REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

JACK CRAWFORD - Pride of the Season 
Wildgoose WGS357CD

Jack Crawford is a veteran and valued resident of the long established Traditions at the Tiger Club, Long Eaton, Derbyshire.  His long experience is mirrored in his: no nonsense, solid, intimate and confident delivery.  He is immersed in what he does with a total respect for the essence of a song.  He is a low-key, highly effective story-teller-singer.  Jack normally sings solo and unaccompanied – which, until now, is what I was familiar with.  However, here he is joined on certain tracks by Mary Humphries and Anahata who provide sensitive and enhancing support on, as deemed appropriate, concertina, banjo, melodeon and cello.  This creative dynamic and collaboration has proved to be a wise and fruitful choice, which Jack acknowledges in his detailed and scholarly liner notes.

Most of the songs, like Jack, are firmly rooted in the English tradition and drawn from a wide range of oral and printed sources.  Highlights for me were: a spirited Brisk Young Widow, a delightful When Fishes Fly and a fine Suit of Grey a lesser known song written by Cyril Tawney in 1960.  Jack has included a song from Newfoundland, Scotland and Ireland respectively.  From the pen of Robert Burns we have The Slave’s Lament frankly the song itself is not a favourite of mine, nevertheless Jack makes as good a job of it as anyone I’ve heard.  His The Deluded Lover from Brigid Tunney of Co. Fermanagh is quite brilliant.  This is a quality album from an uncompromising singer of substance.

Geordie McIntyre