National Youth Folklore Troupe of England
Album: NYFTE
Label: Wild Goose
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.nyfte.org.uk/

NYFTE (pronounced 'Nifty', naturally) is a group of young people aged between 10 and 18 with an interest in traditional song, dance and music. The organisation was formed in 1990 to help promote participation in the English traditional arts throughout the critical teenage years. NYFTE allows its members to develop their existing skills and learn new ones with the help and encouragement of respected tutors and peers. They also learn leadership skills and perform in concert and festival settings and several of their 'graduates' continue to have a presence on the national folk m

usic scene.

The repertoire on this, their first CD, is largely traditional - Morris and other dance tunes as well as a number of songs (mostly, but not exclusively, shanty-type songs or group pieces) - with a handful of appropriate modern pieces thrown in for good measure. As you might expect from such a project, the level of competency is mostly exemplary, especially on the instrumental pieces. Instrumentation itself is largely as one would expect from the repertoire - fiddles, melodeons and whistles abound - and there appear to be a good range of voices evident in the vocal pieces.

The problem I have with these recordings is that we're so used to hearing imaginative and innovative takes on the tradition in recent years that the rather prosaic approach taken to this project has the effect of appearing to lack imagination. Very little ever reaches the levels of excitement and passion we know these songs and tunes are capable of attaining. For instance, there's a tendency to 'throw everything' at a number of the tunes so everyone seems to be playing everything all the time. For my taste at least, this sometimes leads to the large ensemble pieces losing some of their impact and I would have welcomed the 'light and shade' that might have been achieved with a sprinkling of solo or duo performances. Similarly, some of the songs might have benefited from being performed by smaller vocal ensembles to better emphasise some of the individual voices.

Having said that it's worth restating the point that the musicianship throughout is rarely less than highly competent. Clearly these youngsters are learning the technical side of their craft to an admirable degree. Within the context of what the troupe are trying to achieve this should be considered a compliment and given the age and experience of the participants I'm loath to be too critical. So, whilst there's little here that got me genuinely excited we should all be grateful that NYFTE exists and is nurturing the next generation of traditional singers and musicians.

Kev Boyd