraits - Straw Bear Festival 3

Take care.