A really interesting man, Nathan and good company, I spent most of the weekend with him at the Alan Lomax Festival in Brussels a couple of years back. I managed to do two interviews with him for my radio programme, one on this work with the Lomax Foundation (now renamed The Association For Cultural Equality) and another about his own collecting work, which at that time was in Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains. A lot of these recordings came out on the stunning double CD Ouled Bambara Portraits of Gnawa on Two & Fews/Drag City.   He gave me some tips of where to find these musicians as I was going to Morocco shortly after - but I never managed to locate them.

And mention of Two & Fews/Drag City reminds me that Alasdair Roberts (who was also in that same hotel as I was in Brussels) has also recorded albums for that amazingly eclectic label.

Alasdair is also involved in the realase of an amazing new album Whaur The Pig Gaed On The Spree: Scottish Recordings By Alan Lomax, 1951-1957 on Global Jukebox with a wonderful photo of Jimmy MacBeath on the cover that I have not seen before. (Release date if 08/11/2011 so I haven't got my copy yet.) The mouth-watering track list is as follows:-

1. Mc Ginty's Meal And Ale Davie Stewart         4:54         
        
2. Lord Thomas And Fair Ellen         Jessie Murray         2:14         
        
3. Dean Brigg / Banks Hornpipe         Hector MacAndrew, Alice Mearns 3:25         

4. The Big Kilmarnock Bonnet         John Steven         4:31         
        
5. The Collier Lad         Mary Cosgrove         3:11         
        
6. Hey Barra Gadgie         Jimmy MacBeath         1:12         
        
7. Bonny Anne / The Wife She Brewed It / The Mason's Apron         Jimmy Shand, Sidney Chalmers         3:04         
        
8. The Deadly Wars Are Blast And Blawn         Jeannie Robertson         2:58         
        
9. Johnnie O Braidislea         John Strachan         1:32         
        
10. Binnorie / Rosy Ann / The Laird O Roslin's Daughter William Mathieson         1:58         
        
11. Mc Cafferty         Jimmie MacBeath         3:09         
        
12. The Glendaruel Highlanders         Davie Stewart         1:31         
        
13. My Mother Gave Your Mother         Mearns Family Children         0:50         
        
14. Davy Faa         Jeannie Robertson         4:13         
        
15. Robin Hood And Little John         John Strachan         0:39         
        
16. The John Mac Lean March         Hamish Henderson         2:39         
        
17. Caberfeidh         John Burgess

Nine of the seventeen tracks are by the wonderful people that I managed to meet all those years ago.