Blowzabella
Encyclopedia
Blowzabella are an English band
who play bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies and an array of acoustic instruments to produce an inimitable, driving, drone
-based sound influenced by British and European traditional dance music.
, London in 1978 by Bill O'Toole (bagpipes
, flute
s) from Sydney
and Jon Swayne (bagpipes, flutes) from Glastonbury
, both students in London
. They invited to join them Chris Gunstone (bouzouki
, tapan
), Dave Armitage (melodeon
, bombarde, percussion) and Juan Wijngaard (hurdy gurdy, Flemish
bagpipes) who was soon replaced by Sam Palmer (hurdy gurdy). In late 1979 Bill O'Toole returned to Australia
and was replaced by Dave Roberts (melodeon, percussion
).
The band's name was taken from an English jig (and bawdy drinking song), "Blowzabella My Bouncing Doxie", popular in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Founder-member Bill O'Toole, who discovered the tune while researching potential bagpipe repertoire in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
, thought the name, with its combination of "blow" and "bella", summed up the band's sound.
In 1980 Dave Armitage left the band, to be replaced by Paul James (bagpipes, woodwind
) and Cliff Stapleton (hurdy gurdy). In 1982 Chris Gunstone left and Dave Armitage rejoined the band for a brief period . Early in 1983 Dave Shepherd (fiddle
, five-string fiddle, viola d'amore
) became part of the lineup. Later, in 1983 (after the Winnipeg, Vancouver tour), Samuel Palmer left.
After the recording of the album Tam Lin with Frankie Armstrong
in 1984, Dave Armitage, Cliff Stapleton left Blowzabella and were replaced by Nigel Eaton
(hurdy gurdy) and Ian Luff (bass guitar
, cittern
, mandola
, darabuka). For the recording of The Blowzabella Wall of Sound (1986) the lineup consisted of Nigel Eaton, Paul James, Ian Luff, Dave Roberts, Dave Shepherd and Jon Swayne.
Jo Freya
(vocals
, saxophone
, clarinet
) joined Blowzabella before the recording of A Richer Dust in 1988 (although she is credited as Jo Fraser in the album sleeve). Andy Cutting
(melodeon) also became part of the band's lineup before 1990's Vanilla. However, the pressure of constant touring caused the band to split in December 1990, and each band member took on individual projects, and some continued to play together in duos and trios. In 1996 Dave Roberts died. In 1995 Ian Luff persuaded Andy Cutting, Jon Swayne, Nigel Eaton and Dave Shepherd to play a concert together in Bath, and from 1996 they continued to play a few concerts a year.
In 2002 Paul James contacted all the band members with the idea of a reunion to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Blowzabella in 2003. A lineup of Andy Cutting, Nigel Eaton, Jo Freya, Paul James, Ian Luff, Dave Shepherd, and Jon Swayne played together also Sam Palmer played on a couple of numbers, and renewed enthusiasm combined with lots of new material encouraged the band to continue touring and to record a new album. At the end of 2004 Nigel Eaton left the band and was replaced with Gregory Jolivet, a French hurdy-gurdy player. At the end of 2005 Ian Luff was replaced with Barnaby Stradling on bass guitar.
In July 2007 they released Octomento – the first album of new material since 1990; and in June 2010 the live album
, Dance.
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
who play bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies and an array of acoustic instruments to produce an inimitable, driving, drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
-based sound influenced by British and European traditional dance music.
History
The band was formed in WhitechapelWhitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
, London in 1978 by Bill O'Toole (bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s) from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Jon Swayne (bagpipes, flutes) from Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
, both students in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They invited to join them Chris Gunstone (bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
, tapan
Tapan
Tapan can refer to:* Tapan, Azerbaijan* Tapan , an administrative district in West Bengal, India* Tapan, Homalin, Burma* Geghasar, Armenia, formerly known as Tapan...
), Dave Armitage (melodeon
Melodeon (organ)
A melodeon is a type of 19th century reed organ with a foot-operated vacuum bellows, and a piano keyboard. It differs from the related harmonium, which uses a pressure bellows. Melodeons were manufactured in the United States sometime after 1812 until the Civil War era...
, bombarde, percussion) and Juan Wijngaard (hurdy gurdy, Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
bagpipes) who was soon replaced by Sam Palmer (hurdy gurdy). In late 1979 Bill O'Toole returned to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and was replaced by Dave Roberts (melodeon, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
).
The band's name was taken from an English jig (and bawdy drinking song), "Blowzabella My Bouncing Doxie", popular in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Founder-member Bill O'Toole, who discovered the tune while researching potential bagpipe repertoire in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society , located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House...
, thought the name, with its combination of "blow" and "bella", summed up the band's sound.
In 1980 Dave Armitage left the band, to be replaced by Paul James (bagpipes, woodwind
Woodwind instrument
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
) and Cliff Stapleton (hurdy gurdy). In 1982 Chris Gunstone left and Dave Armitage rejoined the band for a brief period . Early in 1983 Dave Shepherd (fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, five-string fiddle, viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
) became part of the lineup. Later, in 1983 (after the Winnipeg, Vancouver tour), Samuel Palmer left.
After the recording of the album Tam Lin with Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
in 1984, Dave Armitage, Cliff Stapleton left Blowzabella and were replaced by Nigel Eaton
Nigel Eaton
Nigel Eaton is an English hurdy gurdy player. He originally played the piano and cello but switched to the hurdy gurdy in 1981 when his father, Christopher Eaton, began making them. He performed as part of the dance band Blowzabella from 1985 and recorded five albums with them before their split in...
(hurdy gurdy) and Ian Luff (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, mandola
Mandola
The mandola or tenor mandola is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola , a fifth lower than a mandolin...
, darabuka). For the recording of The Blowzabella Wall of Sound (1986) the lineup consisted of Nigel Eaton, Paul James, Ian Luff, Dave Roberts, Dave Shepherd and Jon Swayne.
Jo Freya
Jo Freya
Jo Freya is an English saxophonist, clarinetist and singer.She was born Jo Fraser, but changed her name to Jo Freya as a condition of joining the actors' union Equity, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name...
(vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
) joined Blowzabella before the recording of A Richer Dust in 1988 (although she is credited as Jo Fraser in the album sleeve). Andy Cutting
Andy Cutting
Andy Cutting is an English folk musician and composer. Born 18 March 1969 in Harrow, he plays melodeon and has had instruments made by Castagnari to his own specification. He won the Folk Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2008 and 2011...
(melodeon) also became part of the band's lineup before 1990's Vanilla. However, the pressure of constant touring caused the band to split in December 1990, and each band member took on individual projects, and some continued to play together in duos and trios. In 1996 Dave Roberts died. In 1995 Ian Luff persuaded Andy Cutting, Jon Swayne, Nigel Eaton and Dave Shepherd to play a concert together in Bath, and from 1996 they continued to play a few concerts a year.
In 2002 Paul James contacted all the band members with the idea of a reunion to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Blowzabella in 2003. A lineup of Andy Cutting, Nigel Eaton, Jo Freya, Paul James, Ian Luff, Dave Shepherd, and Jon Swayne played together also Sam Palmer played on a couple of numbers, and renewed enthusiasm combined with lots of new material encouraged the band to continue touring and to record a new album. At the end of 2004 Nigel Eaton left the band and was replaced with Gregory Jolivet, a French hurdy-gurdy player. At the end of 2005 Ian Luff was replaced with Barnaby Stradling on bass guitar.
In July 2007 they released Octomento – the first album of new material since 1990; and in June 2010 the live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Dance.
Discography
- Blowzabella (1982) Plant Life Records PLR 038
- Blowzabella In Colour (1983) Plant Life Records PLR 051
- Bobbityshooty (1984) Plant Life Records PLR 064 (reissued 1998) Osmosys Records OSMO CD015
- Tam Lin (Frankie ArmstrongFrankie ArmstrongFrankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
and Blowzabella) (1984) Plant Life Records PLR 063 - The Blowzabella Wall of Sound (1986) Plant Life Records PLR 074 (reissued 1996) Osmosys Records OSMO CD005
- The B to A of Blowzabella (1986) BZB01
- A Richer Dust (1988) (reissued 1996) Plant Life Records PLCD 080 (reissued 1996) Osmosys Records OSMO CD010
- Pingha Frenzy (live on tour in Brazil) (1988) Some Bizarre GHCD 1
- Vanilla (1990) Special Delivery SPDCD 1028
- Compilation (1982-1990) (1995) Osmosys Records OSMO CD001
- Octomento (2007) Blowzabella 1
- Dance (2010) Blowzabella 2
Sources
- Encyclopedia Blowzabellica - The Blowzabella Tune & Dance Book (1987) Dragonfly Music
- Dave Shepherd, The Breton Dance and Tune Book (1989) Dragonfly Music
- Blowzabella. New Tunes for Dancing. (2004) Blowzabella, Glastonbury, UK. ISBN 0-9549013-0-4
- Biography
External links
- Official website
- Blowzabella my bouncing doxie Words and recording of the song by The City Waits