Delighted about this lovely review by Pete Mullineaux…
Review – I Can Hear You Calling – Lena Ullman & Anna Falkenau
On this wonderfully inventive new CD, Lena Ullman (banjo & vocals) and Anna Falkenau (fiddles) offer up a magical interpretation of Old-Timey and Irish Traditional, along with a number of compelling original compositions. The playing throughout manages to combine a wholly natural, yet meticulous attention to detail on the one hand with a playful freedom of expression on the other. Some songs and tunes appear in more unusual keys (Homeless, Black Jack David) and result in delightfully subtle nuances of tone and texture. Extending out from this inventive approach are such exotic flights of fancy as the gorgeous jazz tinged tune Fog, the evocative Stranger in the Garden and the incorporation of Anna’s accomplished South Indian fiddle playing on the magnificent Waiting for Anna, aided and abetted by some tricky sounding riffs too from the banjo. As a counterweight to all this joyful extravagance, other tracks begin with simple yet haunting melodic patterns (Blueberry /Snowdrop) which immediately anchor the music and pull you into a shared intimacy with the players. Then, as on several tracks, (Blueberry, Red Rocking Chair, Homeless, Black Jack David) Lena’s distinctively pure and poignant vocals are added into the mix. The overall result is a showcase for innovation and virtuoso playing. It will be hard to find a more energised fiddle-banjo combo than on Chilean Horseman or playing as exuberant as on Apatchy Hunting in the Garden. A richly fertile musical partnership tuned in to one another’s style of playing; and most certainly a case where left and right hands really do seem to know what the other is doing.
Pete Mullineaux – author of Session –poems inspired by Irish Traditional Music, Salmon Poetry.
