Dirty Linen Folk & World Music
#77 - Aug/Sept 1998
James Morman (Ashland, KY)
CALIBAN
Caliban; Magna Carta MA-9030 (1998)
Even more satisfying than the last Tempest album is the first outing by the cleverly named Caliban (read Shakespeare's The Tempest). The duo of Tempest members Lief Sorbye and Michael Mullen. Turning their attention away from high energy rock `n' reel, the band concentrates on acoustic material: Celtic, Norwegian and other, yet with the same energy and excitement we’ve come to expect from Sorbye. Sorbye provides the lead vocals, octave-mandola, harmonica. bodhran and mandolin,
while Mullen performs strictly on the fiddle. Producer Robert Berry plays the occasional keyboard, bass and guitar when needed.
   
There are plenty of instrumental sets that feature some excellent playing, like the opening cut, which pays tribute to some of their favorite venues ("The Open Door/Fibbar Magee's/Bordersholm"), the dynamic set of reels titled "Tipsy Sailor," a set of Irish jigs ("The Pony Set" containing the wonderful “Langstrom's Pony" and "Jig of Slurs"), and possibly the best of all: "The Company of Wolves," a set comprising original and traditional material. All these sets give Sorbye and Mullen a chance to stretch their instrumental skills a bit and show off, without the pulse of bass and drums in the background. Sorbye's mandolin picking is far more dominant than in Tempest, and Mullen's fiddling is inspired and captivating.

The vocal pieces are a mixed bag: a traditional song "the Journeyman", a sad traditional piece from Norway "Jeg Lagde Meg Sa Silde (I Laid Me Down to Rest)", a reworking of the famous traditional song "Bold John Barleycorn", and my favorite, the a capella murder ballad "What Put the Blood?" with Mullen singing harmony. Also included is a cover or Richard Thompson's romantic "Beeswing." All in all, Caliban is a splendid debut from two seasoned veterans of the traditional music world.