Dance

If ever a band were overdue a lifetime achievement award it is Blowzabella. Not only have they written a stack of what have become standard tunes in sessions on both sides of the Channel but they have also been largely responsible for reviving English bagpipes and hurdy-gurdy instruments that played a foundational role in traditional music. (The band’s sole remaining founder member, Jon Swayne, is an internationally recognised pipe maker.) Now in their fourth decade, Blowzabella are heard on this live release, recorded during their 2009 UK tour, doing what they do best: playing for dancing.

Many of their hits are included (though sadly not Jo Freya’s ‘De Montford’s’), with ‘Man in the Brown Hat’ and ‘Penda’s Fen’ rightly bringing a raucous audience response. Andy Cutting’s melodeon playing is impeccable and his ‘In Continental Mood’ should have even the most bashful wallflower tripping lightly over the dance floor. Since Nigel Eaton’s departure in 2004, hurdy-gurdy pyrotechnics have been provided by Gregory Jolivet, meshing seamlessly with Dave Shepherd’s chugging fiddle and Barn Stradling’s bass. The three-part horn arrangements can feel just a little heavy, even dated, though Paul James’ glistening soprano sax solos still excite. But it is during those treasured moments when the band is at full tilt, with pipes, gurdy and fiddle all stacked into the Blowzabella wall of sound, that the blood quickens and you remember quite why they have been so enduringly influential.