reviews

SONGLINES

CERI RHYS MATTHEWS
Pibddawns **** Stars
Fflach Tradd CD293H

Welsh Music polymath pipes up.

Ceri Rhys Matthews is a one-man Welsh music industry: he plays flute and guitar in the innovative trio Fernhill and collaborates with, and produces, Welsh musicians ranging from harpist Llio Rhydderch to rapper Nobsta Nutts, great exponents both of their respective traditions. At the same time he has diligently researched Welsh music and instruments, such as the pibgorn (hornpipe) and bagpipes - he even runs an international bagpipe festival in his home village.

This is the first solo album of music played on the pibe cyrn, a bagpipe / hornpipe combination. It was built using measurements by John Glenydd, with a chanter ending in a bell made of cow's horn, and a single drone. The sound is somewhere between the border pipes, with a hint of their crackling rawness, and Northumbrian smallpipes, and their characteristic popping notes. It is very attractive.

Pibddawns includes several hornpipes, such as the haltingly chirpy 'William Southen Clarke's Hornpipe', some jigs ('Evans' Jig' is lovely), and a valedictory homage to Bedwas (a village in Caerphilly and home to a colliery that was shut down in the mid-80s). As with all piping, the attraction lies in the play of melody with (not against) drone, producing chordal textures; and in the limited range of the instrument - tunes are explorations of themes and variations of them. This lends a reflective quality to the music, which is countered by the feeling that, accomplished as the piper may be - and Rhys Matthews certainly is - he is never entirely in control



Julian May




PLANET. THE WELSH INTERNATIONALIST

CERI RHYS MATTHEWS
Pibddawns
Fflach Tradd CD293H

The latest offering from another accomplished Welsh musician. This is the first recording devoted entirely to the "pibgorn" (bag-hornpipe) The instrument, which was built by John Glennydd, with design input by Ceri, is based on careful measurements of existing, ancient instruments, with new innovations enabling a wider repertoire to be played.

During his world-wide travels to various traditional and folk music festivals, Ceri has collaborated with pipers from many other cultures, including Berber pipers and Toureg musicians. In 2002 he performed at the Drj festival in Lybia, one of the first British musicians to visit the country in over 30 years, and the breadth of experience and influence is apparent on this album. Many of the tunes on the CD have not been played on the pipes before, and Ceri explores a new sonic landscape through the native dance music tradition of Wales. The tunes include such well-known airs as "Hufen y Cwrw Melyn" (Head of the Yellow Beer) and "Pwt ar y Bys" (The Plucking Finger) as well as a selection of the classic Welsh hymns, "Dyma Gariad fel y Moroedd", "Saron" and "Crug y Bar". At last the separate Welsh traditions of chapel music and folk music have been united in the music of one of Wales' earliest traditional instruments, in the hands of a master. Sometimes it's good to look back to find a way forward.



Iwan Llwyd