Linde Nijland
"Linde Nijland Sings Sandy Denny"
by Johanna J. Bodde
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LINDE NIJLAND "Linde Nijland Sings Sandy Denny" (Real Harm / Pink Records, re-release Rounder Europe) www.lindenijland.nl www.cdbaby.com/cd/nijland www.roundereurope.com (This CD is recently re-released on the Rounder Europe label, with a new inlay. I'm referring to the "old" version from my collection.) She sits on the floor with a large number of LP's by Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention all around her. She must have given the choice of songs some serious thought, as I find here a sort of cross-section from Sandy's works, also Fotheringay and recordings with The Strawbs are pulled in. It shows courage, making this CD. Dutch singer Linde Nijland is one half of successful folk duo Ygdrassil. I've heard ladies with an established international reputation back off from interpreting Sandy Denny's catalogue, as it's so well-known and it's such hard to sing stuff and just because Sandy was a legendary folksinger, who died so tragically young. This is a tribute full of respect, Linde is blessed with a beautiful, crystal clear voice and she has -also important!- a nice pronunciation of the English language. The fine, modest acoustic accompaniment is done by Linde herself (guitar) and three gentlemen: Eddy de Jonge (bass, guitar), Bert Ridderbos (guitar, cithern, accordion) and Hans Battenberg (violin). Cool picture of this quartet in the booklet: band arrives at a wooden community center, it's a cold winterday but they look like they're anxious to play! |
There are four traditionals featured on the disc -a more than eleven minutes
lasting "Banks Of The Nile" and a little favorite of mine, "This Train"-
plus seven originals, including "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" as the
well-chosen last track.
Classic folk, isn't that the right category? I can tell you that this is an impressive CD, but maybe a life-long fan of Sandy Denny should speak now... And I'm curious, what would musicians who actually worked with Sandy Denny say about this? They would like it a lot, that's what I think. --- Written by Johanna J. Bodde, Dutch original of this review previously published on Real Roots Cafe, The Netherlands. ===== |