The faery woman with the apple bough appeared and sang to King Bran in Irish legend calling him and his company to Emain, the land of healing. Their voyage across the water could be seen to symbolise an inner journey.

Track Listing. 1. The West Wind (words adapted from the poem by John Masefield & music by Jake Walton) 2. The Plains of Silver 3. Into The Twilight (words by W.B.Yeats & music Jake Walton) 4. Seven Gurdies 5. Beyond the Veil 6. Emain (The Unknown Land) 7. Lyric (words adapted from a poem by Mary Stewart & Music by Jake Walton) 8. Where My Caravan Has Rested (words by Edward F. Lockton & music by Jake Walton) 9. Ceth's Return 10. Peat Fire ( words adapted from John Kett & music by Jake Walton) 11. The Roads to Rock 12. All That's Past ( words from Walter De la Mere & music by Jake Walton) Click on underscored titles to hear sound samples with Real Player.

We are delighted to announce our release of this recording.

Jake Walton
with
Eric Liorzou+Norman Haskell(Cittern)+Mike O'Connor(Fiddle)+Erwan Volant (Bass) + Jez Lowe.
EMAIN (The Unknown Land)
(Wundertutte TUT 72.180)

The faery woman with the apple bough appeared and sang to King Bran in Irish legend calling him and his company to Emain, the land of healing.
Their voyage across the water could be seen to symbolise an inner journey.

We at Copperplate, although essentially a company which deals in Irish Traditional music are pleased to use our services to herald the relaunch the career of one of folk's most enduring and original talents name the modern day Celtic minstrel, Jake Walton.

After a 10 years period of inactivity in Cornwall, Jake has decided to relaunch his talents on today's market with this beautiful new recording, Emain.
Aided by Breton musician, Eric Liorzou and his long time music collaborator and champion, Jez Lowe, (surely one of England's finest and underrated singer-songwriters).
Jake has called on co-writers of the calibre of W.B.Yeats, Walter De La Mere, carrying on Jake's love of poetry and putting poetry to music. The Album also highlights Jake as one of our finest exponents of the Hurdy Gurdy, showcased here on 3 brilliant instrumentals.

His own songs are very whimsical and lyrical with understated and totally sympathetic backing. Many steeped in the Celtic legends, which Jake has studied and loved for decades, long before the current Celtic come all ye.

Insightful sleeve notes from old friend, Ralph McTell prove that Jake and his music engenders long-term love and friendship. Surely emotions which are needed more than ever in today's hurly burly. Please welcome the return of the native minstrel & the original Hurdy Gurdy Man!

Notes from Ralph McTell

"I first remember Jake Walton as a shy teenager playing his Gibson J 45 at the legendary Folk Cottage at Mitchell in Cornwall. He was plainly influenced by the work of Donovan, but had already developed a delicate finger style approach and clear diction in his singing.

The most outstanding feature for me though was his commitment to the spirituality of the music he was playing. His attraction to the Arthurian legend and the inferences from Donovan's dreamy album 'Sunshine Superman' led him into the world of Celtic myth and legend. This was long before the Celtic thing became a cause, with 'band-wagonning' from those eager to climb aboard. For Jake it was a totally natural progression,
a journey that has led to collaborations with Wizz Jones. Jez Lowe, Eric Liorzou and Stephen Cooney and the patience to learn the music of the Hurdy Gurdy.

In spite of some divergence, a long period away from live work and a severing of partnerships with those with ambitions toward different goals, Jake's has been a single minded quest and pretty much a solo one with only the barest nod to 'career'. The words that most come to mind when others talk of Jake, are those that speak of the purity of his intent.

Joke employs an unforced gentle approach toward the poetry and music that fall into his criteria, hence we see John Masefields' deeply moving poem 'The West Wind' set to music and included here.

This is a beautifully wrought album from a man of Cornwall. Proud of the inspiration this Celtic corner of England has brought him and confident in its contribution to the music of the other Celtic nations. Jake offers this story of the island of Emain". Ralph McTell.

Emain

Northern Ireland Timeline

Iron Age: Destruction of the Temple of Emain Macha c.95 BC

An aerial shot showing the circular temple known as Navan Fort ©

No one knows why a circular temple, 43 metres in diameter, was put up inside Navan Fort in County Armagh. It seems to have been built quickly, perhaps by a whole community working together. The roof was held up by concentric rows of posts steadied by horizontal planks and covered with a cairn of stones enveloped with sods. Then the whole structure was set on fire. Had this been a ritual to invoke the aid of the gods while Ulster was under attack? Paleoecologists, by matching oak tree growth rings on timbers found here, dated the event at 95 BC; it is very likely that this was a time when Iron Age Celts were attacking late Bronze Age tribes in Ulster.

'Navan' is the Anglicisation of Emain Macha, meaning the 'twins of Macha' - this ancient capital of Ulster had a foundation myth similar to that of Romulus and Remus and the foundation of Rome.

Google Emain to learn more

Check out Jake's own web site to learn more about this unique artist. http://www.jakewaltonmusic.co.uk

Press Reaction


Mojo.
A Celtic music pioneer before the term was invented, the Cornishman returns with a mystical album which has inspired by the island of Emain. If all this sounds a bit hippy dippy, then maybe it is. But Jake Walton's spiritualism is firmly rooted in the solid values of the folk singer-songwriter, with a hint of eccentricity to set it apart. There is a gentle warmth and intimacy about his performance and a quietly persuasive storytelling technique that sets the poetry of John Masefield, W.B.Yeats and Walter De La Mer to music alongside his and Eric Liorzou's own original compositions as the story of Emain - "the unknown land" - delicately unfolds.Colin Irwin

Time Out. Grooves Folk.
For the past decade, Jake Walton has been "off the folk scene", though many will remember his fine collaborations with Jez Lowe. Walton's vocal influence remains Donavan in Celtic dreaminess mode but his stunning guitar and hurdy gurdy playing are in a class all of their own. His song writing is of a very high standard and originals like "The Plains of Silver", with its own intoxicating drone between voices and instrumentation, and the adapted, John Masefield poem "The West Wind" are not exceptions but the rule. John Crosby.

Rock 'n' Reel. Issue 35 .
After a long absence from the scene, here's a new release from Jake. He's probably best known as former musical partner to Jez Lowe (please reissue 'Two A Roue', somebody!), but lately he's been touring with Bad Penny Billy Surgeoner. Though just to confuse matters, this isn't a duo album with Billy, instead it's (in all but name) a duo album with guitar/mandola player Eric Liorzou. It contains nine original songs ostensibly by Jake (six his settings of others' words, and two to Eric's music) and three instrumental pieces. Now here's a curious thing: I'd been listening for a while before I bothered reading Ralph McTell's box note, where he reminiscences about his own first hearing of Jake as "plainly influenced by Donovan". Well, Jake's voice does - even now - possess some of the expressive and timbral features of Donovan's; it's a piquantly expressive style, with admirably precise diction. However, Jake has an earthier robustness that, combined with the solid mythic imagery of the songs, sidesteps the twee. Jake has a healthy perception and appreciation of the lineage of Celtic tradition that replaces the merely faery with a believable mystic import. Though the musical ambit is predominantly gentle, the depth of content more than compensates, and the impact is greatly satisfying. Jake has an obvious deep and unpretentious sensitivity to his chosen material, with a totally genuine, unforced, inspired response. Eric's finely detailed playing dovetails well with Jake's, and his mandola provides a fetching foil to Jake's elfin hurdy-gurdy on the bright, lively instrumentals. I also liked Mike O'Connor's lyrical fiddle playing on the opening and closing tracks. This is a beautiful, intricately woven tapestry of an album. (Distributed by Copperplate.) David Kidman

Folker Magazine Translated from the German Voted one of the top four CD's of the month.
King Bran and the faeries with the branch of the apple tree take us on a poetic journey to Emain, the land of healing in Irish mythology. Musical guide for this journey is the Cornish based singer Jake Walton who is back with a splendid CD. One of the texts comes from W.B.Yeats, who's poem 'In to the twilight' Walton has set to music as he has also done with John Masefields' 'The West Wind'. He then leads us across the Plain of Silver, the Celtic place of enchantment and inspiration, from where we can reach the dawn Beyond the Veil into the unknown country of healing. Jake lets us live through magic and enchanting moments in this musical journey of the pilgrimage with melodies of beguiling beauty.

The Breton guitarist and mandola player Eric Liorzou is one of our travel companions and contributes with compositions and excellent string playing substantially to the sound experience. His skills on the mandola beautifully enhance Walton's Hurdy-Gurdy on Seven Gurdies and Ceth's Return (Both from Liorzou's pen) and with the third instrumental of the disc The road to Rock, which was contributed by Norman Haskell, who provides with his cittern one more colour in the music. The fact that Jake Walton ranks amongst the really great Hurdy-Gurdy players is shown with the instrumentals. On the one hand he knows like nobody else how to use the Hurd-Gurdy with an almost delicate, discreet sound as a backing for his vocals; On the other hand he shows with the instrumental pieces that he understands how to deal with the trompette string effectively.

Further companions on our journey are Erwan Volant (Bass guitar) then Mike O'Connor (Fiddle) and Jez Lowe (Vocals), with whom Jake recorded many years ago the much praised LP 'Two a Roue'. At the end of the journey one returns unwillingly to reality. I quite often try to find my way back in to the land of summer to the apple blossoms, riding on the wings of the west wind and discovered always new landscapes, pictures and sounds. A terrific album. Ulrich Joosten

Folk On Tap. Issue 87
An interesting and melodic set of songs, who's lyrics derive from the likes of W.B. Yeats and Walter De La Mare, as well as Jake himself and Jez Lowe. Breton guitarist Eric Liorzou joins in the fun, and get second billing. Walton lives in Cornwall, but has been largely inactive musically for the last decade. This is a welcome return, a gentle and tuneful delight, and the song celebrate the mystic west, given that extra mysterious edge by Jake's facility on the Hurdy-Gurdy.

Spooky stuff, and well worth a listen. Brian Hinton

Worldmusic.org.uk
The welcome return of one of Cornwall's leading musicians. His songs are still rich in Celtic imagery, legend and spirituality punctuated by images of nature and the wild beauty of his homeland. As with much Cornish music the Breton influences are apparent both in the instrumentation and the arrangements. This will re-establish Walton as songwriter and folk club favourite and help to put Cornwall back on the map of Celtia.
Rating: Excellent

Folking.Com Web Magazine
MP3 of the Month: Jake Walton - "The Plain of Silver"

For me, Jake Walton is 'The bard of Cornwall'. His passion for Celtic myth and legend oozes from his latest album "Emain - The Unknown Land". This ancient land of Cornwall is summed up beautifully with the following verse that sings to you in a soft elven voice from the front cover.

"The faery woman with the apple bough appeared and sang to King Bran in Irish Legend calling him and his company to Emain the land of healing. Their voyage across the water could be seenTo symbolise an inner journey."

The "Plain of Silver" is the Celtic place of enchantment and inspiration which is entered at twilight. Jake's delicate finger style approach to the guitar, crystal clear voice and Hurdy Gurdy dynamics make "Emain" appear more like a window to a forgotten corner of the romanticised Celtic and Arthurian England, than a circular disc of music and song. Add the very brilliant Eric Liorzou on Guitar and mandola to every track and two-guest appearances from Jez Lowe and you'll have all the ingredients to make the finest Celtic pudding you're ever tasted.

www.revolutionsuk.com (Roots Music on-line)
Having recently featured Breton music on Revolutions we at last complete the Celtic "set" by a visit to Cornwall in the company - following a ten-year hiatus - of Jake Walton. And no, he’s not John-Boy’s younger brother; rather, he’s a singer-songwriter of distinctive poetical inclinations. Some of the songs are personal and wholly self-written, such as the wistful title track, while on others he calls upon "lyricists" - after considerably longer inactivity than ten years - such as W.B Yeats, John Masefield and Walter de la Mere. Walton’s key collaborator for this comeback album is the Breton guitarist Eric Liorzou and his playing and music are a major contribution to its success. There is throughout a galvanising feeling of movement, of fluidity, and since several of the songs have motion - physical and emotional - as their theme this is hardly accidental. The album’s title refers to the land of healing from Irish mythology, the journey to which by King Bran and his followers can be taken to be as much an internal voyage as an external one. More literal journeys lie behind Where My Caravan Has Rested, a popular song of the pre-war era set to Walton’s own charming melody, while the passage of man and nature through time is at the heart of the gorgeous closing track, de la Mere’s All That’s Past. Yeats’ "The Celtic Twilight", set to a gossamer tune as Into The Twilight, is as tender and magical as you would expect, while Beyond The Veil, co-written by Liorzou, Walton and his long-time collaborator Jez Lowe, is intense and metaphysical. Part of the intensity comes from Walton’s deft playing of the hurdy-gurdy (better known as 70% of the vocabulary of the Swedish Chef on The Muppet Show), a little used instrument these days but one which comes into its own here. The instrumental Seven Gurdies is, unsurprisingly, its finest hour, laying down an atmospheric snowstorm through which Liorzou’s mandolas emerge triumphant. This has clearly been an album that needed time to gestate but the patience has been rewarded; let’s hope it’s not another ten years before a follow-up though. David May.

Return to home page

Click on spinning disc for purchase details

Please visit our website sponsor:

(c) 2004 Copyright CopperPlate Distribution