Mike Stiles penned this review.
There’s grand news from Saint Stiles‚ Voyages among the Mystic Isles of Celtic Rock. Down near the southern fastness where the scintillating waterfalls cascade from the islands of rock into the skies of jazz is to be found Above the Clouds…
Bevel Jenny is a diverse group of Irish musicians who have been touring the Islands and Europe for a few years now — the crew list follows this review, below. As far as I know, the group‚s name is the first in history to make a chimera of tools instead of beasts. A bevel scores at an angle. A jenny spins threads. The aim of the band is to put their own mark on the music they spin, and they succeed gorgeously.
On the rock side, theirs is comparable to that of Capercaille and Sin E yet is worked out to be distinct. They’re bigger and more ambitious than SixMileBridge. They eschew the Afro and Latino branches of jazz and favor those of the American Big Band. What they don’t have in terms of the drive of Afro-Celt Sound System they make up for in composition and style.
Their debut CD starts with a wallop. Aisling and Padraic’s “Still Searching” opens the gates, beginning with a Pink Floyd-like guitar and rhythm flowing into vocals that travel calypso-tinged Euro-rock.
Now imagine the second song, the traditional “Castlekelly,” if you will. It begins innocently enough with keyboard funk and electric guitar. A flute interjects, softening the melody line in the process. Then a bit of kicked-up bagpipe spins out a reel. Out of nowhere comes a superb New York Voices-style scat riff. A bagpipe solo ensues, only to be followed by the whole crew who join in to wind it down into Celto-syncho. Man, this song goes through more changes than Proteus, but it leaves the ears pulsing for more!
The traditional “Raithneach, a Bhean Bheag” is done to a bit of a David Grisman. On its heels comes a collaborative effort called “Restless,” a wildly haunting piece about a feral horse roaming the greenwood. Mairead comes along with a tribute to the band Renaissance in “Comfortable in the Skin,” albeit without the last few octaves of Annie Haslam’s upper range.
The most Capercaille-like of the songs are the collaborative “Destiny” and Mairead’s “She Never Stopped Talking.” The group takes some breaks from Dave Brubeck on the 5/4 traditional piece “Slips of the Tongue.” Speaking of twists on the traditional, you have to buy this CD just to hear the rendition of “Molly na gCuach Ni Chuilleanain,” which is conducted to an urban contemporary tempo assisted by some fine top-hat playing behind the vocals, bass, and fiddle.
I could go on and on about the rest of the songs on this CD. Those that aren’t absolutely amazing are merely excellent. On the original numbers, the lyrics are on heady par with the music.
The CD single version features a radio mix of “Still Searching” distilled from the original 5:01 down to 3:29. The two bonus tracks are “Castlekelly” and “Raithneach, a Bhean Bheag” and are left untouched. But as I sail reluctantly away in me aural coracle, I advise one and all to buy the complete version.
Bevel Jenny are: Padraic Ó Farachtáin, Keyboard; Aisling Ní Fharachtáin, Vocals, Backing vocals; Mairéad O’ Donnell, Vocals, Backing vocals, Fiddle; Jim Magill, Drums and Percussion; Brian Ó hUiginn, Uilleann Pipes, Low D; Whistle Simon McVeigh, Bass and Double Bass; Mark Sisk, Electric and Acoustic Guitar; Éamonn de Barra, Flute; and Michelle O’Brien, Fiddle.
(Bevel Jenny Records, 2000 for both recordings)
