Jake Walton
Vocal/Guitar/Hurdy Gurdy/Dulcimer
Silver Muse Cd/download
The Definitive collection from singer/songwriter
Jake Walton.
"These songs have spanned four decades. I have re-recorded some old
favourites along with more recent compositions.
My inspiration has come from the Celtic lands with their myths and
legends, the cycles of nature and our place in it".
Jake Walton: Guitars/Vocals/Hurdy-Gurdy/Dulcimer
Eric Liorzou: Guitars/Mandola/Samples/Programming
Special Guests:
Bryony Holden
(Harmony Vocals)
Jez Lowe
(Cittern)
Pete ‘Peewee’ Coleman
(Recorders)
Alex West
(Flute)
Erin Holden
(Dulcimer, Shaker)
David De La Haye
(Bass guitar)
Kathryn Wheeler
(Accordion)
Athene Roberts
(Fiddle)
Track List:
1/ THE MUSIC MAKERS (3.35)
This is an adaptation of O Shaughnesy’s most famous poem. I first
recorded it in the early 1980s but this version was recorded after a
30 year reunion tour with Jez Lowe in Germany in 2011 where we were
joined by David De La Haye on bass. The song captures the spirit of
Ireland for me and the wildness of faraway places. I sing it to
thank all the old minstrels, troubadours and keepers of the sacred
songs for the inspiration they have given us.
2/ THE WEST WIND (4.00)
I decided to remix the version which I recorded on my Emain CD with
the addition of Athene Roberts on fiddle and Bryony Holden on
harmony vocals. The poem has a special poignancy for me as I think
of the West land as Cornwall which is my home now and which has
always been my spiritual home.
3/ BY THE MARGIN OF THE GREAT DEEP
(4.24)
A poem by George Russell, (A.E) the famous Irish mystic and seer and
friend of W.B Yeats. The Great Deep is said to refer to the “Great
Mother” known by many names including Isis
4/ EMAIN (4.40)
The story of Emain dates back to the 6th or 7th century. The Irish
king Bran is visited by a strange woman holding a silver branch from
an apple tree. She sings a song calling Bran and his company away to
her island home although not all of those assembled here are called.
This story for me echoes the Celtic people’s deepest desire to
penetrate the otherworld.
5/ TOM O’BEDLAM’S DREAM
(3.28)
This for me is a deeply heartfelt poem of which there are many
versions. Tom is driven insane by his love for the muse; yet she
destroys only to quicken. After confronting the dark side of his
psyche he regains his wits and becomes wise. He is an archetype of
the “wounded healer”.
6/ SILVER MUSE (3.48)
This song was based on an old Celtic blessing for the new moon. The
“Lady of the silver wheel” also known as Arianrhod was said to hold
the threads of life and the keys to immortality.
7/ BEYOND THE VEIL (3.10)
In today’s world we seem to have lost touch with the “unseen”. This
song harks back to a time when it was still possible to walk between
the worlds.
8/ SUNLIGHT AND SHADE (4.45)
Sunlight & Shade was the title track of my 2nd solo LP. I have
simplified this version using just guitar, mandola and hurdy gurdy.
The song was written for a Romany Gypsy called Ceth, who travelled
and lived in a horse drawn wagon in the North West of the UK before
the days of motorised vehicles. He was a musician and free spirit.
9/ TRISTAN’S SONG (4.09)
I started to play in the Cornish folk clubs during the summers of
the late 1960s. Brenda Wootton ran one club, “The Pipers”, which was
situated on the cliffs at Botallack. I remember sitting on the stage
gazing out to sea towards the lost land of Lyonesse, watching the
sun go down. It wasn’t hard to feel inspired by the story of Tristan
and Isolde. I recorded this song first on my solo LP, The Gloaming
Grey.
10/ TREES (4.42)
This song is based on a folk tale about how the oak and elm tree
were old friends and that if the elm died, the oak would also die.
In fact, now that the English elm has almost vanished due to English
elm disease, the oak is also threatened by disease along with
several other species
11/ AFTER THE PLOUGH (3.25)
Taken from the poem St Eval by Elizabeth J. Coatsworth. The sight of
seagulls following the plough and freshly turned earth is a common
one in the South West. This Cornish poem captures for me the
reflective moods of autumn. It was suggested I revive the song which
I hadn’t played for 30 years !
12/ LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE
(3.17)
Innisfree is a small island on Lough Gill in Ireland. It is said
Yeats wrote this poem in London when feeling homesick for his
beloved Co Sligo.
13/ SEPTEMBER MORNING (4.03)
I wrote this song in the late 1960s after a period of travelling. It
was friends, Erin and Bryony Holden who suggested that I revive it.
14/ ALL THAT’S PAST (3.33)
The rose is a goddess symbol for the Celts and this poem reflects
the passing beauty and transience of life. A reminder to look on
lovely things as if we may never see them again.
15/ WHITE WAVE SEA (3.06)
I found a fragment of an old Irish prayer and with the addition of a
few words of my own tried to turn it into a song. This was the
result.
Reviews
LIVING TRADITION:
Silver Muse - Celtic Monkey CM0001
"I’d been wondering why I’d not heard much of Jake of late. Readers
will most likely know him as a hurdy gurdy player par excellence,
who collaborated with Jez Lowe on the 1986 album, Two A Roue. I
recall interviewing him around the turn of the millennium and was
enchanted to discover his other work, original songs and tunes
composed over a career which even by then had already chalked up
over two decades of music-making.
Given that virtually all of Jake’s previous albums are long
‘discontinued’, the arrival of this CD will be judged very good
news. Silver Muse is a representative collection of Jake’s
songwriting spanning four decades. By my reckoning (and I stand to
be corrected here), of the disc’s 15 tracks, two-thirds are
re-recordings of old favourites. Interspersed among these we find
five compositions of more recent provenance, which fit snugly here
and prove the consistency of Jake’s vision and his writing over the
years, the latter heavily inspired by the Celtic lands – their myths
and legends – and informed by the cycles of nature and man’s place
within the scheme of things. Several of the songs take their cue
from literature, including a setting of Yeats’ Lake Isle Of
Innisfree and creative adaptations of O’Shaughnessy’s Ode (The Music
Makers), Elizabeth J. Coatsworth’s St. Eval (After The Plough) and
an old Irish prayer (White Wave Sea).
Jake’s is a style that doesn’t date, although it might be considered
‘old school’ in that his music is both mellifluous and melodic,
flowing and genial and commendably easy on the ear even when
tackling less than comfortable topics (Trees, Tom O’Bedlam’s Dream).
Jake also benefits greatly from the contributions of long-time
collaborator Eric Liorzou and other musical friends including Jez
Lowe, Bryony Holden, Alex West, Kathryn Wheeler, Athene Roberts and
David De La Haye. You can take it as a recommendation that within a
short time of placing this disc in the player, you’re bound to fall
under Jake’s spell. The accompanying booklet and contents are most
attractively presented too".....David Kidman
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