Live recordings - Tony Rees archive

Subject: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 12 Sep 21 - 04:16 PM

Hi all, readers of another thread entitled "Making folk club recordings available" (/mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=166031) may have seen some of this stuff before, but because the list has grown a bit since first introduced in that thread, I thought it deserved its own identity - as well as being easier to find gathered in one place rather than scattered through that thread, which is also getting a bit towards its terminal stage I would say...

Just to recap, since around 1973 in the UK, and 1986 in Australia, I have on occasion brought recording equipment along to folk club, concert and festival performances that I have attended - probably less than 1% though - evolving through time from a small mono machine (portable radio cassette, battery dependent, life of batteries and cost of tapes a limiting factor) through better quality cassette, then a small video 8 camera, a Beta hifi for recording better quality audio + video, a CDR machine, more recently a small digital video camera, and possibly others I have forgotten. Result - an archive (if you can call it that) of selected performances over the years by a wide range of artists - mostly folk with a sprinkling of jazz and country, that I am gradually making available via Youtube.

Now Youtube has its limitations as a distribution/archiving medium, not least being its copyright policy (discussed further in the previous thread mentioned), possible slight degradation of audio to (similar to) mp3 quality, and video-only format that is not intended for download, but these can be lived with (sometimes with workarounds) in exchange for the ease with which interested persons can discover and view/listen to the content with great ease, also on any device. Also the long term future of content posted to Youtube is not obvious: will it be there in 10, 20 or 50 years? Who knows, but, certainly for the last number, neither will I... so possibly others can take this on board as curators of cultural material for posterity.

So, my thought is to list here the recordings that I have put up to date for your enjoyment and for preservation of material from my archive which might otherwise never be seen, or shared, or would one day go to the tip on my demise, and to add to it as I get around to uploading more. I hope readers will agree with me that it is a resource well worth hearing and (in later cases) viewing plus of course, huge thanks to the multitude of talented performers whose work is presented here, who have contributed so much to our cultural life and pleasure through the years.

Here we go with the list to date. Audio and/or video quality may be a bit shaky at times, but hey, them's the breaks... BTW I am still approaching such performers as I have contact details for, for their permission to put up more more material. Enjoy!

The Albion Country Band (Mark 3) live at the 1973 Norwich Folk Festival (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW7tF_hvUz8

Nic Jones at Oxford Polytechnic Folk Club, March 1975 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUFgE5H9Nk

Chris Foster at the Gypsy Davey Folk Club, Oxford, March 1975 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5820n1glAw

Richard & Linda Thompson - Oxford Town Hall, 22 April 1975 (audio, 2 parts): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtVm_PryQo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zSq2UTkiSI

Richard & Linda Thompson plus band live at the 1975 Cambridge Folk Festival (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDTbEhCWD2s

Häns'che Weiss Quintet (Gypsy Jazz) live at the 1975 Cambridge Folk Festival (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI0TjipJs08

Dick & Camilla Fegy, London, February 1981 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qskuAEG2MPk

Waso (Gypsy Jazz) live at Sevenoaks, March 1982 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcozC-ryJmM

Albert Lee & Vince Gill with the Flying Emus, Melbourne, February 1988 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV0tdcRUH30

Scott Hamilton + band, Hobart, October 1989 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW9hCL0QZPs

Neil Adam sings "Yellow Shoes" at the 1997 George Town Festival (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn-TVMsSV_E

Monsieur Camembert (world music / gypsy / klezmer band) at Tree House Vineyard, Hobart, Tasmania, March 2000 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-SkkO9mmFI

The Wrigley Sisters (Jennifer & Hazel Wrigley) live in concert, Tasmania, March 2002: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zbUADJEM2M

Jon Delaney Quartet (gypsy jazz) live in Hobart, November 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y-nf1cz61I

Gadjo Guitars (Nigel Date guitar, Cameron Jones guitar, Peter Walters double bass) in Lismore, 2015, playing "What is This Thing Called Love" (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmXvV27otCk and "I'll See You In My Dreams": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mPLQ8_lyXk .

More to come - watch this space...

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 13 Sep 21 - 03:12 PM

OK, I have uploaded 2 more shows, both video this time:

- Neil Adam at George Town Festival, Tasmania, 1997 (30 mins approx): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6-dkTxk3m8

- Kavisha Mazzella at George Town Festival, Tasmania, 1996 (42 mins approx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlBDDVzwy1Y

Both of these are fine Australian singer-songwriters, although Neil is originally from the UK (he played with Silly Wizard at one time). Neil is a refreshingly original composer, singer and guitarist; I liked one of his compositions (a waltz entitled "The Bride's Return") so much that I recorded a version of it on my own CD of 20-odd years ago. Kavisha is of Italian-Scottish-Burmese heritage and brings a definite Italian slant to some of her songs. Her version of the Tarantella (bringing on some guusts, both nusicians and dancers) towards the end of her set is priceless. She has one of the great voices of contemporary Australian folk music - if you have not discovered her, you definitely should :) .

Enjoy...

- Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 13 Sep 21 - 03:23 PM

In case of interest... some background on Kavisha here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavisha_Mazzella

One of the accompanying pictures (this one) is a still I took at the same show (with eyes off the video camera for a moment)...

Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 14 Sep 21 - 03:47 PM

OK, next release: Kristina Olsen live at Cygnet Folk Festival, January 1997, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKVX8wcIoz8

Another great concert - thanks Kristina (also for the permission to upload...)

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Sep 21 - 09:06 PM

more! more!

I've sent your site to a couple of newsletter, state & national.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 12:38 AM

For completeness, I should probably mention some recordings that I have put up from my holdings that did not originate from me but from others:

- Richard & Linda Thompson with Simon Nicol - Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 7 February 1981 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K2nZAKcgVs (original soundboard recording by Ray Tomlinson??, copy held by myself)

- Fairport Convention: "Folk Meets Pop", 1969 (audio)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scqd5UPAzWg (audience recording of poor quality, original taper unknown)

- Chris Foster in concert 1975 / in session 1977 (audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOG6Bv5OlG8 (off-air recordings by myself and others, originally from BBC radio broadcasts).

It is not my intention to put up too many of these, only where there do not seem to be any other known (or preferably, better) copies in circulation :)

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: cnd
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 08:21 AM

Great work Tony! I listened to the Gypsy Jazz one yesterday and it was fun

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 15 Sep 21 - 03:26 PM

Thanks CND ... actually a few of them are Gypsy Jazz: Häns'che Weiss Quintet (Germany) with a young (17 yr old) Titi Winterstein in violin (now an older man!), Waso (Belgium) featuring the great Fapy Lafertin on lead guitar, the late Jon Delaney RIP (Australia), and Gadjo Guitars featuring Nigel Date (also Australia, also good); also some parts of Monsieur Camembert, balancing the klezmer element... So as you can tell I may have a bit of a soft spot for that genre, probably stimulated in the first place by seeing Diz Disley play the folk clubs in the early 70s, then by his role in assisting with Stephane Grappelli's comeback - at the Cambridge Folk Festival of all places! (I was not there that year - 1974 - but was the following one).

Gypsy Jazz (GJ to its friends) has more recently become quite a popular niche area i.e. increased in world popularity among amateurs enjoying the style, but is fiendishly difficult really, requiring very high standards of proficiency. They say that as far as practicing goes, the first 30 years are the worst which sort of fits with my experience, consequently I tend to concentrate on other musical styles for my own playing!

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 17 Sep 21 - 02:17 AM

Of course there is also my archive of musician photos too - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tony_1212#Music_related_2 if you have not previously visited it. Sometimes I had a tape recorder with me, others a camera, but most often neither (though a time machine would be nice...)

Enjoy - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 17 Sep 21 - 04:20 PM

How wonderful to have a photo of the Albion Band at Holland House in July (I think) 1983. I was there with my son, and a ghetto blaster which I used to record the gig. Unfortunately the cassette was duff and it speeds up, from memory a small number of tracks are not too bad. I may still have the cassette.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 17 Sep 21 - 06:19 PM

RE the Albion band gig: I believe I have a second photo from the same show, the band is more distant but there are dancers in the foreground (also it is daylight rather than dusk falling). I will see if I can dig it out. Obviously shots were a lot more rationed in the days before digital took over! Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 18 Sep 21 - 01:14 AM

OK, next blast from the past: A short (22 mins) set from Mark Robson, English/Australian musician also known from his band "Kangaroo Moon", recorded in Hobart, Tasmania in 1995. Some lovely piano, low whistle and didgeridoo playing + vocals - take your pick! Cheers Tony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1whjfN1zOgE

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 18 Sep 21 - 02:18 AM

To Bonzo3legs: I have put my second Albions photo from the 1983 Holland Park Gig on Google Docs at https://docs.google.com/document/d/11MDWqOWj1e9DYvl9xDOrJM0zdTy3hMliGXlFe1GWE6s/ ... let me know if it does not work for you. Have not added it to the Wikimedia Commons set at this time because image quality is a bit poor, but of historic interest if you were there! I think you can just make out Ashley (dressed in black) probably dancing with Cathy Lesurf (obscured) in amongst the dancers, having stepped out of the band...

Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 18 Sep 21 - 08:14 AM

Many thanks, no luck with locating the tape yet unfortunately. I've just remembered the guitarists' names - Alan Prosser on the left with the afro hair, and Martin Vincent on the right, who I think Ashley told me was a temporary member of the dance line up when Simon Nicol was not available.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 22 Sep 21 - 03:35 PM

Next for your enjoyment: an hour and 20 mins (plus) of the superb Jez Lowe, audio+video, live in Tasmania, 1997:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDwrM6n07OA.

Jez was on a joint tour with Chis While and Julie Matthews at the time, the latter also recorded and hopefully to be uploaded at some point...

Jez is so smooth I could listen to him all day! But then I could say the same for most of the artists uploaded thus far...

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Sep 21 - 09:11 PM

I'm listening to it now - good stuff!

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 02:47 PM

Hi all, here is another for your possible interest: a live concert by the New Zealand performer Jyoshna (then Jyotsna) La Trobe, recorded by myself in Tasmania in 1995 with a backing band of local musicians. Jyoshna is a devotee of Indian devotional music and this is reflected in her songwriting. Something a bit different for those of us brought up on the "Anglo Celtic" and/or U.S. singer songwriter traditions, but potentially of interest to those of more of a "world music" persuasion and in any case, a tape I did not want to be lost to posterity.

I sent this recording to Jyoshna who decided that she would like to publish it via her own YouTube channel, which is fine with me (YT only permits one copy of a particular item to be uploaded). You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw-x2BuSlNE. For a complete set of Jyoshna's uploads, including a number of recordings of Indian musicians in the field, see here.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 02:55 PM

PS I made a few still images (frame grabs and montages) from this video tape and placed them on Wikipedia Commons here, which you can see if interested:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Jyotsna+Tasmania&title=Special:...

A few of my Tasmanian friends may recognise themselves!

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 02:19 PM

So, here is another one: this time it is the all-female Austalian vocal group "Arramaieda", recorded in Hobart in April 1995, with sound from a feed from the PA plus my own additional microphones on the stage, video from a separate tripod mounted camera. The video is nothing like pro quality but is OK for the day, audio is very good.

Arramaieda at this point were Melanie Shanahan, Rachel Hore, Kirsten Mackenzie and Pascale Rose (Mark Robson guests on the last track). Melanie is sadly no longer with us but the remaining three ladies have been very gracious and appreciative in permitting this archive recording to be uploaded. In my view it is a fitting tribute to Melanie's memory and indeed, so far as I am aware, the only footage of her in performance that is available for anyone to view, although who knows, maybe there is more that no-one has ever seen...

You can access this upload "Arramaieda (vocal group), Tasmania 1995" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7R0Dg-ihzk. You can read a little more about the history of Arramaieda at the Wikipedia article for Melanie Shanahan, which is already illustrated by 2 still images (frame grabs) from this show, uploaded by myself a couple of years back.

If you have not seen this group before I think you will be impressed by the uplifting power and spirit of their music, all sung (in Melanie's own words on the tape, referring to a former musical colleague) with such heart. The set immediately preceding this portion of the concert was by Mark Robson, another excellent musician, that performance uploaded a few weeks back (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1whjfN1zOgE).

Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 11:38 PM

Fellow mudcatter Rich-Joy ("rich-joy") has posted a nice appreciation of the last upload on the separate thread I stared a few years back, "Melanie Shanahan- Arramaeida (Australia)" - see there to read it if you would like.

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 12:21 AM

Some nice comments, too, on the recent upload of the concert by Jyoshna by friends on her Facebook page here - but whether you have to be her FB friend or not to be able to view them, I am not sure...

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: GUEST,CJB666
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 05:25 AM

Whilst recordings may be uploaded to YouTube unfortunately they then reduce the bitrate to less than listenable quality. For hifi audio there is WAV or FLAC formats. MP3 is crap, but the minimum for listenable music is 320kbps. To use the argument that it is 'only folk' so why bother is frankly offensive to the genre and performers. Instead of YouTube there is Dimeadozen - and there's many great shows on there - in FLAC format. And membership is free.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 06:46 AM

Hi Chris, thanks for the comment ... my original recordings are at a range of audio qualities, for the earliest ones originating from lo- to mid- fi cassettes, even mp3 quality is probably sufficient. For the ones with better quality original audio, yes I can hear a slight degradation to youtube standard - variously quoted at 128 to 320 kbps equivalent (I re-encode my audio to 320 in order to upload to youtube, and they possibly degrade it further) but it is tolerable at least - e.g. if you are OK listening to jazz, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW9hCL0QZPs as an example, and see if it is at least "listenable". However for the audio-only files, I agree that a higher resolution repository would be better, that someone else (not me) would maintain in perpetuity - just not really found one as yet - Dime not being a repository, just a lot of links to where the files are on other people's computers (which then have to be on and linked to the internet, with good bandwidth, which mine is not...) And Dime does not handle video files, so far as I am aware, with or without better quality audio than youtube.

Therefore the ultimate perfect "repository" for this stuff still eludes me at this time, however YouTube is at least a mechanism to make them available for listening and/or viewing by interested persons for now (better than being inaccessible).

Cheers - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 25 Oct 21 - 12:37 AM

Interestingly, my recent post of the live Arramaieda video recording from 1995 has passed 1,700 views in the week since it was made public... I gather because one of the remaining members (Rachel) has a large email list and circulated the link to all on it! Also some nice appreciation for the group and for my own modest efforts to preserve them for posterity on that page, see Arramaieda (vocal group), Tasmania 1995.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 24 Nov 21 - 11:29 PM

Next from the archive ... some British folk-blues from Dave Jeffs, excellent singer, guitarist and harmonica player originally from London (my guess) but resident in Oxford from at least the mid 60s to mid 70s; eventually moved to Ibiza where he was seemingly much loved and respected as a musician up to his relatively early death in 2013 (a number of concerts there in his memory since 2013, plus 2 tribute pages on FaceBook entitled "Dave on my Mind" and "Dave Jeffs ACMS").

My tape, uncirculated for 46 years since it was made is entitled "Dave Jeffs (UK acoustic blues performer), Oxford, 1975" and is now up at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrXTCQOBoi8 - see accompanying notes for more details. This seems to be the only extant recording of his acoustic persona apart from one track on a charity EP recorded in Oxford in 1965, so he had obviously been performing for a decade by the time I encountered him playing around Oxford and no doubt more widely afield. There are a very few much later recordings of him on YouTube in Ibiza with an electric band such as this one, recorded in the 2000s, but not much... RIP Dave, a man who so clearly loved his music and played it for 40+ years.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 25 Nov 21 - 12:15 AM

A brief Dave Jeffs biography here - but only if you can read Spanish... Great late picture though, with same guitar, much travelled!

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 11 Apr 22 - 02:30 AM

I sent this to Mudcat a few days ago but I think it got swept away in the flood... Next upload to youtube, an approx. 1 hour show by Kavisha Mazzella with Dave Steel (Australian musicians and singer songwriters both, though this is really Kavisha's show), here: Kavisha Mazzella (Australian singer-songwriter) with Dave Steel, Tasmania, January 1999.

As indicated earlier in this thread, Kavisha is one of my favourite artists and you owe it to yourself to give her a listen!! Uploaded with permission from both Kavisha and Dave, for which thanks.

If you are a facebook user you might be able to read the comments on this upload via her facebook page (depending on how public they may be), try here: https://www.facebook.com/kavisha.mazzella/posts/10158749679517361 (if not, no harm done!) Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Apr 22 - 10:04 AM

I sent it to friends on 3rd April so it was probably posted that day.

next?

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 17 Jul 22 - 01:26 AM

OK, next cab off the rank: "Chris While & Julie Matthews, Tasmania 1997", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irf1rcNQHDE ... a stellar show from 2 of the UK's best songwriters and performers on tour in Australia, should need no introductions (also of Albion Band, etc. etc.). Same tour/concert as Jez Lowe as previously uploaded, they sing some numbers together at the end of the tape.

Hope you enjoy! Regards - Tony

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 17 Jul 22 - 01:54 AM

some numbers = one number (with Jez), "Old Bones" (encore).

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 17 Jul 22 - 05:02 AM

They are 2 lovely ladies!

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 01:47 AM

As at now the messages in this thread are coming out in a weird order (for me) but no matter...

Just like to mention some nice feedback on my last uploaded video, being Chris While + Julie Matthews, Tasmania 1997, via Chris & Julie's Facebook page - I *think* it should be publicly viewable, if not please let me know: Chris While + Julie Matthews FB post August 23 2022

I like the fact that Chris and Julie, plus various other artists, are pleased to see their "earlier" shows available via this method. Plus the usual "OMG we look so young there" type comments!!

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 04:53 AM

Wonderful to see them 27 years ago. First time I saw Julie was with the Albion Band in 1987 dressed as Count Zorro, and Chris again with the Albions around 1992.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 05:58 AM

Now logged in!

Wonderful to see them 27 years ago. First time I saw Julie was with the Albion Band in 1987 dressed as Count Zorro, and Chris again with the Albions around 1992.

Subject: RE: Live recordings - Tony Rees archive
From: Tony Rees
Date: 21 Nov 22 - 12:47 PM

Here's another from the archive:

Dave Swarbrick solo - Hobart, 1995

53 mins of pure 1990s Dave, early afternoon in a pub, as the announcer says, "you all welcome to join Dave afterwards for breakfast"...

Enjoy!

- Tony