THE GARDENING CLUB

40 years ago illustrator Martin Springett was asked to design the cover for a trilogy by a young Canadian author called Guy Gavriel Kay. That series was 'The Fionavar Tapestry', set in both contemporary Toronto and the secondary world of Fionavar. As the years went by Martin and Guy stayed connected and Martin created the maps for many of Guy's works, feeling so inspired by the words he was reading that over a 20-year period he wrote and recorded this album, which is mostly instrumental with the music taking us on the journeys travelled by the characters. To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the release of the first book, 'The Summer Tree', Martin has created the 'Summer Tree Portfolio' which led to label boss Nick Katona saying they ought to reissue this album as well to tie in with the celebrations.

Quick confession time, although I have been an avid fantasy reader since my teens, reading LOTR for the first time when I was 18 (decades before Peter Jackson awoke the whole world to Tolkien, in some ways it was nicer when he was a secret), I must confess to only knowing about this author through seeing Martin's posts on Facebook. That means that although this album is aimed at fans of the author to play and enjoy while knowing the back story, I am listening to this just for the music. Now, I have always thought of Martin's music as coming across with heavy influences from Roy Harper and Camel, but here we find him more in the world of Anthony Phillips and Gordon Giltrap: it is a delight to hear him providing so much acoustic guitar. It is interesting to hear him moving in quite different directions as well, as while there are times when he is in familiar territory there are others where he is taking a far more mystical and Eastern approach. His guitars are generally the focal point, but the use of flutes in particular are a wonderful aside and provides us with flavours and smells of the souk. This truly is a beautiful release, and I find it difficult to realise this is one of his older albums which I had not played until now. It is certainly very different to what I would normally expect from Martin and is an absolute joy to listen to from beginning to end.

From a purely musical perspective I thoroughly enjoyed this release, and I am sure that those who are familiar with the stories will get ever more from it. The final song is a new version of "Rachel's Song", with Danie Friesen singing and Kevin Laliberte producing, both of course current members of The Gardening Club. It is a very different take to the rest of the album, but it is nice to hear the contrast between this and the rest of the album. Highly recommended to fans either of Martin, The Gardening Club, or Guy Gavriel Kay

I often think the music business is a cruel place, and how it discards those who should be feted and reveres those who are not creative at all. That is the case with Martin Springett, whose debut album, 'The Gardening Club' in 1983 never received anything like the acclaim it should have done at the time, and it wasn't until the reissue in 2017 that many people (including me) became aware that Martin had a musical interest alongside his artistic one, with just two albums more since the first one. The reviews he achieved in 2017 lit a fire under Martin, and this is the sixth album since then. He has also developed two different sets of musicians to work with, one on the east coast of Canada and one on the west, and this album again finds Martin working with both on different songs. The vast majority of those involved have appeared on other albums with him, but a special mention should be made of new member Danie Friesen who provides both "normal" vocals and classical elements, which adds additional finesse and polish to the overall.

Many of those involved, including Martin, provide more instrumentation than they are credited with at the end of the booklet, but fuller details can be found against each song as well as the lyrics and of course, Martin's wonderful artwork. While Martin provides vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, he is joined by Drew Birston (fretless and acoustic bass), Peter Dowse (bass), Wayne Kozak (saxophone), Kevin Laliberte (electric guitar), Chandy Leon (drums) and Norm MacPherson (electric guitars). I have often likened Martin as being a combination of Roy Harper and Camel, and to my mind that is still very true indeed, yet here he has broadened the palette, with more orchestration in places (care of Norm) and the wonderful vocals of Danie.

I still find it difficult to understand why Martin was not recognised as a true talent 40 years ago, and one can only wonder what would have happened to his career if that had taken place, as while his output has been prodigious in recent years, there has been no lack whatsoever of quality control. Here he has even allowed himself to produce one of his longest songs to date, yet it never meanders and keeps the listener totally invested throughout and highly engaged. It never seems as if this is an album which in many ways could be considered as being by a project as opposed to a band given the way the songs are performed by different musicians with the only common factor being Martin himself, as there is a focus and vision which are dominant throughout. Martin knows exactly what he wants to achieve and uses others to assist in fleshing out those ideas and polishing the final product.

Martin and I have been friends for some time now, and of course he has provided the artwork to all my books, so it is quite possible that readers will think I am biased towards him. However, the reason he first contacted me was due to the review I wrote of his debut as I fell in love with his music the very first time I heard it and each album just reinforces my view that his music is significant as there is a beauty within it which lifts me up each time I play one of his releases. There is something very special indeed about this album, which is one of his best to date, and let there be many more.

The latest release from Martin Springett nicely demonstrates different aspects of his musical stylings, with both the West Coast and East Coast collaborations on display on his latest single. It contains two songs, with the first demonstrating his working relationship with Norm Macpherson, and this song itself is neatly divided into two different aspects, "Hotel Nostalgia" and "Enigma 1". Somewhat unusually, Martin does not provide any instrumentation on these two parts, just vocals, and while he provided the lyrics to the first, he has again worked with Stephen Bennett, as he did on 'Mr. October And The Moon Of Madness', who provided the lyrics for the second. The music was co- written with Norm, who orchestrated both parts before then adding guitars, bass and drum programming to the second. The result is a song which contains sumptuous beauty in the first with an orchestral arrangement which is often pastoral, but with a hidden strength which comes more to the fore in the second part when rockier elements are introduced which have a delightful contrast. There is a depth within this, as well as plenty of space, and I still find it difficult to realise that Martin has for most of his life not been recording his music, as since the reissue of his debut it is like a spring has been untapped and he has been releasing so many wonderful collections.

The second song, "Tricksters", again finds Martin working with producer Kevin Laliberte, who also provides electric guitar, slide guitar and drum programming. This time around Martin provides the lyrics and music, as well as vocals, acoustic and electric guitars and again they have been joined by Drew Birston on fretless bass and Wayne Kozak on soprano saxophone. This shows Martin more fully in the Roy Harper/Camel stylings we know so well, and although the drum machine is a little basic, this song clearly demonstrates Martin's skills in that the arrangement is deliciously complex while his clear vocals over the top take the song one way while the jazzlike saxophone moves it in another yet it continues to make perfect sense. With this new single now available one can only hope there is a full album to follow soon as yet again this is a superb piece of work from Martin, who of course provided the wonderful artwork which graces its cover.

Martin Springett is probably best-known as an artist, but over the years he has also released some albums, and this one from 1983 has just been reissued by Gonzo. I had not heard of Martin, and it was only because I had read a review in the mighty Gonzo magazine (what do you mean you don't read it? As Jon says, "It's stylish, it's witty, it's subversive, it's free. It's everything you want from a music magazine). I was intrigued, and knew I had to find out more, so soon had a copy sent to deepest darkest New Zealand. To say I was blown away on hearing it is something of an understatement. That this is a classic isn't even up for debate, the only question in my mind is how on earth has this been missed by progheads? It all must be down to timing, if it had been released ten years earlier then it would have been written about by the mainstream press, but back in the early Eighties it was hard to discover any prog unless you had a frontman called Fish ? even Twelfth Night and Pallas suffered, so an ex-pat living in Canada didn't stand a chance.

But, thanks to Gonzo we all now have the opportunity to relish this. Think 'Breathless' era Camel, combining forces with Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips, and is an album which made me smile from the first song to the very last. I must make mention of Bob Brough, who contributes some very fine soprano sax, and makes instrumentals such as "The Traveller" very much his own. There is a great deal to discover and enjoy on the album, with songs making way for instrumentals, 12-string acoustic guitars to electric, always with a strong sense of melody. It is dreamy, it is reflective, it is pastoral, it is very simply bloody excellent! This is simply one of the finest reissues I have ever come across in terms of pure musical enjoyment. To find out more about Martin, his art, and his music, then visit his website. All progheads should have this: I personally could play it all day and not get tired of it.

Can someone really be called a progressive artist if they have not released a concept album? Discuss. Here we find Martin again working with the Gardening Club East line-up with Kevin Laliberte taking on a lead role, while they are also joined by Drew Birston on fretless bass (which he plays as a lead instrument), Wayne Kozak on sax and Thomas Kinzel on keyboards while Martin of course provides vocals and guitars. Here we have the strange story from the late 19th Century of theatre performer Mr. October and his partner Ludmilla, where Steve Bennett has provided all the lyrics which were then put to music by Martin (and of course the booklet and cover art is all incredible, care of Martin himself).

Kevin has again brought in some of his more Eastern influences, while Martin has also allowed himself to solo on his electric at times, which is unusual for him as he generally provides support on acoustic (of which there is still plenty). I found myself being reminded in some ways of some of Clive Nolan's theatrical works, but it is the topic which is driving this as opposed to the musical style which is quite different. There is a lot of space within the music, allowing the story to breathe and adding plenty of drama and darkness to proceedings. In many ways it is one of Martin's most complex works, with the listener being taken on a real journey both lyrically and musically, the result being that this is not an album which can be dipped in and out of as there is a real progression in style and emotions and is something which should only be played when one really has the opportunity to listen to all of it without interruption, preferably on headphones. The orchestration is delicate, and this is incredibly dramatic, almost as if the music is being used like an artist's palette to paint the picture in tones instead of colours.

Martin's musical output in the last six years has been prodigious, and I can again only wonder what we would have heard if his talent had been properly recognised at the time of the original release of 'The Gardening Club' 40 years ago, but he has been making up for lost time and this album is a gem from beginning to end.

If one takes the time to look at Martin's discography, one will find a few albums dotted here and there, right up until 1983's 'The Gardening Club' was reissued by Gonzo Multimedia in 2017. I and many others fell in love with it the very first time we heard it, and since then Martin has been inspired and has been releasing a lot of music with different line-ups, all imbued with his wonderful songwriting and vocals. This album brings together two of his different projects, an EP recorded with what he terms Gardening Club West and his long-term musical partner Norm Macpherson, and another with Gardening Club East which includes Kevin Laliberte. A special mention must also be made of the appearance of violinist Sari Alesh, whose contribution is delightful and I urge people to check out the improvised performance which is available on YouTube where he accompanied Martin at a solo gig.

These two EPs, 'The Time Trilogy' and 'The Owl', have now been combined with some additional tracks so one can hear the more orchestral side of Martin's approach alongside music which has more Latin and Eastern influences. Martin's music has always been highly influenced by the likes of Camel while I always hear something of Roy Harper in his vocals, and his use of different musicians to assist him in bringing his visions to life are inspired. The styles are different, yet brought together in a way that makes them feel part of an extended canon as opposed to being distinctly different and like different bands. "The Owl" is here in its full long-form version, more than 17 minutes in length, containing some glorious orchestral passages, nicely spaced drums and delicate bass alongside some wonderfully phased Gilmour-style solos and of course Martin's vocals. Contrast that to the likes of "Forever Leaving Home" and its fretless bass combined with staccato acoustic and percussion which could be straight from the souks, alongside a plaintive violin.

The albums ends with one of my favourite songs, "Strange Kingdom", which is wonderfully layered and is almost lounge jazz in nature with a sound which is close and compact, compressed yet with space. This is a great album which stand up well, even though the majority is comprised of two different recording sessions with different line-ups, and if you have yet to come across the progressive singer songwriter style of a musician who is happy in multiple elements, then this is a great place to start. Needless to say, the CD booklet is a masterpiece of wonderful artwork combined with the lyrics and who played on what.