Ashley Hutchings – Ninety-nine Impressions
Talking Elephant – 23 July 2021
Ashley Hutchings, through his various bands, projects and productions – Fairport Convention to Steeleye Span, Albion Band to Ridgeriders, Morris On and far, far beyond – has been one of the most prolific recording artists in British folk. In any genre, frankly. But who’s counting? Well, Hutchings himself is, as this album’s title reveals, it is his 99th release.
This collection is a welcome tease in anticipation of album 100, which is probably being planned or recorded right now. But before that, this is an excellent place to pause, take stock and offer something a little leftfield.
Ninety-nine Impressions is a spoken-word album with sympathetic and supportive musical accompaniment. But the concept is not a complete surprise; ever since Ashley recorded The Compleat Dancing Master with John Kirkpatrick in 1974, he has increasingly featured narrated sections alongside and complementary to the music. For voice talents, that album featured the likes of Michael Hordern, Michael Gough and Ian Ogilvy. For Ninety-nine Impressions, just Hutchings’ own expressive and consistently listenable tones are employed.
Eschewing both the bass guitar and singing, Ashley hands the music over to a small group of regular collaborators. First is his son, Blair Dunlop, on guitars, who also co-composed much of the music with keyboard player Jacob Stoney. Violinist Ruth Angel and guitarist Sid Peacock also feature and supply the music to four of the 16 tracks.
As well as Hutchings’ own writing, this audio anthology features poems and poetic prose from 39 writers, thinkers and artists, as well as unknown and anonymous writings. It’s an eclectic, stellar mix including Shakespeare, William Blake, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde, but also Bonnie Greer, Angela Carter and Phil Ochs. Familiar names feature alongside the more obscure, including Baroness Orczy, Luchino Visconti and Amedeo Modigliani. These disparate voices swirl and punctuate the narrative in many tracks, always startling, thought-provoking and amusing.
It’s hard to describe the experience of listening to the album, which is somewhere between an experimental theatre production, a confessional, and listening to an oracle. It weaves through time, sometimes autobiographical, often profound, occasionally crude. When it strays too far into pretension, another perspective arrives to slap it back down to earth. It offers an insight into Ashley’s mercurial mind but leaves enough gaps and confusion so that you can never quite nail him down. It’s not folk in any broadly definable sense but draws on traditions of storytelling and whimsy that are the ultimate source of traditional music.
The album starts with a quote from The French writer and philosopher Albert Camus:
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
It’s the perfect introduction to an album that will delight many, challenge some, but it is a journey worth taking many times. Sudden snatches of prose and poetry will leap out, inevitably inviting you to try and find out more. Like a good radio play, it’s worth listening on headphones to get the full experience – particularly to fully appreciate the witty, always appropriate, and never intrusive musical and soundscape accompaniment.
After more than 50-years of innovation, inspiration and remarkable collaborations, it’s not surprising Ashley Hutchings has released something quite unlike anything he’s ever released before. No laurels to rest on; he keeps on keeping on.
We don’t usually give ratings here on Folk Radio, but we’ll make an exception for this extraordonary release and award a solid 99 out of 100.
Ninety-nine Impressions is out on 23 July 2021 via Talking Elephant: https://www.talkingelephant.co.uk/product/ashley-hutchings-ninety-nine-impressions-cd/