gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

In the first set Eliza Carthy and father Martin play a duet. I saw Eliza at the Poole Lighthouse last year, but I first heard Martin (now 71) play in 1969 in an early Steeleye Span line up

On Thursday evening Margaret and I along with our friend Jessica Pietrangelo and her son Paul (Gio was back in Italy) went to the Electric Palace in Bridport to see The Imagined Village. This imaginative ten piece folk band was started by Dorset birder Simon Emmerson and has featured a number of folk legends in their line up.

Their music represents traditional folk music updated for today’s multicultural society, with a line up that includes a cello, sitar and Indian percussion along with the expected fiddle and double bass. Their music comprises of their own compositions, traditional numbers and old folk songs brought up to date, for example ‘My Son John’ a song about a returning amputee from the Napoleonic wars has now in Martin Carthy’s words has been ‘tweaked’ to include the current conflict in Afghanistan.

From Jackie Oates’ opening rendition of the tragic ‘Captain’s Apprentice’ to Martin Carthy’s encore, a slow version of Slade’s ‘Cu On Feel The Noize’ it was a wonderful evening that I most certainly recommend, whatever your musical tastes.

Fiddles at dawn! Jackie Oates and Eliza Carthy line up for a duel.

Sheema Mukherjee on sitar and Johnny Kalsi on percussion and dhol drums gives a wonderful Indian flavour to many numbers

L-R Sheema Mukherjee, Jackie Oates and Simon Emmerson

Eliza films dad singing a very slow version of Slade’s ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ for an encore before joining in on the fiddle.

Jackie Oates, Simon Emmerson, Marin Carthy, Ali Friend (bass), Simon Richmond (keyboards) and Eliza Carthy take a bow. Not featured in the photos are Barney Morse Brown (cello) and Andy Gangardeen  (drums)