Sandy Denny anniversary tribute, The Troubadour, 20 April

[Tasha]

review from the independent here
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/sandy-denny-tribute-the-troubadour-london-813252.html

[BPTNT]

A good night and nice to chat to a couple of the TAW-ers in attendence (edthefolkie and Chris).
For what it's worth I thought Martin Carthy provided the highpoint of the evening. As well as her obvious (and well-represented) talents as a songwriter, Sandy was one of the finest traditional singers of all. Part of the deal is re-interpretation surely.  If Matin Carthy copied her arrangements of Sir Patrick Spens or Gypsey Davey or The Deserter then he'd be selling himself and the audience short. For me, as good as some of the other singers were, it was the real potential of traditional song that we were witness to while Martin was up there and therefore a more than suitable addition to the bill. The only real lowpoint for me was Linda not appearing for I'm A Dreamer. Completely understandable given the emotions involved but I always thought she sung the hell out of that song and it would have been wonderful to see but...oh well

[jjjudy]

For what it's worth I thought Martin Carthy provided the highpoint of the evening. As well as her obvious (and well-represented) talents as a songwriter, Sandy was one of the finest traditional singers of all. Part of the deal is re-interpretation surely.  If Matin Carthy copied her arrangements of Sir Patrick Spens or Gypsey Davey or The Deserter then he'd be selling himself and the audience short. For me, as good as some of the other singers were, it was the real potential of traditional song that we were witness to while Martin was up there and therefore a more than suitable addition to the bill.

I'm with The Jolly Hangman on this -- and think Martin Carthy's contributions were indeed the high point of the evening, for all the same reasons. Also, the great man just stood in the audience before and after his performances, listening to the other artists, rather than walking out or gabbing. Very touching.

[Edthefolkie]

I'm with several others about Martin. He did HIS take on the songs - as he always does - and that's one of the things that have put him in the preeminent position in our music he holds today. I know that sounds pompous, but it's true. The man is an absolute diamond. He also never does the superstar bit and always listens to other people. Considering he's only one Pegg Number from Bob Dylan, that is remarkable. Rant over!

I only have four regrets about the evening:

a) Norma, Mike, Eliza and particularly Lal weren't there too

b) I shook hands with Martin and said how good he was about 6 times (according to my wife),  

c) I forgot Lisa Knapp's name while talking to her - multiple  

d) The red wine stains won't come out of my jacket. Oh well, I can always do a Les Patterson impersonation...  

[giottoscircle (Robert)]

I like Martin Carthy and personally thought he was excellent-However his contribution was out of touch with the rest of the evening and also not representative of what I feel was Sandy's biggest strengths-the ability to present traditional and modern folk music in a more widely accessible way.I know that he put off the people I came with because whilst they are extremely fond of Sandy's music they are sceptical of the wider "finger in ear" folk music that Martin exhibited on the night. That said the rest of the evening was amazing (and accessible) and could only have been made better if Linda had sung.

[Philip W]

Two very brief video clips of Linde Nijland's set on tribute night have turned up on YouTube:

Rising For The Moon
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4EQ7rd-PiC4

WKWTTG (unplugged)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BXeC-DvSbn0

Some pics from Vikki Clayton's accompanist:
http://www.btinternet.com/~unclechristo/phot.html