JUDY DYBLE
Flow and
Change
The first
Fairport Convention singer is living a second youth: folk out of time
Time is a
relative concept for Judy Dyble. She began at just 19 in the first line up of
Faiport Convention for their self-titled first album in 1968 but when, shortly
before the recording of the second album, she decided to leave, she was
replaced by Sandy Denny, vocalist that would have gained huge acclaim over
time.
And so Judy
found herself in the little-envied category of stars that have shone for a
single season, as had happened before to Signe Toly Anderson, replaced by Grace
Slick in the Jefferson Airplane. And to say that the post-Fairport, for Judy,
had been interesting, with the Trader Horne (the duo with the pianist of Them
Jackie McAuley) and collaboration with Ian McDonald (her boyfriend at the time)
and the trio Giles, Giles & Fripp, which turned into King Crimson when Judy
felt, once again, the need for a change. A restless spirit, in short, seemingly
destined to oblivion, especially when she became a mother and decided to leave
music, apart for some impromptu appearance.
But the
sacred fire of art, you know, can smolder even indefinitely. Here it is in fact
flare up again ten years ago, when Judy had already passed the age of fifty.
Since then, the artist has produced fairly constantly, releasing four albums
including the acclaimed Talking With Strangers of 2008, recently reissued by
Gonzo Records in expanded version.
After
another aborted album (it would have come out in 2010 with the title Newborn
Creatures, but the main collaborators of Judy, the German guitarist Markus
Reuter and producer Lee Fletcher, erased all the vocals with the intention to
publish the material in other form), Judy Dyble rolled up her sleeves and wrote
down another handful of songs with the essential help of producer,
multi-instrumentalist and composer Alastair Murphy, author of most of the
music.
Flow and
Change is a delicate and beautiful album, as Judy’s voice that, despite some
minor tremor, remains moving and timeless, just like the rich arrangements of
strings that accompany her in a basically folk path.
Special
guests aren’t missing, like Mike Mooney of Spiritualized (who plays lap steel
guitar in Black Dog Dreams, written with Simon House of Hawkwind), Matt Malley
of Counting Crows (who duets with Judy in Letters) and Julianne Regan, the
vocalist of All About Eve, who joins backing vocals on two tracks, for one of
which, Head Full of Stars, she also wrote the music.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | Flow and Change CD - £9.99 |
 | Talking With Strangers CD - £9.99 |
No comments:
Post a Comment