Nick Hart & Tom Moore – The Colour of Amber: Album Review

By John Barlass on 30th November 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

A batch of favourite and familiar songs get a stately makeover – courtesy of Nick Hart and Tom Moore.

Release Date: 22^nd November 2023

Label: Slow Worm Records

Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital

Nick Hart – actor, multi-instrumentalist, singer and, above all, master archivist and arranger of British folk song, and Tom Moore – innovative pioneer of all things viola have, over the years, collaborated in many varied guises. But, before now, they’ve never pooled their considerable knowledge and talents to make an album together. Well – that’s an omission that has been well and truly corrected; The Colour of Amber, the duo’s debut album, is here – and it’s a work of great charm that will enchant anyone who’s looking for a new take on songs and tunes that are achingly familiar.

Any self-respective folkie will know these songs inside-out but, what few will be prepared for, is the warmth, gravitas and stately beauty that Nick’s and Tom’s arrangements, together with Nick’s honest, earthy vocals bring to the party. The Colour of Amber is simple, yet utterly engaging. Recorded ‘live in the studio’ and without overdubs, the listener can be forgiven for believing – at least for the duration of these ten tracks – that he or she is nestled in the comfort of a local folk club, listening as Nick and Tom use viola da gamba (we’ll call it a viol from now on…), viola and voice to bring a batch of familiar favourites vividly to life.

The album’s title track is, perhaps, best known from the singing of Romany performer Mary Ann Haynes and, as the album’s opening track, it’s a dependable signal of intent of the pleasures to come. Viol and viola mesh intricately together to provide a part-drone, part-melodic accompaniment to Nick’s voice, as he recounts the story of the maiden fishing for a husband, and I love the way that he makes no effort to alter the gender in the song’s established lyrics as he sings lines like: “I wish I was a maiden again.”

It was the debut Brass Monkey album, back in 1983, that first brought The Jolly Bold Robber to my attention. It seems that Nick has heard that version too and, apparently, he considers John Kirkpatrick’s arrangement of the song to be “unimprovable” – so much so, that, in his words, he “nicked it.” Nick sets – and varies – the pace of the song and Tom’s sprightly viola flows beautifully. And the song tells a great story, of course, as the Bold Robber and a sailor (his intended victim) lock horns.

Viol and viola are tightly entwined for Flowers of Edinburgh, a Scottish tune that has long been adopted as a favourite morris tune. The drone – from an old church harmonium – adds just the amount of depth and the slower pace and unfamiliar instrumentation bring a new face to a well-known friend.

I first heard the tragi-comic Three Jolly Sneaksmen on Martin Carthy’s 1974 Sweet Wivelsfield album and Nick’s and Tom’s version on The Colour of Amber is instantly recognizable. Nick injects the requisite measure of humour as he retells the story of the hapless Sneaksmen who, after encountering an officer of the law on a London street are sentenced to die on the gallows, whilst Tom’s bright viola parts add beams of light into what, in the end, is quite a sad tale.

The Child Grove, a still-popular English dance tune, was first documented in Henry Playford’s Dancing Master in 1701 and Nick’s and Tom’s viol/viola arrangement here gives the tune a haunting, almost mournful air that, I suspect, won’t be far from the tune that Playford first encountered. And, it’s the archives of Francis James Child that provides Babylon – or The Banks o’ Fordie as it’s often known. Babylon is a song that has the lot: robbery, kidnapping, incest, murder and suicide all feature in its dramatic story and, with so much going on, it’s no surprise that it’s been recorded by, amongst others, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones and Alistair Roberts. Tom’s plucked viola adds a dramatic percussive edge and Nick sings with a passion fully suited to the story’s gory twist.

There’s a certain grandeur to this version of Ladies’ Pleasure, another well-known morris tune, as viol and viola weave their magic, before Nick and Tom turn to a faithful arrangement of The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies. There are many variants to this familiar tale of a wealthy, betrothed lady who succumbs to the attractions of Gypsy company and lifestyle – Black Jack Davy is another that comes to mind – but Nick’s and Tom’s arrangement is the one we’ll all remember form from our schooldays – yet the song is given a whole new dimension by Nick’s and Tom’s baroque strings.

We stay on familiar territory for the Swaggering Boney/ Constant Billy morris medley. Nick and Tom pick up the pace a little for this one and Swaggering Boney – a particular favourite of mine – is joyous, whilst the instrumentation gives Constant Billy – probably the best-known morris tune of all – a bit of a wistful edge that adds to the enjoyment of the whole affair.

And, what better way to conclude this intriguing album than with a shanty that’s also a song of parting? Bold Riley is yet another old favourite – it’s been covered by, amongst others, The Oyster Band – and Nick and Tom give the song a gravitas that I’d never noticed before. It’s also probably Nick’s best vocal on the album, and it’s a great way for Nick Hart and Tom Moore to sign off. It’s been wonderful to hear the novel arrangements to these songs and tunes; The Colour of Amber is a fine album.

Watch Nick and Tom perform Wraggle Taggle Gypsies – a track from the album – here: