Back in 1991 I attended the Fairport Convention Winter Tour when they played Guildford, and that night the support act was Jay Turner. I had never heard of him prior to that, but his material deeply resonated with me, especially the song “My Grandfather’s Eyes” and at the end of the night both myself and my mate purchased the album from which it came, ‘Movements in Architecture’, which Jay kindly signed (I still have it). Fast forward some 10 years or so, and seeing Fairport on yet another tour, the support that night was Mundy-Turner as Jay was now married to the wonderful Cath. We moved to Yorkshire in 2004 which put us closer to their touring circuit, and me, Sara and our two youngest daughters used to go and see them play at various folk clubs while they also came to our house a few times for dinner.
That all stopped in 2006 when we moved to New Zealand, followed shortly by Cath and Jay who moved close to Brisbane on the other side of the ditch. They poured their energies into different musical endeavours, and we even managed to meet up once when we were on the Gold Coast on holiday, but while I have been holding out for a new Mundy-Turner album I never expected a new solo album from Jay but here it is. It has been nearly 20 years since Jay released the essential compilation, ‘The Garway Years’, which contains all four of his solo works, but the most recent of these, ‘Sketchbook’, was from 1994, yet here we are in 2022 with a brand-new release!
Of course, any recording from Jay will feature Cath as she is not only a wonderful singer but is a fine keyboard player, ukulele player and violinist but here her role is very much as accompanist and in the background. Apart from two songs co-written with Cath, he has provided the rest of the material, and it is as political as one would expect. It is through the music of Cath and Jay that I learned a great deal of the unfair and criminal treatment of the native peoples of Australia, as living on the other side of the world it was totally unknown to me. Even now, in 2022, they have a very long way to go, and Australian politics often makes me feel glad I live in NZ, although we are not at all blameless either. I remember attending one gig back in the UK where we were all given postcards and asked to sign them and send them to the Australian government (which we did).
The one Mundy-Turner song covered here comes from that period, “Stealing My Democracy 2020” where Jay has updated the lyrics and planted it in a modern Australian context, and sadly it is as relevant now as it was back in the day. Jay has a clear voice, and the basis for much of this material are the vocals and acoustic guitar, with other instruments then being laid on top. Unlike other recordings where they have brought in others, this album is all Jay with assistance from Cath. The songs are heartfelt, and one cannot help but feel the emotion and love which pours out of the song “Joshua” which is about their son (who must be about 16 years old now). Contrast that to “Shame!” which was inspired by events at a Black Lives Matter rally.
Jay is another one of those performers who has maintained his vocal strength and range over the years, and in many ways one can imagine this being released a few years after ‘Sketchbook’, not well over 20. Here we have two people very much in love with each other who have a mission in life, and this album is a wonderful audio picture of them as people and what they stand for. Political singer songwriters did not just protest in the Sixties, they are still around today, and someone should strap down Scott Morrison (climate denier Prime Minister of Australia) and force him to listen to the likes of “We Won’t Take No For An Answer”. Mind you, then we have upbeat numbers like “Heading In My Direction” which is much more of a pop rock number and is great fun.
This is powerful, but at the same time it is intensely listenable and enjoyable and while it is more thoughtful than much Mundy-Turner material it is the work of someone who has permanently moved from one side of the world to the other and seen inequities and unfairness and is using his music and voice to tell us all about it. I have thoroughly enjoyed Jay’s music since the very first time I heard him sing more than 30 years ago, and all that time later he is still delivering wonderful music.
Rating: 9/10
Links:
https://mundyturner.com/
