MARTIN CARTHY & NORMA WATERSON
- Southsea Folk Festival 2001 - South Parade Pier
- Southsea Folk And Roots Festival 2002 - Sunday Sept 1st - The Square Tower Old Portsmouth - Tickets strictly limited to 100
![Waterson & Carthy](images/carthy.jpg) |
|
Norma Waterson - Martin Carthy |
|
A legend in his own lifetime, the most important English folk artist of his
generation,
and still playing folk clubs all over the world. Martin Carthy was born 21st
May 1940,
Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. Initially an actor, by the late fifties he
had become
guitarist and singer with Skiffle group the Thameside Four. Early visits to
folk clubs
and exposure to the work of Ewan MacColl and particularly A.L. "Bert" Lloyd
drew
him to then infant folk scene. His first recordings were with The Thamesiders
on their
1963 EP but a wider influence was already in evidence. A young Bob Dylan,
during his
first visit to London in early 60s, had been very impressed by Martin's
version of the
song Lord Franklin. Dylan used the tune and the narrative style for his own
song Bob
Dylan's Dream. Paul Simon borrowed Martin's arrangement of Scarborough Fair to
create a massive international hit for Simon and Garfunkel.
By the mid sixties Martin Carthy was recognised as a virtuoso folk guitarist
and was
resident at London's top folk club, the Troubadour. Around this time he
teamed up
with fiddler Dave Swarbrick, skilfully mixing traditional material with
contemporary
interpretation and establishing a musical rapport that remains undiminished
to this day.
Essentially he is at his best in solo performance, his vocal style is cleanly
articulated,
slightly nasal with a natural vibrato, accompanied by a distinctive guitar
style.
He also relishes the challenge of being part of a group. Over the years he has
performed with Steeleye Span, with whom he first played electric guitar, The
Albion
Band, The Watersons (left), which also included his wife Norma Waterson, and
Brass
Monkey with accordionist John Kirkpatrick and trumpeter Howard Evans. His most
recent his group activities have been a family affair, in Waterson Carthy he
shares
equal billing with wife Norma and fiddle playing daughter Eliza.
Martin Carthy has the ability to take a traditional song, adapt it, often
with either a
new tune or additional words, and say something contemporary and relevant
whilst
retaining the work's traditional roots. His intelligent approach made this
music more
accessible to wider audiences and enriched the British folk heritage.
Norma Waterson's eponymous first solo album was produced by Richard Thompson
in
1996 and was a considerable critical and commercial success. Rather than
taking on
exclusively traditional English material for which she is known, Norma
delivers her
own interpretations of songs by Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia, Richard
Thompson, Billy
Bragg and Ben Harper, among others. The backing band is impressive, including
Richard Thompson on guitar, Danny Thompson on bass, Roger Swallow on drums,
husband Martin Carthy on guitar, and daughter Eliza on violin. This well
balanced mix
of traditional and contemporary songs and was nominated for the prestigious
Mercury
Music Prize.
Norma & Martin's concert at the 2001 Southsea Folk Festival, when they were
joined
by the redoubtable Tim Van Eyken, was one of the highlights of the weekend,
and in 2002
their concert will be somewhat different, as they are playing to a
strictly limited
audience of 100 at the Square Tower in Old Portsmouth, entirely unamplified.
|