Sam Lee certainly knows how to pick a venue – the Round Chapel in Hackney is a late Victorian non-conformist church that has undergone extensive refurbishment making the historic building into as much an arts venue as a church. And it is here that several hundred people have gathered to hear the message of the album “songdreaming“, many sitting on the floor, others on stackable chairs behind them and in the gallery a good number in the permanent pews. And although this is the last night of a tour that started in Spring, the gig also serves as a slightly belated album launch and so it follows that a good number of the songs that get played across Sam Lee’s two sets are taken from “songdreaming”. Eschewing the obvious choice of ‘Meeting Is A Pleasant Place‘, which did appear later, the quiet opener cutting through the anticipatory stillness was ‘Aye Walking Oh‘ with its melancholic wish to be at one with an object of desire – which serves as well as a wish to be in an idyllic countryside.
Earlier albums were not completely absent – the wild gypsy jazz of ‘Bonny Bunch Of Roses‘ is a danceable (had there been room) delight, with its words of the unity of the nations of Britain co-opted as a subtle plea to rejoin the European Union (“Aren’t we Stronger Together?” asked Sam Lee to general approval). ‘Soul Cake‘ from “Old Wow” became one of several opportunities for audience participation – along with the sweet declarations of love of ‘Sweet Girl McRee‘ and if we were not quite of the standard to be worthy of Sam Lee’s praise it did at least underscore the simple things that can in a moment build a community. It’s difficult to pick out a single song for higher praise, so excellent was the music, but ‘Bushes and Briars‘ was a moment of even greater impact with its weaving of the benefits of experiencing the open environment with the anxiety about how long it will last, “Some times I think we’ve gone too far to turn it around in time” is a devastating line.
And what to say of these interpretations and re-workings of traditional songs – several gathered by Sam Lee from older singers in the Gypsy Traveller community – and songs inspired by tradition and given new words that address Sam Lee’s concerns with the environment, the loss of connection to land and communities and the vital Right to Roam? Well – they are as beautiful live as they are on the studio recordings, and his band of friends have the ability to make music that sucks the breath out of one’s lungs and holds the listener suspended in a timeless place. Daring? Yes! This music contains what most would recognise as British folk, but there’s a classical shaping in piano and violin and a pulling in of Eastern European influences and in Joshua Green a drummer of such inventiveness that in itself transcends simple labels like rock and jazz. When Sam Lee speaks – he speaks quite a lot between songs – of the fragility of the survival of folk song it comes from a true sense of concern, even if the evidence would suggest that if there is one thing that is thriving right now it is the world of folk music in all its forms. And it is only fair to state that one of the reasons for this is Sam Lee himself. Really, if you get the chance, do yourself a favour and catch Sam Lee live to reconnect with the past, and to see a window into the future of folk.
