Salut! Live

We reminded everyone recently of the sheer beauty of the singing of the Watersons, whose family legacy is so nobly maintained by the late, massively missed Norma Waterson’s daughter Eliza Carthy and - despite his own advancing years - her widower (Eliza’s dad), Martin Carthy.

I doubt we would have seen the likes of  Dr Faustus, Bellowhead, Gigspanner and others without the influence and inspiration of  that revered family

Simon Care’s Banter build on this impressive evolution in English music. Their fourth album, Heroes, the title honouring such towering figures of folk  as John Tams, Pete Coe and Gareth Turner, is an unqualified triumph, acoustic music close to its finest.

With such an abundance of talent, the difficulty is in deciding whether to enthuse more about the band’s overall instrumental excellence or the spectacular quality of Nina Zella’s singing, songwriting and ability to conjure original music for familiar material.

Since I’m listening to football as I write, and in a good mood as a consequence (Sunderland winning comfortably at Cardiff), I’ll declare a high scoring draw.

There really is nothing about Heroes to dislike. 

All four members contribute to the accompaniments and tunes, Care’s seductive melodeon aided and abetted by Tim Walker on drums, percussion and brass, Mark Jolley on bass, fiddle and guitar and Zella on keyboards. 

I love the northern character Zella stamps on The Lass of Richmond Hill (the N Yorks Richmond, not SW London one) and The Oak and the Ash. But the joys of this album are never ending; listen to the superb interpretations of The Last Rose of Summer, Lay Me Low and, best of all for me, a glorious homeward bound song Rolling Down the Ryburn. Banter will, I hope, recognise as a significant tribute my thought that this version is a match for Pete Coe’s exemplary original. 

The sparkling vocal efforts are perfectly complemented by the admirable selection and execution of tunes. Salut! Live finally offers amends for missing the first three Banter albums. In these capable hands, English folk music is alive and thriving.

The record is due out on April 29th. In the meantime, you can listen to a track from the record, The Oak and the Ash, at the band's Bandcamp page. 

• Banter's website is https://www.banter.band

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