Tom McConville – Plenty For The Few
Boomchang – Out Now
Tom’s widely regarded, by folk enthusiasts, audiences and fellow musicians alike, as one of the nation’s very finest fiddle players. He also enjoys a reputation as one of the most consistently entertaining performers on the scene, one who can win any audience over with his vivacious personality that ideally and naturally complements his unassuming versatility. And on top of all that, Tom is an excellent singer – and not so many top instrumentalists can claim that extra string to their bow! Since turning professional in 1974, Tom’s naturally eclectic career-path has taken him from various fruitful musical partnerships – including those with the sadly-recently-departed singer-songwriter Kieran Halpin and piper Pauline Cato, many guitarists including Chris Newman, Aaron Jones and Dave Wood – to the custodianship of various three- and four-piece lineups from Dab Hand through to his current “touring band” David Newey, Shona Kipling and Phil Murray.
Over more recent years Tom’s made a wonderful series of ostensibly-solo albums which, while creatively utilising the talents of fellow-musicians, have never lost sight of the central force of Tom’s own very special musical personality. The title of the latest of these, Sailing To The Far Side Of The World, epitomised the twin spirits of adventure and inclusiveness within Tom’s musical activities. Each successive album can automatically be classified as predictably excellent – and yet will inevitably spring plenty of surprises and there will be incidental delights galore along the way. For everything Tom performs sounds totally fresh and sparkling, with substance and character to inspire and invigorate the listener. And on each successive album Tom seems to almost reinvent himself, with a further selection from his copious repertoire impeccably performed and faultlessly sung.
The generous crossover blend of influences is once again persuasively showcased on Tom’s latest CD, Plenty For The Few, on a scintillating journey through Tyneside, Irish, American, Scottish, folk, bluegrass, swing and classical stylings, with (as ever) a healthy sprinkling of top-flight songs from top-bracket contemporary writers. Taking the statistics on board first, that makes the tally six instrumental tracks and six songs (one leading inexorably to a tune). The alternation of uptempo tracks with more reflective slower ones is credibly managed to deliver a constantly satisfying menu, with the album’s title track a natural emotional fulcrum as well as a convenient staging-post in the proceedings and an experience to savour and linger over for replay.
The disc’s start-as-you-mean-to-on opening gambit is Lime Rock, a sweeping-all-before-it reel from Tom’s favourite bluegrass fiddler Byron Berline. The deliciously tricky melody line is negotiated with honours by Tom and his compadres guitarists David Newey and Andy Watt, offset with some gleeful Cape Breton-style piano syncopations from Michael Biggins. Then comes the first of the disc’s well-chosen songs, Tom Waits’ Shiver Me Timbers, here receiving a knowingly wistful treatment from Tom, demonstrating how persuasive a singer he is, lyrically characterising the ebb and flow of the text, while the gently supportive musical backdrop features Michael on accordion.
The Old Turf Fire, by Paul Ryan, is one of those songs that probably feels more familiar than it is, has an infectious jig rhythm and a glorious ducking and diving fiddle part; tacked onto the end is an assured foot-tapping account of the reel Sergeant Early’s Dream. The guitar is to the fore to introduce another classic bluegrass tune, Cherokee Shuffle by Sally Van Meter, with Tom’s fiddle weaving in and out with Andy Watt’s mandolin: a great Transatlantic-Session-style vibe here too.
I’ve already turned the spotlight on the album’s title track – a heartfelt, yearning and ultimately heartwarming, rendition of one of the very finest of the fairly recent songs by Tom’s great friend and mentor the master singer-songwriter, Allan Taylor. The backing is kept simple and sympathetically supportive, while Tom’s own fiddle playing is achingly beautiful, totally enhancing and probably nothing short of heart-stopping – completely mirroring the deceptively simple message and poignant sentiment of the song. Tom’s singing here is undoubtedly one of his finest recorded performances.
That song is impossible to follow – but Tom manages it in swinging style with a supremely jaunty medley of three hornpipes with something of a hot-club flavour – among them a particularly delicious twist on Ain’t Misbehavin’. The next-but-one track is another set of hornpipes, this time at a distinctly faster speed and culminating in the evergreen President Garfield’s Hornpipe which features some classic syncopated piano work from Michael. Sandwiched in between these tracks is Tom’s gentle, sanguine take on Phil Ochs’ When I’m Gone, done in a lilting triple-time that rather accentuates its air of knowing acceptance. In a way, this song is paralleled by Tom’s lovely original tune Jeannie’s Waltz, a miniature masterpiece of soaring lyrical beauty which he wrote for his great friend Jeannie Blayney, dispatched with a spring in its lilting step that entirely sidesteps mawkishness yet nevertheless conveys deep affection. It’s followed by a nifty ensemble run-through of a sprightly pair of classic jigs, Old Grey Goose and The Dog & Gun.
The album’s penultimate track is a second Allan Taylor composition, The Irish Girl, which, Tom’s liner note tells us, was written for the occasion of a friend’s wedding. The final track is a brand new revisit of a song Tom’s covered before, Richard Thompson’s Beeswing, which has long been a much-requested favourite in Tom’s live set and which has always been regarded as one of the very finest interpretations of this much-covered song. But clearly, this too has been developing over time, and here Tom sets a fresh benchmark in interpretive sensitivity, raising the bar even further. A magnificent way to set the seal on a magnificent album. Congratulations, Tommy!
Order Plenty For The Few via Tom’s website:
http://www.tommcconville.co.uk/
Photo Credit: Gary Hogg (courtesy of artist)