Virtuoso guitar/violin duo, Williams & Catlow, take another dive into their extensive songbook – and they bring up a string of pearls.

Release Date:  Out Now

Label: Red Guitar Blue Music

Formats: CD / Download

First of all then, a short recap: Aaron Catlow is an absolute master of the violin and, when he’s not spending his time with Brooks Williams, you’ll usually find him plying his trade as one half of Bristol-based duo, Hawes and Catlow or, failing that, having fun with festival favourites Sheelanagig, Yola, Mad Dog Macree of Afro Celt Sound System.  From Statesboro, Georgia and now resident in Cambridge, UK, Brooks Williams is one of the very best acoustic guitarists that you’re ever likely to hear; he’s released well over 20 albums and his work – whether solo or with collaborators that have recently included Rab Noakes and Dan Walsh, as well as Aaron Catlow – has featured regularly in our pages. 

Greens and Blues is the third album collaboration of Brooks and Aaron (check out our reviews of their previous offerings: Ghost Owl [2021] and Ready For The Times [2022]) and it picks up where Ready For The Times, the duo’s deep dive into their American Song Book, left off. 

There’s a few subtle developments this time around, though.  For starters, the duo are now augmented by the wonderful Jon Stuart – borrowed from The John Martyn Project – on double bass, and I’ll say, right now, that his contributions add a wonderful richness to the impeccable offerings of the core duo.  Secondly, in addition to arrangements of songs from Brooks’s and Aaron’s favourite American writers, they’ve contributed several songs of their own – and they slot into the genre perfectly – and they’ve added a couple of numbers from noted UK songwriters, Shirley Collins and former collaborator Rab Noakes.  To quote the duo’s own publicity material: “Greens and Blues captures the spontaneity that fans of the Williams/Catlow sound have come to love.  It’s free and rooted all at once.  When they need to be, their arrangements are measured and stately; however, in the blink of an eye, they can turn the arrangement on its head with nimble guitar picking, fiddle double-bowing and even Aaron’s whistling.”  I think that captures the essence of it…

In full flow, Brooks Williams and Aaron Catlow have attracted comparisons to Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick and to Stéphane Grappelli and Django Renhardt.  Those are comparisons that are neither wishful nor condescending – close your eyes, listen, and you’ll surely agree that they’re accurate.

Written by American blues and gospel composer, Thomas Dorsey, opening track Rock Me is a clear, jaunty, happy slice of ragtime.  Both Brooks and Aaron shine on their respective instruments, Brooks’ voice is comfortable and reassuring and, when the vocal harmonies kick in, they’re superb.  Rock Me is great choice as the album’s opening track – hear it, and you just HAVE to carry on listening.

Brooks and Aaron pay tribute to their friend – and much lamented late collaborator – Rab Noakes, with the excellent Anniesland.  Brooks plays a nice percussive guitar figure and Jon’s bass keeps the sound firmly tethered to terra-firma, whilst Aaron visits every square centimetre of his fingerboard with his jazzy fiddle gymnastics.  And Aaron brings his whistling talents to the party, along with his penchant for bluegrass fiddling for the version of Gillian Welch’s Red Clay Halo, presented here as a tasteful country rag.  There’s a nice shuffle to Brooks’s guitar and the vocal harmonies are, once again, pristine.

It’s impossible to overstate the effect of bassist Jon Short’s contribution to Greens and Blues and his sonorant bass is particularly noticeable as the foundation to the country waltz, Bells Of Every Chapel.  Brooks delivers a dramatic, bluesy vocal and Aaron’s slippery fiddle licks are perfectly phrased.  And, while they’re in that kinda mood, the three musicians also capture the quiet drama and amusing twists to the story of Dooley’s Farm, a song from the pen of bluegrass star Molly Tuttle.  Aaron’s fiddle swoops are the perfect soundtrack to lyrics like “In the Blue Ridge Mountains and the whispering pines, they used to grow tobacco and they made moonshine.  But there’s something better in the back of the barn, down on Dooley’s Farm…”

The best-known version of the Buddy Cannon/ Jamey Johnson/ Larry Shell song, Going to Pot is probably the one that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard included on their 2015 Django and Jimmie album and – here – Brooks, Aaron and Jon do the song full justice, too.  Brooks’s guitar intro is delicious and the sound is full and vibrant when Jon and Aaron kick in; it’s fantastically upbeat, both Brooks and Aaron excel in their respective solos and, once again, Jon’s solid bass keeps everything under control.

The influence of Grappelli and Reinhardt is particularly evident with Wild, Wild, Wild, Brooks’ and Aaron’s evocative story of a raucous night in a late 1920s Speakeasy, before the guys pay a further tribute to Rab Noakes with their take on his observational blues rag, Little Way Up.  The blend of instruments is superb – this is one of those songs that you can listen to repeatedly and always notice something new from one or other of the players – and the pleasant delivery of song almost makes loss and self-pity seem like pleasant experiences.  We’ve all had moments when we’ve felt: “I’m a little way up from dying, a long way down from well.  I just can’t keep from crying – will it stop? Only time will tell…” and, when we’ve felt that way, it’s usually a song like this one that helps to pull us through.

Each member of the band makes full use of the space available as the pace picks up and the train gathers speed for the magnificent Jump That Train.  Jon’s bass is the railroad track, Brooks’s guitar provides the rhythm of the train’s wheels and Aaron’s wild fiddling captures the thrill of the ride as the hobo passengers jump aboard a train, bound for who-cares-where.  They’re at their very best when they tackle tunes like this one…

…And they’re also pretty good at interpreting a well-known and well-loved song like Shirley Collins’s wonderful Sweet Greens and Blues.  The treatment of Shirley’s delightful observation of the passage of time is respectful and innovative in equal parts, with Aaron’s cosmic violin explorations sitting comfortably beside Brooks’s sentimental vocals.  It’s the perfect way to round off a truly excellent album from two musicians who never fail to disappoint. 

I’ve a feeling that Brooks and Aaron have a few more dives into their songbook planned and that there are a lot more pearls to be polished off and given that special Williams/Catlow treatment.  Long may those plunges continue.

Watch Brooks Williams and Aaron Catlow perform their version of Shirley Collins’s Sweet Greens and Blues – the closing track to their album – here:

Brooks Williams Online: Website / Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram / YouTube

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