Long time Calgary musician and Foothills club member, Barry Luft, has released his sixth recording - Folksinger's Fire. As the title suggests, Barry is indeed a folk singer. He is a modern day minstrel with an obvious commitment to passing on music that he gathers from all over North America and the British Isles. He is also a songwriter with a gift for beautiful instrumental melodies. Barry Luft's main instrument is banjo and he describes himself as a folk artist "who is friendly to bluegrass".
Folksinger's Fire is a pleasing mix of ballads and instrumental tunes. Most of the instrumental tunes are written by Barry and feature his solid frailing banjo style along with various other instruments played by an impressive cadre of Calgary area musicians (Barbara Rose on fiddle, Kathy Miller on mandolin, and John Hyde on bass to name a few). Bluegrass guitarist Korby Lenker contributed his song "Old Shenandora", and drove up from Bellingham to play guitar on the recording.
The liner notes in Barry's CD complement the music beautifully as he sets the stage for each tune with a short vignette describing how the song came to be. This gives the music context, and leaves the listener with a small taste of a Barry Luft live performance.
Canadian Folk Music Bulletin
Winter 2003 - Vol 37.4
Called "The Grand Old Man of Calgary Folk Music" with tongue only slightly in cheek, Barry Luft has been singing and playing his banjo for some 30 years. Like so many others, he fell in love with the five-string banjo after hearing Pete Seeger; he had already been playing the harmonica from age 5, thanks to his dad.
Luft has a gentle way with a song and with the banjo; simplicity in banjo playing has always struck me as more difficult - and certainly rarer - than getting as many notes as possible into each phrase. He also has a grab-bag of some 500 tunes and songs to draw from, and the result on this recording is a thoroughly satisfying collection of unfamiliar versions of familiar songs (Wild Colonial Boy), good old chestnuts (Seeing Nellie Home), originals (Florence and the High Stepper) and the old ballads(Queen Jane). There is a mix of instruments and styles, including an a cappella rendering of the Nova Scotia ballad Sydney Coal Fields, this avoiding the sameness and monotony of some banjo recordings. Luft plays guitar, autoharp, English concertina, harmonica and gourd banjo as well as the five-stringer on this recording; he is ably backed up by various guitarists, fiddlers, whistle players and singers. Barry loves getting people to sing with him (Pete's influence again), and there is a good assortment of "singalong" songs on this disc. In spite of all these instruments, the recording is not over-produced; it is an accessible and unintimidating collection.
The notes accompanying the recording include the interesting information about each song and how Luft came to learn it. He is generous in acknowledging his sources. He also gives banjo tunings, for which banjo players are very grateful but for which others may be left scratching their heads trying to figure out what on earth gCGCD means.
It was when I was trying to decide if I had a special favourite that I could talk about that I realized what a joy the complete album is. But I do have to mention Korby Lenker's Old Shenandora, and the traditional Worried Blues. When this old blues started, I was startled, thinking that Michael Cooney had somehow found his way onto this record! The notes give Cooney's Folk-Legacy recording as Barry's source; listening to Luft's arrangement with his gourd banjo made me take my own banjo down from the wall and play the song. So there you have it: a recording that is both a pleasure to listen to and a great source for new (old) material. What more can you ask for?
Lorne Brown, North York, Ontario
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