If you’re seeking music that beautifully honours the traditions of this season, look no further than Jackie Oates & John Spiers’ “A Midwinter’s Night”, in which they carry these cherished traditions with inspiring grace.
At this time of year, link the names of Jackie Oates and John Spiers together and, unless you’ve hibernated for the last few winters, a connection to Christmas music is likely to spring to mind. For me, such was the strength of this connection that I was surprised to find their “tradition” of a pre-Christmas tour only emerged after the Covid lockdowns. For the two lockdown Christmases, they produced online concerts and, once restrictions were lifted, that led to a tour of Arts Centres and Folk Clubs in December 2022. A December 2023 tour followed, and for the December 2024 iteration, they’ve now produced A Midwinter’s Night, a 13-track album comprising mainly traditional English songs and tunes; it also includes a couple from Brittany, and one each from Sweden, Iceland and Wales. They don’t all relate directly to Christmas, other winter traditions are celebrated, and a couple of the tunes are more modern compositions.
The album opens with the advent hymn Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending paired with La Mourisque, known to John as the “Morris Off” tune used by Headington Quarry Morris side. Comprehensive liner notes included with the album provide details they’ve uncovered on the origins and evolution of all the tracks. Details the enjoyment of which I won’t pre-empt by repeating here. Think of them as the second reason you should acquire this album. The first, of course, is the sheer quality of the music. A quality immediately apparent as this opening track establishes the album’s musical style, Jackie’s crystal clear voice backed by arrangements that make full use of the plethora of instruments the duo have mastered over the years. For this first track, that means John on melodeon and Jackie on 5-string viola and then, as the arrangement develops, John adds a bass rhythm from his stomp box, and finally, his voice harmonises on the final few vocal lines.
The third track, a medieval carol, As I Lay on Yoolis Night, is paired with a Breton mazurka tune, Boules et Guirlandes, a somewhat more poetic title than the English translation, Balls and Garlands. This track is the first to deviate from using melodeon and viola at the core of the arrangement. John switches to an Anglo concertina, and Jackie to recorder for their primary instruments. John also adds a bass recorder line and a mix of percussion, supplementing the stomp box with cajon and tambourine, all helping to reinforce the necessary mazurka rhythm. The other track with a Breton origin, Bergers, Ecoutez La Musique, sees both voices confidently tackling the French lyrics, and it is followed by the Icelandic track Sofŏu Unga Ástin Mín with Jackie successfully producing a rather more taxing vocal.
All the tracks share a magical quality deriving from the exceptional and carefully nurtured musicianship of Jackie and John and their equally outstanding sense of tradition. If you’re searching for music rooted in the practices and celebrations of this time of year, music which accurately and joyfully respects its traditional origins, then A Midwinter’s Night is exactly what you’re looking for. It’s hard to imagine those traditions being in safer hands than those of Jackie Oates and John Spiers.
A Midwinter’s Night (1st December 2024) Neddle Pin Records
Bandcamp: https://jackieoatesandjohnspiers.bandcamp.com/album/a-midwinters-night
