UK born, Australian based composer and musician Gwyn ASHTON have been an active recording artist for a quarter of a century and a performing artist for even longer. He has gradually built a name for himself, and while perhaps not a household name in the blues end of the music business I get the impression that he is fairly well known. The curiously named “Ragas, Jugs and Mojo Hands” is his most recent album, and was released through Fab Tone Records in 2016 in Australia, and is set for a 2017 release worldwide. The album is a collaboration with Chris Finnen and Peter Beulke in addition to Ashton himself.
I’m not all that well versed in the good, old blues, and those with an intimate knowledge about the genre will most likely scoff a bit on at least some of my perceptions here. But this is a blues album through and through, and one that looks back to the origins of the genre at that. The few percussion elements present are simple and basic, the bass and guitar instruments used are all acoustic as far as I can tell, and the lead vocals take a central role when present. The album as such comes across as a lo-fi, live in the studio production. The music raw, honest and without unneeded frills. A back to basics affair, that as I experience might as well have been recorded a hundred years ago.
It does take a certain amount of skill and talent to give life to music made with this apparent less is more approach, and Ashton and his henchmen comes across as a unit that are well versed in such department. The songs are generally compelling affairs, rich with honest emotions, to the point performances and a basic charm. Not without sophistication I should add, as I get the impression that it takes some skill to pull off the myriads of layered, wandering plucked guitar soloing at hand, but the music is clean, honest and unpolished throughout.
Plucked banjo, guitars and other string instruments takes the lead and keeps it throughout, and the songs alternate well between firmer, harder notes dominating some cuts while a gentler, more flowing approach dominate others. The vocals are as honest and raw as the instruments when present, and in between the ancient blues associations I get I also got something of a southern vibe on many cuts. Perhaps due to the use of the banjo, maybe also due to the liberal amounts of slide guitar present.
The only slight variations to be found on an album I suspect falls into some kind of roots music category are two instrumentals, both of which feature an instrument that delivers a drone rather than plucked notes, giving those songs more of an exotic feel. Presumably pointing back to the raga in the album title. Perhaps needless to say this combination of old school blues and world music is as well performed as the other songs on this CD. And as compelling and appealing too when it comes to that.
If you have a taste for really old school, back to the basics acoustic blues and roots music, performed by musicians that know their way around their instruments in a manner that documents firmly that quality hands are at work, then this CD by Gwyn Ashton is one that merits a check. A solid album, documenting why sometimes less is, indeed, more.
My rating: 80/100
