Album: ‘The International Poet’ by JKL Duo
Guitarist Jacopo Lazzaretti and flautist Kerry Lynch together make up the JKL Duo. Last year I enjoyed hearing Jacopo perform at the Western General Hospital as part of Live Music Scotland’s programme. For the last year, he and Kerry have toured venues in Scotland from Skye to Creetown playing compositions based on melodies used by Robert Burns under the title ‘The International Poet.’ Now they’ve made a recording of the ten pieces.
The project began during lockdown when they speculated how Burns might have collaborated with musicians world-wide if he’d had 21st century digital resources. They asked a number of musicians, some from Scotland and some from other countries, to imagine how each of them might respond if Burns asked them to work on melodies he’d found on his travels. Kelly says, “ None of the composers knew what the others were writing so we ended up with what we did through sheer luck.”
The results are an eclectic mix of tunes which most Scots will recognise instantly, but often transformed in unexpected ways. The flute and classical guitar combination also impart a different flavour to the melodies. While at their simplest, the flute can mimic the human voice and the guitar the traditional folk guitar or harp accompaniment, some of the composers require both players to show extraordinary versatility, taking their instruments to the extremes of their potential.
Composer, Laura Snowden, herself a classical guitarist, makes a Breton Fantasy from ‘Ye Jacobites by Name.’ A slow exposition of the melody is soon interrupted by breathy staccato notes on the flute, underpinned by repeated notes on the guitar, until the guitar takes on a fast moving dance while Laura alternates between trilling flute and whistle for a final flourish. This is the first track on the CD and has been released as a digital download which you can listen to and buy here.
Scots composer, Stevie Lawrence, in three of the loveliest settings, ‘The Lea Rig’ (my personal favourite on the CD) ‘Red, Red, Rose,’ and ‘Corn Rigs,’ brings in folk influences he’s heard and also has the guitar imitate the Greek Bouzouki. There’s a Brazilian take on Burns’ most sung song in Celsa Machado’s ‘Auld Lang Syne Samba.’ I once had a confusing conversation with a Frenchwoman about that “very sad song that Scottish people sing at New Year” and so it’s delightful to find a non-Scot who appreciates that the song usually celebrates a good night out! It’s available for download from Bandcamp on 26th May.
Vasily Antipov’s ‘Fantasia on a Theme by Robert Burns (Where hae ye been sae Braw, Lad?)’ imagines the tune as it might have been explored by Baroque or Classical composers in Burns’ own era, and you may detect a Russian flavour too. In ‘John Anderson, My Jo’ Amit Anand begins with a hesitant rendering of the melody which seems to replicate the unsteadiness of the elderly couple in the song, and then uses Indian music ornamentation to develop his interpretation.
In the three longest tracks there’s experimental musical writing from three very different composers. Scottish harpist, Savourna Stevenson in ‘The Deil’s Awa wi’ the Exciseman’ has the instruments chase round different keys as the devil tries to catch the exciseman. Italian Francesco Leineiri goes further in deliberately deconstructing the melody of ‘Green Grows the Rashes O’ in ‘The Betrayed Melody (After Robert Burns)’ . Here he asks the players to examine the ranges of their instruments in ways which are interesting, but not always beautiful, before they return with a jaunty syncopated reprise of the melody. And in the final track, Roberto Kuhn Versluystakes ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ through a Chilean journey via two dance rhythms, the slow tonada and after some breathy percussive effects on the flute, the fast rhythmical cueca, nearly losing sight of the tune itself in the excitement.
This is a stimulating and thought-provoking take on the music found by Robert Burns and used in his songs. The eight composers use folk, classical, jazz and world music to show us the potential of the guitar and the flute. The CD is beautifully produced and, as well as detailed information on the music, the booklet contains an article on Robert Burns’ life and beliefs by Eric Thompson from the Bridgeton Burns Club. You can buy the CD direct from the musicians at jklduo15@gmail.com or from Bandcamp. And you can hear the JKL Duo perform live in Langholm in the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival on Tuesday 23rd May.
