Compass Rose Music
PO Box 1501
Bennington, Vermont 05201
A review written for Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
By Kerry Dexter.
"Even if you only have time for a brief visit, we hope you enjoy it," say
Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen of their first duet album in four years,
The Light of the Day. If your visit is brief, you'll want to sample Cindy's
fine songwriting on Dark of the Moon, and Steve and Charles John Quarto's
tribute to folksinger/storyteller Gamble Rogers, Song for Gamble. The duo
also present serious and not so serious songs from the folk ballad
tradition (En Montant la Riviere, from Quebec, and the Child Ballad Get Up
and Bar the Door, for example)as well as a Swedish-Finnish medley, and a
medley of the traditional hornpipe The Coast of France with a contemporary
song by Pete Jung, Far Away. Steve and Cindy's subtle harmonies and their
sense of humor are on display in Right Says Fred, and on Johnny Appleseed,
where they are joined for vocals by Anne Hills, with Mark Schatz on bass
and banjo and George Wilson on Fiddle. The Restless Wind, Hole in My Shoe,
The Bonny Light Horseman, 1800 Hundred and Froze to Death (a song about a
very frosty Vermont summer), and the Unicorn continue the balance of
composed and traditional folk music on the disc. Steve plays guitar on most
tracks, while Cindy adds concertina, dulcimer, and keyboards on selected
cuts, and there are a number of well chosen guest artists. Steve Gillette
and Cindy Mangsen are excellent storytellers, and it's easy to imagine them
sitting around a campfire sharing and teaching these songs, passing on -
and continuing to create - folk tradition.
[Edited by: Scott Montgomery]
This review is copyrighted by Three rivers Folklife Society, 1996, and Kerry
Dexter, 1996. It may be reproduced with prior permission and attribution.
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