Written by Mary Humphreys
This is Marmite music. You hate it or love it. I love it, but recognise it is a niche market. It is ostensibly music to dance to, but with the complex arrangements and extremely long introductory passages and associated arrhythmical playing I cannot see it being used by any dance clubs for dancing to. The voices over-dubbed on some of the tracks are not very conducive to encouraging the dancers to concentrate on dancing. Chris Green has over-dubbed to infinity on all the tracks - he has only one guest musician Paul James who plays saxophone, the rest is all his own work, mastered by Steve Kitch.
Notwithstanding my comments above, I would urge people to give this CD a play - borrow it from the library or borrow it from friends to see if you like it. Chris Green has done some sterling work in liberating manuscripts from dusty library shelves and publishing his findings. His version of Playford tunes deserves a listen because it brings out the joy and exhilaration of dancing with abandon that seems to have deserted many Playford dance clubs. He might well become the darling of the Zesty Playford scene as it gathers momentum nationally.
This is not dance music for geriatrics, but I do not believe that Playford dances were intended to be danced by them. It was for youngsters with energy to dance all night. This is goes some way to opening a door to a new reading of Playford.
Blast Media BFTP012 Chris Green www.chrisgreenmusic.uk