Sound Engine > Joe Broughton > SAECD4

This is by no stretch of the imagination a straight folk album, though all of Broughton's fiddle playing and a lot of his guitar playing betray his folkish predispositions.  Almost all nine contributing musicians seem to leave their stamp on the album, though somehow, the whole sounds like the utterance of a single compositional voice.  Maybe that's the true genius of personnel management in the Ellingtonian tradition that Broughton brings to his leadership role.  So, elegant lead guitar solos merge effortlessly into hard bop and trip hop rhythm loops underscore languid and meditative instrumental passages...Sound Engine is thoroughly recommended for students of the impure and hybrid, lovers of jazz and folk as well as novel and imaginative composition.

 Rob Smith - Taplas

June 2002

Don't you just love a chameleon? I mean there's Joe Broughton capering around with the Albion Band, playing all those fizzy jigs and reels he comes up with and you reckon you know what he'd produce for a solo album? More of those finger popping, toe tapping tunes, right? Wrong! Joe Broughton is a shape shifter and more of a jazz vampire. Although he uses plenty of his Albion mates and others from similar spheres like Neil Yates and Fret T. Baker on the sessions, there is little here that hints at his regular job. What he does give is intriguing - huge slabs of jazz fusion, heavy on the grooves and little that majors on fiddle. Instead, Broughton displays an uncanny ability on guitars, keyboards, bass, mandolins and electronics, conjuring up numbers that shift and swim in bright colours and myriad hues, the musicians stretching the envelope on Sound Engine and Today. To add to the party, tracks like Sleep use Indian percussion and even new age elements, whilst Confession steps straight out of Gregorian chant, plainsong and early music! There are a lot of apples in Broughton's barrel. Dare to be different, investigate the chameleon, an album that alters what you thought you knew.

Simon Jones - Folk Roots

January 2003

A CD by the bright young fiddle player who heads up The Albion Band with singer Kellie While brings lots of preconceptions with it but blows them out of the water almost immediately. The delight of something coming out of leftfield and grabbing your attention is attractive in itself but by track two I was happily enjoying some great performances as well.

The great Neil Yates' trumpet opener to Estoy Perdido and the subsequent toe-tapping rhythms and jazz-flavoured interplay between the four musicians involved is irresistibly infectious. Mix-and-match musical projects are often bland and occasionally downright awful but this doesn't sit on that shelf. It's full of intelligent, interesting tunes and some of the strangest tracks to ever sit side by side on one album. Perhaps it's jazz more than it's folk, but not as we know either and Joe's previous work with The Albion Band and with his brother Ben doesn't really prepare you for anything that's here amongst these ten self-penned tracks.

The arrangements and rhythms on Today are reminiscent of the great Portuguese mandolinist Julio Perreira, who appears to be mad as a fish but makes some great music. That Jack Nicholson Grin is great fun with wonderfully over the top performances from Ben Vlijmincx and the lovely voice of Jo Hamilton. Confession, with Joy Krishnamoorthy's magical vocals is beautiful and Joe accompanies her perfectly on guitar and fiddle.

I doubt there are many musicians who'll have made an album as diverse as this one and if you want a challenge that will definitely reap rewards then this is a CD for you.

Kit Bailey - BBC Website July 2002

The collaboration between ex-Whippersnapper guitarist Kevin Dempsey and Albion Band's young fiddle player, Joe Broughton is very enjoyable, especially Broughton's reflective compositions that hint at his classical grounding, though unmistakably in a folk idiom...the combination of virtuosity and good taste is always engaging, as is the essential Englishness of his style. The "live in the studio" recording captures perfectly the empathetic interplay between these two fine musicians. With tunes from Turkey, Bulgaria and Ireland too, and one song from Dempsey, this varied album is well worth checking out.

Nick Passmore - Taplas

June 2002

I have admired Kevin Dempsey’s musicianship (and character) from the days of Whippersnapper band and before. He is the epitome of class guitarists: sensitive, imaginative and accurate. Joe Broughton is a perfect foil, playing violin with equal flair and technique. The resultant is greater than the sum of the parts. It is nigh impossible to categorise the music they make together. Kevin’s voice is distinctive, unmistakeable. And I always feel that he genuinely loves the traditional songs he chooses to sing. I suppose it’s part of the reviewer’s brief to pigeon-hole albums in some way, simply to give the reader a foretaste of what to expect on buying the work. This has been one of the most difficult to describe. There is a temptation to compare this with Django Rheinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. But I don’t recall them ever making me think twice about traditional British music. I suppose if I told most folkies that this is a bit jazzy, they’d go away thinking about Kenny Ball. It’s a lot better than I’m making it sound. There are fast tracks, but I let the last track fade with a feeling of inner content and serenity. Superb musicianship, brilliant conception and execution. I’m unlikely to attempt any emulation of this style – it’s beyond my capability. But then, I’m still replaying Mozart string quartets and my old Beatles records too. I think this one will get worn out before I do. So, all you bands out there who think you can “jazz-up” folk music, hear this and weep!

Flos Headford - Shreds & Patches

Winter 2002

...as good as anything you are likely to hear in a long time...immaculately played, with feeling...

Ian Burgess - The Ledge

July 2002

Road Movies > The Albion Band > TSCD523

...every so often an Albions record comes along that deserves to soar above all the back catalogue jostling and punter confusion, and this is one such. For a start, the line-up is sensational: vocalist/guitarist Ken Nicol's cap doffs refreshingly towards lost hero Nic Jones as much as to Folk-rock benchmark Richard Thompson, while fiddler/keyboardist Joe Broughton will thrill and astound those who yearn for the sound of Dave Swabrick in a modern context...this is a confident, crisp and even funky album for today with power, pathos and just a little light relief in perfect blend.

Colin Harper - Mojo

Steve Henderson - NetRhythms.co.uk

Chester brothers Ben and Joe Broughton title their album "The Continuing Adventures of..." as if part of an ongoing saga. Well whatever the reason the music on this particular episode is intriguingly good. "The Road to Heswall" crosses traditional music with funky bass and jazz-rock guitar in a fresh concoction while "Kitchen Girl Set" is their usual gig opener. Ben and Joe attack their music with almost reckless abandon but underneath there lies a deep respect for tradition. "I Still Want You" shows them more than capable songwriters with a penchant for creating haunting evocative works. "Midnight Skies" benefits from Alison Symons' backing vocals shining out and adding an extra foil for Ben's lead vocals. Ben and Joe Broughton in "The Continuing Adventures of..." have arrived at a fresh and ingenious take on traditional music and well crafted original songs. Here's to the next adventure.

Rock 'n' Reel

The Broughtons, brothers both and almost twins, but not quite......they speak as one and finish each other's sentences, I know, I met them last weekend. They're Desperate Dan and Dennis the Menace flung into the context of roots music. The whole of The Continuing Adventures of....is one technicolour Beano or Dandy Annual, Where our heroes pull stunts, gaffes, have a high old time and get Dad to slip on a banana skin. Oh how my sides ached....all that's missing is Beryl The Peril, but then perhaps she isn't because along came Daring Adventures after a few tracks- The Broughtons go electric, and kick ass in a splendid style. You want the Dransfields gone sonic, here it is. The North West is only just waking up to what the likes of Keith Hancock and Ashley Hutchings know already - Broughton music means added fibre and a healthier lifestyle.

Simon Jones - Folk Roots

"...a bigger, fruitier sound emerges from the melodic harmony of Joe Broughton's violin and Zorn's reeds, particularly effective on the skat-jazz jig The Landslide, where the improvisation threatens to spiral off until Broughton expertly brings matters to a conclusion, by belting full tilt through a hyperspeed reel."

Simon Jones - Folk Roots

July 2002

BOOK REVIEWS

A Collection of Fiddle Pieces > Book by Joe Broughton

Seventy-two pages filled with poems, serious and, well, daft really, as well as the music to many of Joe’s fiddle tunes.  Many have been recorded on Albion Band albums or on Ben and Joe Broughton albums.  Most of the tunes either have a story or some comment attached to them.  In the case of “The Solar Powered Sun Bed” the comment is “One in a range of products I plan to launch as soon as I can get a sponsor.”, or “The Guitar Tunes”, which he thinks is an original title for two fiddle tunes.  So for musicians there’s plenty to have a go at, and for non-musicians there’s plenty of reading, personal favourites being “Little Freddie The Frog”, and “Swarby”.  Many of the pages have illustrations relating in one way or another to the tunes or poems, one including an excerpt from his school report.  If you have talked to Joe, or just seen him play live (On a unicycle during the Christmas show!) you will know what a sense of humour he has.  This comes across throughout the book.  To quote from Ashley Hutchings introduction, “It has my unreserved recommendation”.  I couldn’t agree more.

Ian Burgess - The Ledge

May 2000

Introduction by Ashley Hutchings, November 1999

When I asked Joe to Join The Albion Band a few years ago I thought we would be getting a fine fiddler, capable of playing in many styles. Also a nice friendly chap. This was all just fine with me and my cohorts. I was totally unprepared for the massive individual talent that came breezing into the group. The initial period revealed someone with a very well developed sense of humour (often bordering on the surreal), together with circus-type skills, like juggling and balancing. Furthermore he was totally at home in front of an audience. We had acquired a true entertainer - in the best and fullest sense of the word. It was only after I had known Joe for a longer period that I became aware of what a magnificent, original composer he was and, to cap it all, a remarkable poet as well. This book reveals to the world at large these latter skills, and in a very enjoyable and personal way. It has my unreserved recommendation.

LIVE REVIEWS

Kevin Dempsey and Joe Broughton  > The Floor

This month’s floor was sold out and ticket only due to the appearance of Albion Band fiddler Joe Broughton and legendary guitarist Kevin Dempsey - in fact we had to change the seating for the first time to fit as many people in as possible...After the interval we had the cyclonic Broughton and Dempsey set. Worth waiting all this time for, we heard two professional musicians at full throttle. They mesh extremely well. Joe Broughton’s violin technique is dazzling - classically trained but with a smattering of many styles, always virtuosic. The material is mostly self-penned including “Accidentals waitng to happen“, a syncopated set played at blistering speed and peppered with accidentals, quotes from the Hot Club of France and East European rhythms. Kevin Dempsey playing an outsize guitar (a Gretsch), matched this with zest, perfect timing and chunky rhythms. Joe Broughton’s violin was made locally by the Leominster luthier John Langstaffe. This enthralling and mind–boggling music was acccompanied by some off-beat humour, and you could be sure that no other two musicians could sound just like that. It is a pleasure to have such a sound in a small venue, and once again we are grateful to all the performers and to the audience who listen so carefully and appreciatively.

                                                                                                                      Andrew Cook

February 2004

Kevin Dempsey and Joe Broughton > Bridgnorth Festival

And we saw Joe Broughton again. He really is a superb master of his instrument and really gets some fun and excitement into his playing. This time his fiddle playing was balanced against the guitar of Kevin Dempsey. Balanced is really totally inadequate to describe the magical way they react to each other trading complex melody lines and changes in tempo and rhythm with a spectacular ease, and evident enjoyment. If you get even a sniff of a chance to see them together do not hesitate, go for it.

Alan Gough - Folkalpoint Website

September 2002

The Albion Band > Cramphorn Theatre

Although the leading light behind the Albion Band, Ashley Hutchings is famous for founding Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. Albion is not a natural successor to these bands. Developing over the last 20 or so years, the band takes English folk rock to a new high, with music which is far more sensitive and to my mind, relies on a much higher degree of skill among the musicians.

Key among these is a fiddle player of no mean ability. Joe Broughton was able to bring an almost possessed degree of musicianship to a number of favourite and new (to me) songs. Of these, I especially liked his rendition of '2 Roads'. It combined his skills on the fiddle with a haunting background from Pete Zorn on soprano sax to create a memorable piece.

Kellie While is a relatively new addition to the band, and she contributes a finely honed sense of reflective folk singing to it, with numbers such as the well known 'Humble Bridge'. Neil Marshall on drums plays a major part in the style of the music, providing a solid backdrop, and contributed a fine and imaginative drum solo in the second half. Ashley himself, presides over the proceedings like an avuncular presence, keeping up a brooding bass accompaniment to many of the tunes, and adding many of his own compositions.

The knowledgeable audience which packed the Cramphorn, loved every minute of this 'wall of sound' experience.

Jim Hutchon - Chelmsford Weekly News

April 2002