Search - Ben Luxon, Bill Crofut :: Two Gentlemen Folk

Their live performances must have been a hoot

E. A. Lovitt | Gladwin, MI USA | 02/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two gentlemen sang Bach, folk, and opera for a living--all of the miscellaneous gigs musicians take on to keep from starving--and Crofut also played the banjo, composed music and authored two books. His collaboration with Luxon started one night in a Munich beer hall, after a performance of Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" (Crofut was in the choir and Luxon sang Jesus.) Anyway after a few brews, they discovered a mutual passion for folk music and began performing together with various friends, including a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, a lutenist from the Smithsonian Institution, and a fiddler who was also a trained folklorist. This resulted in a very unique album, most especially in the widely varied accompaniments. Just to name a few, "Sweet Nightingale" is accompanied by the 12-string guitar, bass, mandolin, and muted banjo; "White-haired Cassidy" is a penny-whistle solo; "The Flowers of the Forest" track includes vocals, tenor recorder, handbell, and Sruti-peti (a small box that works on a system of bellows and is used to provide the drone accompaniment). The songs themselves are standard folk fare ("Wabash Cannonball," "Danny Boy," "Ash Grove," etc.) and are sung in a straightforward manner. But they're sung with such glee, they spring to life off of the track and make you want to sing along with them (don't play this CD right before you retire for the night - I made that mistake and was up until 3 A.M., tapping my foot under the covers and humming and annoying my husband). On a couple of tracks that were recorded in concert, you'll hear the audience occasionally break into song, too. These guys are irresistible.Though he surfaced during the folk-music boom in the late 1950's, Crofut broke free of the mold through his penchant for experimentation, setting music to the poetry of Robert Penn Warren or transcribing for banjo the compositions of Vivaldi and Bartok. Unfortunately, I took this information from his online obituary (Fuller Up - The Dead Musician Directory). I really wish he and Luxon had had time to cut a few more recordings like this one. "Simple Gifts--Folk Songs at Tanglewood" is (I think) their only other album together, and it is another joyous musical happening."Two Gentlemen Folk" is all about the delight of making music together. Don't let the 'folk' aspect put you off from taking pleasure in this album."