GARRY BLAKELEY "Out of the Shadows" P.D.C.S. CD002 An appropriate title as far as I'm concerned. Before this I'd never heard of PDCS records, nor of Garry Blakely, until picking him out as the fiddle player on Barry Dransfield's "Gypsy Davey" on the "Wings of the Sphinx" album, Rhiannon RHYD5010. This should have wised me up. Barry wouldn't have any strummers on his alburn, and indeed he adds a supportive note to this one as well as playing some notes on the last track. "The Midnight Sun WaItz", "The March of the Kings of Loaise". With Peter Knight also adding a word of appreciation you can take it as read that Garry can handle the fiddle. His love of the Irish stuff comes from playing mandolin as a child with his County Down grandfather. A good start, and he went on from there eventually playing with the Telham Tinkers, and Celtic Group Brian Boru with whom he did a five year European stint. Under the name "Rogues in Rosin" he and Steve Cooke supported Steeleye Span and Christy Moore on several tours. Currently he's on the folk scene with Pete Fyfe as "The Band of Two". So, he's paid his dues, and it shows, particularly on the instrumental tracks and in his self-backing work where he plays mandolin, fiddle, and guitar. He projects a pleasant voice well but the instrumental work is his great strength. He knows how to choose a song, not seeming to be afraid of traditional material such as "White Cockade" (good to hear that again) along with Richard Thompson and Christy Moore songs. A good take on Jim McCarthy's "Ride On" recommends itself, and his own songs are worth a listen. As well as "The Band of Two" Garry is playing with "The Tabs", described as a Celtic Fusion Band. All well and good, but this albums shows he can make his mark as a soloist. Now that he is Out of the Shadows we can watch how he does it.
(Roy Harris - The Living Tradition, Issue 20, Mar/Apr '97)
This one has style stamped right through it. A touch on the fiddle which is always firm but never heavy, and equally assertive guitar and mandolin work, leaves you feeling that life is pretty good!
Garry's been performing and recording with famous (and less so!) artists (Mariners, Telham Tinkers, Brian Boru, Rogues in Rosin, Band of Two, Barry Dransfield...) since 1974. Eminent folk fiddlers Dransfield and Peter Knight (of Steeleye) rate him highly and this wide-ranging collection shows why. There's a real "English" style to most of it, but with a pervading sense of the Irish intuitive "feel" for a tune.
It's a good mix of arrangements of traditional songs and tunes with contemporary material (in trad style), including one ("Blakeley's") written for him by Barry Dransfield. Garry has one of those "easy-to-listen-to" folk voices which avoids complicated interpretations - he just sings songs: listen to his undramatic but lyrical version of Thompson's "The Angels Took My Racehorse Away".
A great, extremely listenable first solo album.
(Rob Mitchell - What's On Folks, Issue 60, Apr/May '97)
GARRY BLAKELEY - Out Of The Shadows (PDCS PDCSCD002)
It must be almost 30 years now since I first saw Garry playing the fiddle as a young lad with The Mariners. He was good even then; now he has reached the status of being a masterly musician for whom a solo album is long overdue. Garry has never been pushed to the front as a singer in any of the groups that he has performed with over the years, but the fact is that he has a warm and pleasant voice and he has chosen songs well to suit it here, particularly Jim McCarthy's "Ride On". However it is on the traditional and self-composed dance tunes that this album really scales the heights with the beautiful distinctive tone of his fiddle contrasting with the cutting edge of his fiddle playing. The album reaches a fine climax in the final set where he is joined by Paul Sedgwick's pipes and Barry Dransfield's cello.
(Vic Smith - The Folk Diary, No.163, Feb/Mar '97)
From Sussex, this half of the'Band of Two' produces some exceptionally fine instrumental sets. The tunes are well chosen, well played & arranged with an ear to bringing out the best. The fiddle playing is performed on a lovely instrument, beautifully recorded to catch the quality of the sound & played with an assured, yet unflashy command which speaks volumes for the ability of player in the way it allows the music to speak for itself - which it triumphantly does. He seems equally fluent on fiddle, mandolin and guitar & has an ear for a great change of tune (The Angels Took My Racehorse Away into Princess Royal works magnificently - although I think the change into The Seagull's Message is more of a lurch!) He sings some songs too, in a punchy, rhythmic manner (although he never shouts) - a sort of mixture of Bob Dylan (but much better pitchings) & Chris Wood. The songs are both self-penned and by others, although on Raglan Road he has some fair old competition - everyone from Peter Rowan to Sinead O'Connor has tackled that, but he acquits himself well. All in all delightful, and I can only echo Barry Dransfield's sleeve notes, "Garry is a pleasure to listen to. Sit back and enjoy" - make sure you get a listen to this one! P.S. re album credits: the Sommarwaltz was written by Ale Moller, of the late lamented Filarfolket.
(Folkwrite, No.63, Apr/May/Jun '97)
A native of Hastings, East Sussex, Garry Blakeley was just a child when he was introduced to traditional Irish music during his grandfather's visits from County Down. Blakeley took up the fiddle at the age of 8, and by the time he was 16 he had joined a local folk group, The Mariners, with whom he recorded an album in 1974. From that time up to his current tenure with the Tabs and playing as a duo with Pete Fyfe in Band of Two, Blakeley has become a fixture on the British folk scene. On this solo release, he draws on his English, Irish and Gypsy roots to perform 12 tracks, a mixture of traditional and original tunes, several written by Blakeley himself, with works by Richard Thompson, Nigel Chippendale, Roger Flack and Jim McCarthy included. Standing out among the traditional numbers are renditions of "White Cockade" and "Raglan Road." And Blakeley's own compositions, such as "The Coghurst Boys" and "Sunflower Seeds," help make "Out Of The Shadows" a pleasant listen. Blakeley is a good fiddler. His work on tunes like "Banks Of Ireland" and "Sommarwaltz" demonstrates tone and control, and he acknowledges that it helps to live in the same town as fiddlers the caliber of Peter Knight and Barry Dransfield. As a vocalist, he is expressive, interesting to listen to, and at times eerily reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot. Dransfield describes Blakeley's approach to music as "elegant, self-effacing and honest," and a reflection of his "laid-back" Sussex roots. After a careful listening - or two or three - it's hard to find any trace of pretension or runaway ego on Blakeley's part, and precious little to dispute Dransfield's assessment.
(JL, Sing Out!, Vol 42 #1, '97)
GARRY BLAKELEY has been treading the boards for over 20 years performing in various folk/Irish acts, none really building up much acclaim outside their immediate area. Based in Hastings (home of Peter Knight and Barry Dransfield), Blakeley is another fine folk fiddle player and 'Out Of The Shadows' his debut album as foremost musician involved sees his talent put to good use as he interprets, with much ingenuity and creative flair, the work of Jimmy McCarthy, 'Ride On', Richard Thompson 'The Angels Took My Racehorse Away' and a host of tune sets from the Irish tradition. Everything is delivered with a classy professionalism that endears him to the listener and although he's not the greatest vocalist of all time his quietly assured style speaks volumes.
(Rock 'n' Reel, No.28, Spring '97)
This is an album that has grown on me the more I play it. Garry is a product of the Hastings scene, a vibrant musical area, which has included both Barry Dransfield and the late, much loved Dave Roberts. As expected, there's much of his home area in the playing, coupled with some neat Irish work and a smattering of Dave's continental input.
Barry is a champion of this man, in fact, supplying both 'cello and booklet endorsement. You can hear where the styles of the two have come into contact and left traces; Garry has a strident fiddle style, which adds weight and guts to the southern English material, while allowing the Irish tunes to flow with ease, but there's a definite hint of Dransfield's baroque-and-roll in there as well.
On the song side, he does an interesting White Cockade and a very nice Angels Took My Racehorse Away, but he doesn't seem to get to grips so well with the Irish material. Both Ride On and Raglan Road lack that essential Celtic something.
Interesting to hear, too, how sessions can spread and change tunes. Bruno Letron's lovely La Valse de Noel turns up here as Bruno's Waltz (author unknown) with an altered eighth bar and stripped of its third part; the Maubissons accordionist would be delighted to hear how his work has entered the English tradition, in much the same way that John Kirkpatrick's own tunes have become part of the Breton repertoire.
(Mick Tems, Taplas, No.81, Apr/May '97)
The first time that I noticed Garry Blakeley was in The Tabs, where he provided fiddle, mandolin and voice plus a couple of songs and a few tunes. More recently he turned up with another Tabs' member, Pete Fyfe, in a Band of Two and now we see him in a solo light for the first time. He is a talented musician who uses the multi-track facilities at his disposal to good purpose, adding guitar to his growing list of instruments. Tab member Roger Flack joins him on a few tracks as does a bodhran player, Charlie Gask, but mostly its all his own work until the closing track where Barry Dransfield puts in an appearance on cello. The material comprises his own original songs and tunes as well as an almost obligatory Richard Thompson song. The arrangements are solid and all told its an enjoyable album, not necessarily one to grab you on first hearing but ultimately more satisfying with repeated listenings. However, bearing in mind the ever diminishing cast on each successive recording, will he next perform a trick of binary fission, amoeba-like, for his next effort?
(Phil Hugill, Folk On Tap, Issue 71, Apr/May/Jun '97)
Already established as 'the' fiddle player of Sussex, Garry Blakeley has produced a fine album of traditional and contemporary songs and tunes. As well as his fiddle, he also proves no mean musician when it comes to accompanying himself on guitar or more delicate lead lines on mandolin. Opening with an excellent version of the standard White Cockade followed by his own tune The Recruiting Sergeant's March, Blakeley demonstrates a true command of the English tradition which has not been apparent in his predominantly Irish repertoire of late. In fact it is his performance on this debut CD drawing on experiences of his (misspent?) youth, (Coghurst Boys) and the subtlety of Sunflower Seeds dedicated to his sons that shows him at his best. The inclusion of Richard Thompson's Racehorse and the Jimmy McCarthy song Ride On is a case of doffing the cap to songwriters and singers (Christy Moore) he respects while on the other hand, the respect is mutually returned when he is joined by no less than folk luminary Barry Dransfield in the cellist's chair on March of the King of Laoise.
(Andy Knight, Musician, June '97)
Fiddler with deep Sussex roots.
Garry has been a constant on the Hastings folk scene for more than 20 years, playing in such groups as The Mariners, Brian Boru, The Telham Tinkers and folk-rock band Better Days. With fellow fiddle player Steve Cooke he supported Steeleye Span on two tours and Christy Moore on six dates. More recently he is known for his work with Band of Two, Celtic fusion band The Tabs and The Stag Band, as well as contributing to Barry Dransfield's recent albums. Barry reciprocates here by adding cello to one track. An extremely lyrical fiddle player, Garry is perhaps best known for his playing of Irish music. But his playing has a very English sound to it - rooted finnly in the great Sussex tradition of fiddle players like Michael Turner. He is also emerging as a fine song-writer. The Coghurst Boys is a nostalgic look at his Hastings childhood, while Sunflower Seeds is a light-hearted but poignant song inspired by his two children. The traditional English song White Cockade reappears as a nod to his time with the Telham Tinkers. The album represents a good balance of songs and instrumental pieces and of traditional and contemporary material, sometimes fusing the two, with a Richard Thompson cover emerging into an English Morris tune. It is a diverse album touching on many reference points and managing to be both reflective and exuberant. The one cohesive theme is the quality of the playing. There is a relaxed understated feel to the whole project, much like the man himself.
(Andy Hemsley - Hastings & St Leonards Observer, 6th Dec '96)