Brass Monkey - Topic Records

A ground-breaking five-piece band incorporating trumpet and trombone as well as squeezeboxes, mouth organ, percussion and guitar, Brass Monkey had a short but glittering career in the mid-'80s. A decade later the almost-original lineup of Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick, Howard Evans, Richard Cheetham and Martin Brinsford reunited to make Sound & Rumour, which heralded the start of the second phase of their career.

• "A fantastic colliery band/jazz folk fusion" Sunday Times

BRASS MONKEY FLAME OF FIRE TSCD550

Their best album so far. Brass Monkey return with their "Deep English" sound, and have never sounded better. "Flame of Fire" sees the band performing with a new intensity.

• "Anyone who shares a love of traditional music or enjoys being intrigued and pleasantly surprised should seek this album out. This is a great, sophisticated album which may confuse some pop music sensibilities. Long may Brass Monkey play with such subversive brilliance.' Morning Star

• "There is no doubt that Brass Monkey is one of the most important bands to appear in the world of folk music - top quality interpretations of English music - excellent.' The Living Tradition

• "An album of big tunes – it sparks powerful emotions' fRoots magazine

• "If you like any form of brass-band music, from classical to New Orleans jazz, Brass Monkey’s uniquely English variant is guaranteed" Dirty Linen

1 The Swinton May Song
2 The Installation
3 A Brisk Young Widow
4 The Maid Of Australia
5 Bill Driver's Quickstep + Maiden Lane
6 The Game Of All Fours
7 Happy Hours
8 The Queen's Birthday + New Whitehall + Dick's Maggot
9 Flame Of Fire
10 The Marriage Vow
11 The Streams Of Lovely Nancy
12 La Belle Jeanette + Billy Harrisons Father's Polka

13 Limbo
14 The Duke Of Wellington's March

Martin Brinsford drums, tambourine, cymbal, shaker, berimbau, reco-reco, mouth organs, saxophone
Martin Carthy vocals, guitar, mandolin, 5 string banjo
Howard Evans trumpets, flugelhorn
John Kirkpatrick vocals, button accordion, anglo concertinas
Roger Williams bass trombone, tenor trombone, tuba, euphonium

BRASS MONKEY GOING & STAYING TSCD531

The greatest recording yet from this unique powerhouse band. "Going and Staying" features the band's Deep English sound. Unique instrumentation and their approach to folk music give Brass Monkey an instantly recognisable sound and presence. For many of the tracks, the lineup expands to a six-piece featuring an extended brass section.

• Included in the Mojo Magazine "Top 10 Folk Albums of 2001"

• 'If there is a British folk supergroup these days, it's surely this unusual band" The Guardian
• '...a vitality about the whole thing ... lending majesty and a refreshingly different landscape on which to place these ... songs' fRoots Magazine
• 'The arrangements and playing are inventive and alive - played in a unique style which is eminently listenable' Get Rhythm magazine
• 'One of the most vibrant folk releases of the year" What's On

1 Put The Road In Order
2 The Doffing Mistress
3 The Cornish Quickstep + The Pleasure Gardens Polka
4 The Pigeon On The Gate + The Primrose Lass
5 Heather Down The Moor
6 The Holborne Suite: The Fruit Of Love + The Choise + The Honie-Suckle
7 A Maiden Sat A-Weeping
8 Gathering Peascods + The Rose Tree + Jerusalem
9 The Crockery Ware

10 Four Bacup Tunes

11 Going And Staying

Martin Carthy vocals, guitar, mandolin
John Kirkpatrick vocals, button accordion, melodeon, treble, baritone & bass Anglo concertinas
Howard Evans trumpets
Richard Cheetham tener trombone, alto sackbutt
Martin Brinsford percussion, mouth-organ
Roger Williams bass trombone, tuba

BRASS MONKEY SOUND & RUMOUR TSCD501

'I think that the whole band felt that, when we stopped playing in 1987, we still had plenty of life left in us,' Carthy writes in the notes, 'and that, when we played the Sidmouth Festival eight years later, it felt as though we'd never been away.' Brass Monkey's comeback album is an exhilarating blend of sea songs, Morris tunes, travellers' songs and a pipe march.

1 The Flash Lad
2 Morris Tune / The Rose / Trunkles
3 An Acre of Land
4 Old Horse
5 The Heroes of St Valery
6 The Charming Maid
7 The Roving Journeyman
8 Rodney / When I was Young / The Quaker
9 The Old Virginia Lowlands
10 Auretti's Dutch Skipper / An Adventure at Margate / The Spirit of the Dance

11 Soldier, Soldier / The Flowers of Edinburgh
12 The Rambling Comber
13 Betty Fitchett's Wedding / The German Schottische

Martin Carthy vocals, guitar, mandolin
John Kirkpatrick vocals, Anglo-concertina, button-accordion, single-row melodeon
Howard Evans trumpet
Richard Cheetham trombone
Martin Brinsford percussion, mouth-organ

BRASS MONKEY THE COMPLETE BRASS MONKEY TSCD467

The group's two '80s albums, combined here, are full of fresh arrangements of traditional songs and tunes. 'Brass Monkey was a great idea,' said Martin Carthy. 'A phenomenal experience.' Q called it 'the finest folk group of the 1980s.'

It should have been acknowledged in the booklet for this CD that the image used is an enlarged detail from “Stooking”, from “The Farmer’s Year” (1933, Collins & Co, London) by Clare Leighton, copyright Clare Leighton Estate

1 Waterman's Hornpipe
2 Fable of the Wings
3 The Miller's Three Sons
4 The Maid & the Palmer
5 Bad News
6 Sovay
7 Tip-Top Hornpipe / Primrose Polka
8 Jolly Bold Robber
9 Old Grenadier
10 George's Son
11 Da Floo'er o' Taft / The Lass o' Paties Mill
12 The Handweaver & the Factory Maid
13 The Rose Lawn Quadrille
14 Willie the Waterboy

15 Doctor Fauster's Tumblers / The Night of Trafalgar / Prince William
16 Riding Down to Portsmouth
17 Trowie Burn
18 The Foxhunt

Martin Carthy guitar, mandolin, vocals
John Kirkpatrick Anglo-concertina, melodeon, button accordion, vocals
Howard Evans trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals
Martin Brinsford c-melody saxophone, mouth-organ, percussion
Roger Williams trombone, vocals
Richard Cheetham trombone

MORE PRESS REVIEWS

FLAME OF FIRE TSCD550

• ' A unique sound' Sheffield Telegraph

• 'The arrangements are subtle as well as sonorous and the textures richly varied. These are great musicians at the top of their game – inspired' Songlines

• 'Glorious' BBC Radio Folk and Acoustic website

• 'Confirms his (Martin Carthy) unassailable role as English folk’s elder statesman'
Daily Telegraph

• 'The overall sound is one you'll not hear anywhere else. Great stuff.' flux

• 'This really is an essential CD for your collection' Folk Monthly

• 'A marriage made in heaven…inspired juxtapostion of tradition (brass and folk)…as good a traditional album as you’re likely to hear this year' Taplas

• 'A very strong contender for album of the year. If you haven’t bought it by now, why not?' Folk on Tap

• 'A unique outfit. Long may their brassy music continue to ring out across the land' Sing Out