London-based Celtic music trio Counter’s Creek recently released a debut album that we enjoyed a lot. We communicated via the internet with whistle player and composer Jonathan Taylor to find out more about the band.
What are your fondest musical memories?
I’m not sure if this relates to my childhood or adult experiences of music. Childhood: my parents took me to lots of classical concerts which I enjoyed. I also spent many, many hours playing the piano, avoiding practising the stuff my teachers wanted me to do, instead playing Scott Joplin and pop songs. Adult: touring with Fred Wesley playing funk keyboards, various concerts playing Argentinean tango on the piano!
What was the first tune you learned?
On the whistle, ‘The New Broom’ by Vincent Broderick.
What do you consider as the essential elements of your music?
A memorable melody and often something rhythmically unusual.
You play various types of music, how did you come up with the Counter’s Creek project?
I had a period of 2 or 3 years without a girlfriend. It was the ideal time to write lots of tunes! Some of them made it on to the album. I started the band in order to be able to play these tunes with other musicians. It took a while to find the right musicians, though I’d known Andy Tween the drummer for many years. But I was incredibly lucky to meet Tom and Moss who are very talented musicians with a broad interest in all types of music.
Tell us about the debut album, The Careful Placement of Stones.
The Careful Placement of Stones is a collection of original tunes that combine the musical styles of the Celtic tradition with grooves from West Africa and Eastern Europe; closely interwoven harmonies hint at jazz and blues allied to a strong sense of swing and dance energy. The process of writing the tunes is analogous to placing stones in a Zen garden: the various elements must be selected and combined to create an apparently natural and organic composition, but one which is the result of careful planning and construction.
How many instruments do you play?
I play the piano quite well, the whistle (sufficiently well!) and the electric bass (quite badly).
How did you come into contact with the world of whistles?
I was on tour with a theatre show in Belfast and couldn’t access a piano in the daytime to play. So I wandered into a music shop and bought a cheap tin whistle. I quickly became obsessed with trying to learn as many tunes as possible from recordings and the internet. I’m not sure what appealed to me about the whistle but I do remember seeing Steve Buckley, a jazz saxophonist, playing the whistle many years ago and thought it was amazing that he could play such great music on such a simple instrument!
The UK has a strong Celtic music scene, especially in Scotland and Northern Ireland. How’s the Celtic scene in London?
Being such a large city there are of course many talented musicians playing in the Celtic tradition. Bands like Crossharbour for example. There are regular Irish/English folk sessions across the city and many gigs are promoted by the Nest Collective – an organisation dedicated to putting on acoustic (often unamplified) music in all sorts of performance spaces both indoors and outdoors.
How has the corona virus affected you as a musician?
All gigs have been cancelled. I’m doing some online instrumental teaching and trying to use the time to practise and study composition.
What are you doing these days while people are asked to stay indoors and maintain social distancing?
In addition to what I mentioned earlier, also looking after my 3 month-old baby Leo!
How do you distribute your music?
On Bandcamp and through our website www.counterscreekmusic.com
Mainstream media does not provide an outlet for roots music in general. In what ways are you promoting your music?
Facebook and Twitter posts, videos and information about gigs, directing people to listen to the music on our website/Spotify/Bandcamp. Sending out CDs for review also!
If you could gather any additional musicians, or bands, to collaborate with, whom would that be?
It would be great to work with a melodeon player, for example Andy Cutting or a vocalist – I would love the challenge of writing songs as well as instrumental tunes.
Aside from the release of The Careful Placement of Stones, do you have any additional upcoming projects to share with us?
Everything’s slightly on hold at the moment of course. I have another whistle project with a fellow whistler in London and we hope to record some of that music soon. Expecting to tour with Tango Siempre next year (on piano of course) with Vincent Simone from Strictly Come Dancing and we have a project in mind to commemorate Astor Piazzolla’s centenary.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.