BROOM BEZZUMS – Wine From A Mug and Winterman (Steeplejack Music SJCD 012 and 015)

BROOM BEZZUMS Wine From A MugBlissful (!) is the first word that comes to mind when reviewing anything by Andrew Cadie (vocals, fiddle, guitar, Northumbrian pipes, percussion and viola) and Mark Bloomer (vocals, guitar, mandola and drums) aka Broom Bezzums. In many ways cast from the same mould as Fox & Luckley it’s their musical input coming from an (almost) unique style where the emphasis is placed on band arrangements performed by a duo. No mean task and to me anyway only mastered until now by the previously mentioned Fox & Luckley. OK, so on “Wine From A Mug” they’ve opted to utilise their full-blown skills as musicians (occasional drums and horn section stabs) along with those of guests including vocalist Katie Doherty and Andy May’s piano and now supported very much by the rich source of equally shared lyric writing from both protagonists this CD should really see them heralded as one of Britain’s leading ‘folk’ acts…even though they’re actually based in Germany! The song-writing is very much akin to that of Jez Lowe (who they’ve worked with on occasions) and if you feel comfortable in that modern lyrics coupled with traditional style music proves no barrier to your musical tastes this duo will amply fit the bill. On the “Winterman” recording they extend their repertoire to a Winter themed project that includes traditional fayre such as “The Cherry Tree Carol”, “Good King Wenceslas” and a truly robust version of “A Soulin’” that would undoubtedly have a congregation dancing in the aisles like refugees from a Blues Brothers movie. Trust me when I say that Cadie and Bloomer haven’t put a foot wrong on any of their recordings (of which there are two more available) and, if you’re looking for something substantial to expand your ‘folk’ music collection you really should buy them out of necessity.

PETE FYFE

Artist web links: www.broombezzums.com