"'Live at the Grand Pavilion'" - Jamie Smith's MABON

Jamie Smith's MABON
Mabon 'Live at the Grand Pavilion'
  • artist:Jamie Smith's MABON
  • featured artist:Mabon
  • region:Wales
  • release year:2010
  • style(s):Celtic, Fusion
  • country:United Kingdom
  • formats:CD (Compact Disc), DVD Video (Digital Versatile Disc)
  • record posted by:Jamie Smith's MABON
  • label:Easy on the Records
  • publisher:Easy on the Records
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Album Review -
Suite 101. October 2010.
This exciting live CD and DVD from excellent Welsh folk band, Mabon, showcases this talented live act at their very best. A great album.
Purely-instrumental folk music rarely gets this good. While some instrumental folk CDs can keep a listener's attention for a while, they usually require a vocal number or some other departure to break things up.
Mabon's diversity comes purely from the music; while their celtic roots are to the fore for much of the two performances captured here, a whole host of other musical influences are evidenced (such as musical styles from central and eastern Europe). Funky, contemporary rhythms underpin rapid tunes, while at other times the expressive and eclectic compositions (by the annoyingly talented squeeze-box-wielding frontman Jamie Smith) are almost classical in their delivery.
The DVD
There is a considerable overlap of material on this CD and DVD package, but the DVD is much more than a bonus disc. It is a different performance, has a different mood and shows a different side to the band. It is great to watch the performers, to see the fingers race so quickly across keys and strings and to watch such a tight live band in action.
The musicians' enjoyment of the music they are making is also infectious. No viewer will get to the end of the DVD without a grin on their face. The DVD has been well edited and is of good quality.
The CD
The CD is much more than just a record of a performance: it is an album. The fact that it is a concert is integral to the album. In an era where instrumental music can be pieced together on a computer screen, listening to a full, captured performance of such intricate, rhythmic music is a wonderful treat. The quality of the recording is as clear and crisp as if it had been painstakingly created in the studio. But the life in the performance is so much more than any studio creation can hope for.
The instrumental performances are all exquisite. While the lead instruments clearly grab the headlines (and all have their showcase pieces throughout the performance) the rhythm section is what gives Mabon its unique sound. Subtle and sophisticated drums and percussion from Iolo Whelan are the bedrock upon which everything else is built. The bass and guitar of Matt Downer and Derek Smith are also essential elements.
There is a wonderful sense of humour present throughout the performance, not just in some of the light-hearted titles (The Tale of Nikolai, The Dancing Bear for example) but in the joyful performances themselves.
I saw Mabon at Cropredy Festival 2010 and was hugely impressed, despite the fact that the full band were only present for the last two numbers (owing to car problems!) This CD and DVD package shows that they are certainly a band to watch out for, and I have no doubt they will be gracing many a festival for years to come.
Buy this CD. Turn it up loud and dance around your room! Then try and find out where they're playing and go and see them live!
Duncan Hall