Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay
Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay
Topic Records – TSCD615 (CD) | TXLP615 (LP)
26 May 2023
A follow-up to six and twelve string guitar maestros Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay’s debut 2018 Hawksworth Grove Sessions album is a very welcome proposition and should have been recorded and dropped a couple of years ago, but then the inevitable happened… And at last, here it is, in the purest and best form, that being an instrumental guitar album recorded live in a matter of three days without edits or overdubs and with very little rehearsal time. Thank heavens; Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay cans the direct energy of creative studio sessions and gives us a listening experience that is as close to being at Giant Wafer in mid-Wales with the boys during recording.
The album kicks off with lead single Bright Edge Deep, which, appropriately, is the first song the pair recorded after the pandemic. Both players’ styles are all over this song; Jim’s sturdy thumbed bass string, a technique more prominent on his debut solo album Home is Where I Exist, Now to Live and Die and reminiscent of players like Daniel Bachman, underpins the tune, while Toby’s shimmering high twelve string runs add depth.
Another guitarist who enjoys a heavily thumbed line is, of course, Martin Carthy, and there is more than a suggestion of the folk stalwart across many of these songs. Jim Ghedi’s Bog Cotton Jig is one such example, a track built on the kind of rock-solid rhythm that Carthy would be proud of and containing sturdy playing from both guys. Toby’s bright Fylde guitar is a beast of an instrument and works beautifully here, hanging behind Jim’s lower notes but managing to effectively cut through. Swale Song is another piece with rhythm enough to dance to, and it swims closer to the undulating sound Jim achieved on his Hymn for Ancient Land album. In the final third, Toby’s twelve string joins Jim for a rich finish that leads nicely into With the Morning Hills Behind You, a Toby original written for his late grandmother. This gorgeous song has the bright, optimistic energy found on much of Toby’s music, but the soaring melodies particularly bring to mind Starlings from his Birds EP.
Throwing us into the American school of instrumental guitar is the cracking improvised piece Skeleton Dance. One modern player that sprung to mind when hearing this one (not just because of the macabre title) was Gwenifer Raymond; the beat is strong and played with some power, and the guys use repetition here to create a fun tune that wouldn’t be out of place on one of Raymond’s records. In a similar vein is the song that immediately follows it. Seasoned by the Storm is an appropriately titled complex piece of duo-playing that uses different time signatures and some pretty heavy picking to build a track that feels full of energy and must be great fun to play live.
One of the things this album does very skilfully is blend the more intense tunes with delicate compositions and then balance both with music somewhere in between. Traditional Welsh lullaby Suo Gan is a particularly light and pretty piece of music, with neither player needing to hit the strings with much force. The melody is lovely, and its two minutes gently slide by. The following song, When the Blackthorn Blooms, takes some of the lulling power of Suo Gan to build a gorgeous melody, but adds a touch more grit and sharpness to the playing. The repetition at the core of this one gives it a hypnotic and mesmerising appeal, while the precision of the playing allows the whole thing to sing.
Possibly my favourite of the lot is the final song Gylfinir (‘curlew’ in Welsh), a piece written for Toby and Jim’s friend Keith How who passed away while working on a project with Toby based around painting curlews. The song plays out like a small bucolic epic in four parts, starting out patiently, with Jim slowly strumming strings and Toby playing soft but quickly picked notes. It then shifts into a Ghedi-esque flowing melody before moving again into a more thumb-heavy melody piece reminiscent of an English dance tune. The calm of the first-minute returns to bookend the song and ends the album beautifully, leaving the listener with bright, gently played notes that bring space and silence as they diminish.
Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay is an album that demonstrates the musical prowess and creativity of these two important guitarists of the UK scene. The music across twelve tracks is diverse and dynamic, ebbing and flowing like a river and evoking nature and the outdoors wonderfully, a particular strength of both players. Assured in its composition and immaculate in its execution, this one is a must.
Jim Ghedi & Toby Hay (CD/Vinyl/digital) is out May 26th on Topic Records.
TSCD615 (CD) | TXLP615 (LP)
On Tour
10/06/23 – Cardiff, Chapter
11/06/23 – Rhayader, The Lost Arc
12/06/23 – Sheffield, The Greystones
13/06/23 – London, The Old Church
Details: https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/artists/jim-ghedi-toby-hay/
More from the duo:
http://www.jimghedi.com/ | https://jimghedi.bandcamp.com/music
https://tobyhay.com/ | https://tobyhay.com/music
Folk Radio Giveaway*
Courtesy of Topic Records we have five vinyl copies of Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay to giveaway.
To enter simply email us here: info@klofmag.com. In your email include “Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay Giveaway” in the subject line along with your name and address in the body of the message. Last entries by 10 am on 8 June 2023.
*Terms & conditions apply:
- Only one entry per household.
- Winners will be chosen at random on 8 June 2023.
- The winners will be informed soon thereafter.
- Your information will not be shared with any other parties other than the winner’s address details which will be passed on to Topic Records for delivery of the album.
Folk Radio UK’s full terms can be found here.