Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band - A Christmas Caper
  • I Saw Three Ships
  • While Shepherds Watched
  • Angels from the Realms of Glory
  • God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
  • Monsieur Charpentier’s Christmas Swing
  • Monsieur Charpentier’s Christmas Swing
  • Joy to the World
  • See Amid the Winters Snow
  • Poor Little Jesus
  • Blake's Cradle Song
  • Coventry Carol
  • The Boar's Head
  • Ding Dong Merrily On High
  • The Holly & The Ivy
  • Personent Hodie
  • Cradle Song
  • Bright Evening Star
  • Hark Hark What News
  • Away in a Manger
  • The Carnel & The Crane
  • Bring Us in Good Ale (New Big Band Mix)
  • La Danse Carree
  • The Quiet Way Home
  • I Saw Three Ships
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:49) [8.73 MB]
  • While Shepherds Watched
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:08) [7.17 MB]
  • Angels from the Realms of Glory
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:15) [7.42 MB]
  • God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (04:36) [10.55 MB]
  • Monsieur Charpentier’s Christmas Swing
    Genre: Folk
  • Monsieur Charpentier’s Christmas Swing
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (02:21) [5.4 MB]
  • Joy to the World
    Genre: (Choose a Genre)
    MP3 (02:46) [6.33 MB]
  • See Amid the Winters Snow
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (04:09) [9.51 MB]
  • Poor Little Jesus
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (02:25) [5.53 MB]
  • Blake's Cradle Song
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (02:25) [5.53 MB]
  • Coventry Carol
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:09) [7.22 MB]
  • The Boar's Head
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:37) [8.26 MB]
  • Ding Dong Merrily On High
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (02:33) [5.83 MB]
  • The Holly & The Ivy
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:18) [7.55 MB]
  • Personent Hodie
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (02:58) [6.77 MB]
  • Cradle Song
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:27) [7.91 MB]
  • Bright Evening Star
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:26) [7.87 MB]
  • Hark Hark What News
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (01:48) [4.12 MB]
  • Away in a Manger
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (01:52) [4.28 MB]
  • The Carnel & The Crane
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (04:17) [9.8 MB]
  • Bring Us in Good Ale (New Big Band Mix)
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:36) [8.25 MB]
  • La Danse Carree
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (02:57) [6.75 MB]
  • The Quiet Way Home
    Genre: Folk
    MP3 (03:47) [8.65 MB]
Biography
Maddy Prior is one of the most enduring, influential and respected artists in British music having produced one of the most outstanding and varied bodies of work in the field of British folk music. Still in love with her medium, still pushing at the boundaries, still fascinated by the possibilities that music has to offer, this Autumn sees her team up with two very talented artists for a unique live experience.

"Maddy’s career has been a memorable and prolific one and she remains every bit as engaging an artist today as she did then"


Maddy Prior has been described as the voice of Folk Music.

The Carnival Band

5 Musical Explorers, 5 voices, 25 instruments, 5 dozen styles of music and 5 hundred fresh ideas for music-making, combining music from across the centuries with sounds from around the world in an irreverently joyous mix!

Why Carnival? For us Carnival is the universal spirit of celebration which overthrows convention. It has its roots in the pre-lenten street festivals of Medieval Europe which gave communities license to 'turn the world upside down'. We do just that with our music - we've invented 'Macedonian Reggae', turned a renaissance chanson into a Piaf-inspired drag act, paired Noel coward with James Brown, flavoured a traditional English carol with Cajun spice - the list goes on.

We began life 25 years ago as an offshoot of The Medieval Players theatre company, but while we have been called 'Henry VIII's Rock 'n Roll Band' our horizons have widened to include music from practically every continent (we're working on Antarctica) and every century since about 1200AD. We sometimes write our own songs too.

We're proud to have a long-standing partnership with one of the pioneers of British folk-rock and a leading singer of English traditional music, Maddy Prior.

Our cornucopia of instruments includes the historical (shawm, flemish bagpipes) the exotic ('ud, djembe) and the familiar (electric guitar, double-bass). A Carnival Band performance is a kaleidoscope of instrumental colours, musical influences and moods, sustained by superb musical skill and enlivened with humour.

Our music has taken us to tiny village halls in mid-Wales, an open air auditorium in the heart of Sudan, a civic hall in a Tokyo suburb, a community centre in Catalonia, and gleaming modern concert halls like The Sage, Gateshead. Whatever the venue, the spirit of Carnival guarantees an instant connection with the listeners, and the audience becomes part of the show.


Andy Watts:

Not only is Andy the founder of The Carnival Band, but he is currently principal bassoon with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and one of the leading players of baroque and classical bassoon in the UK. He began his early music career by playing medieval and renaissance instruments at primary school in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire and took up the modern bassoon at the age of sixteen. He studied history and music at Cambridge University, bassoon at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and baroque bassoon at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Starting his professional career as a costumed minstrel in a Mayfair restaurant, recorder teacher for the ILEA and musical director of a touring theatre company (The Medieval Players) he went on to play with a number of renaissance music ensembles and with most of London's period instrument orchestras. He has also played for Nikolaus Harnoncourt with Concentus Musicus in Vienna.

He is a keen music educator working with children and adults of all ages, has written two workshop packs for keystage 3 and is professor of baroque and classical bassoon at the Royal Academy of Music and visiting tutor at Birmingham University.


Giles Lewin:

Giles is something of an enigma. He was born in Essex sometime between 1955 and 1960. He attended one of the country's most prestigious public schools where his musical talent began to flower. From there he went to one of the older universities. Whether he spent his time there profitably is impossible to tell. His tutors and director of studies refuse to be drawn on the subject. He emerged with an enthusiasm for Irish traditional music, a love of the consorts of William Lawes and the ability to ride a bicycle while inebriated. There then follows a shadowy period from which he emerged as a musician with the Medieval Players. He is a founder member of the leading medieval group the Dufay Collective, and played with the late lamented After Hours (Irish trad.). His duo with Viven Ellis, Alba, explores the music of the troubadours. He has spent time in the Sinai desert, learning Egyptian fiddle styles and accompanying dance.


Jub Davis:

It would be easier to list what Jub hasn't done! He may only play one instrument (though secretly he's a pretty mean pianist) but in his career he's covered just about every style going. He's worked in avant-garde theatre with Station House Opera, been a member the Indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy, as well as working with more conventional groups like English National Opera, London Contemporary Dance Theatre and the London Chamber Orchestrra. He also co-founded the prize winning Kreisler String Orchestra which won the 1986 Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade. Over the years he has worked with many notable artists including Youssou N'Dour, Tanita Tikaram, Abdullah Ibrahim, Brian Eno, Sting, Joss Pook, DJ Krust, Zero 7, the Brodsky and Duke string quartets. He gets a great deal of pleasure playing small ensemble works with the Adderbury Ensemble and the Emerald Ensemble, with which he has recently been featured as a soloist in performances of Bottesini's Grand Duo for Violin, Bass and orchestra. He has taken up the challenge of contemporary music with groups such as Opus 20, Lontano and Ixion. However, to take time out he really enjoys a good forty mile bike ride!


Steno Vitale:

A self-taught guitarist and songwriter, Steno grew up listening to traditional Irish folk music and progressive rock. He's played in bands from the age of 11, experimenting with different musical styles and writing songs. This musical education was followed by an extensive period of busking around Europe leading to a 5 year whirlwind of gigs on the London folk- rock circuit and festivals. In 2002 he found a musical home in The Carnival Band. His one stint in formal musical education was to study harmony at the Colchester Institute of Music - so it's a pity that most Carnival tunes only use three chords.

A prolific songwriter, Steno has written dozens of songs for bands and theatre productions, primarily as musical director for IPA Theatre Company, and for the past 7 years with Bamboozle Theatre Company. His work with Bamboozle involves week-long residencies in theatre spaces, devising theatre and music for children. Shows include The King of Capri, Geneva, the Firestone and many more.

Steno also runs music workshops, working with students to develop original songs and soundscapes usually in the context of theatre.

A long-term member of legendary London folk-rock band Chanter, he plays Guitar and Mandolin.

Steno loves the water and when on tour manages to spend almost as much time in the pool as on stage.


Steve Banks:

After completing his Master's degree at the London School of Economics Steve found the life of a high-powered consultant didn't suit him at all. So he became a high-powered classical violinist, playing with ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Kreisler Ensemble.

That too was not his cup of tea and instead, a life-long passion for rhythm led to him taking up the djembe. His drumming, fiddling and enthusiasm for bad puns made him a ripe candidate for the Carnival Band - at long last he had found an outfit which is sufficiently low-powered to make him feel at home (In a truly Carnivalesque inversion of society's norms, Steve's dazzling virtuosity and songwriting talents now flourish at street level!).

Steve has worked for many years with Bamboozle Theatre Company working with students with special needs. Like Steno, he plays in the celebrated celtic folk-rock group Chanter. If you're into great ballads and rollicking reels, why not visit the Chanter website.

In spring 2010 Steve formed a new acoustic-folk band of South Devon musicians, Blue Jewel, and recorded an album, Dart Songs, which is a musical journey along the beautiful Dart estuary where he lives.

Steve teaches violin and beginners piano in South Devon, and is once again playing classical concerts, now with the Ten Tors Orchestra. (Try as we might, we cannot escape the recapitulation in the great sonata of life - but at least be grateful it's not a Da Capo!).

Steve uses the Headway "Band" pickup and EDB-1 pre-amp for top quality amplification of his violin in gigs (www.headwaymusicaudio.com).
4
  • Members:
    Maddy Prior, Andy, Watts, Giles Lewin, Jub Davis, Steve Banks, Steve Vitale
  • Sounds Like:
    A CD
  • Influences:
  • AirPlay Direct Member Since:
    12/09/14
  • Profile Last Updated:
    08/14/23 20:15:51

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