Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay - Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay

  by Nicky Crewe

published: 3 / 7 / 2023

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This is the first review I have written for these musicians, though I have loved their musical collaborations for many years. Before his passing my good friend Keith How, who also wrote for Pennyblackmusic, would always have first dibs on anything by Jim or Toby. Jim’s 2021 release ‘In The Furrows of Common Place’ is still sitting on Keith’s turntable in his family home. He had been preparing his review before his sudden death. I didn’t have the heart at the time to take up the task. There are many memories that recall our dear friend Keith when I listen to Jim Ghedi’s music. I first met Jim at the Washington in Sheffield with Keith who enthused about this fantastic young Sheffield-based musician he had discovered. I then went with Keith to what is now my favourite venue, Cafe #9 in Sheffield to see Jim and Toby play long before I ever thought of moving to that city. A couple of weeks ago I managed to see Jim Ghedi and his band, in concert on home ground. The tours he had planned over the last couple of years had been postponed by Covid, first the lockdown and then the illness. It was a joy to see him. It has also been fantastic to see Jim and Toby gain the recognition and support they so deserve on the folk music scene. Keith died during Covid restrictions and as friends we were unable to mourn him as we needed to. Jim, my son and I met in a park on a snowy day in February on what would have been Keith’s birthday, a few days after his passing. We lit a candle for him, sharing our sadness and our wonderful memories. I’m sharing these thoughts because this is a collection of guitar pieces that are threaded through with joy and grief. Toby Hay has chosen the traditional Welsh lullaby, ‘Suo Gan’ to remember his grandmother. The final track, ‘Gylfinir,’ is written for Keith. A wonderful lament for a wonderful friend. Andrew Male’s sleeve notes are also infused with grief. His wife died in the early days of the pandemic and Toby Hay’s ‘New Music For The 12 String Guitar’ and Jim Ghedi’s ‘A Hymn For an Ancient Land; brought him solace and comfort. This collection and collaboration was recorded in three days at Giant Wafer Studios, Mid Wales. Jim plays six string guitar, while Toby plays twelve string. In 2018 they released their first collaboration, ‘The Hawksworth Road Sessions’. . Those of you who know Jim Ghedi’s work will know that he has a strong and powerful voice, but these are instrumentals. The shades of John Fahey, John Renbourn and Bert Jansch are in the room and loving every minute of it. In his sleeve notes Andrew Male describes the album as ‘the sound of two men in conversation, yet speaking in one voice’. It’s a voice that speaks of joy and solace. I’m also going to give him the last word as he sums up so beautifully what this soul music for the heart is all about. ‘Here are ways to say goodbye to those we lost’.

Track Listing:-

1 Bright Edge Deep
2 Moss Flower
3 Bog Cotton Jig
4 Bridget Cruise 3rd Air
5 Swale Song
6 With The Morning Hills Behind You
7 A Year and a Day
8 Skeleton Dance
9 Seasoned by the Storm
10 Suo Gan
11 When the Blackthorn Blooms
12 Gylfinir

Band Links:-

http://www.jimghedi.com/
https://www.facebook.com/JimGhedimusic/
https://twitter.com/JGhedi
https://tobyhay.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063543072739
https://twitter.com/tobyhaymusic

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