STING IN THE TALE

From the county of Whitshire comes this UK band, formed in mid-80's with Davey Dodds, Robin Harrison, Tony Heath and Mark Ollard as the original line-up.Much more on the folkier side of things this line-up recorded the rare LP ''Englands Green & Pleasant Land ?'' in 1987, only sold at local gigs.Later the line-up was expanded with the addition of Pat D'Arcy on saxes,while Ollard was replaced by Dave Clifford.Securing a deal with HTD Records, the band recorded the debut ''Sting in the Tale'' during a 4-week period, eventually released in 1990 both as LP and CD issues.

The sound of the band was pretty original, trying to push Folk Rock into more entertaining and modern forms, mixing traditional sounds from mandolins,tin whistles and violins (the later credited to Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention fame) with rockin' grooves and expressive lyricism.With Davey Dodds' voice being as theatrical and powerful as FISH'es, Red Jasper deliver some dynamic and groovy songs with an energetic and solid rhythm section enriched by folkish sections: mandolin introduction, driving violins, whistles interruptions and accordion tunes.On the other hand a few tracks serve just the joyful side of rock music with light keyboards, deep bass and drumming along with emphatic vocals, being rather straightforward and nothing close to the basics of progressive music.Still all of them have a very rich atmosphere and good production to be supported and finally sounding quite pompous.

Far from being essential, Red Jasper's debut is based on the band's originality and pounding approach to push the Folk aesthetics into a more rockin' mood.Good effort and warmly recommended.