The launch of the Aberteifi Live project at Cardigan’s Small World Theatre saw floorfilling post-trad sextet Pons Aelius delivering delectable folk dance tunes and infectious bonhomie. Julia Deli was on the spot for it.
Pons Aeliusmet in Newcastle in 2011, through the local folk circuit and student houseshares, and for the last 10 years have played UK and European festivals, becoming award-winners at Celtic Connections. The passion of Jordan Aikin (bagpipes, pipes, fiddle), Sam Partridge (flutes), Tom Kimber (tenor banjo, mandolin), Callum Younger (the “all-human rhythm section”), Alasdair Paul (guitars, bouzouki) and Bevan Morris (double bass) – to write folk that sounds ancient, and contemporise old tunes – has so far yielded two albums, with a third on the way.
Named in reference to Aelian’s Bridge, the Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall, tonight’s show in Cardigan is their Welsh debut. With a huge skirl of bagpipes, we’re launched into a set of Scottish jigs and reels from their repertoire, where tricksy banjo and ecstatic flute twirl in a fling to heavy, bodhran/drumkit breaks from Younger.
The Irish folk-themed Captain Glen’s Comfort begins in sweet trad vein – each instrument playing its own solo variation within the piece, Partridge teasing “It’s lovely to pour the Captain’s cocktail into your ears!” – and Rafa’s, dedicated to onetime Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez, is a set of jigs that starts with gentle melodies on banjo, penny whistle and flute, revved up into hyperdrive with bass along the way.
A new tune by Paul and Kimber marries Irish and Balkan pulses, all played on the highest register of each instrument, until circle dance-like progressions develop. The composition grows though spooky, jazzy notes until the theme is taken up full force by Aikin’s bagpipes and a frenzy of percussion from Younger.
The interval allows a breather, and a chance to enthuse about the wildness that had just washed over us. Diane Newman, a gardener from Abercych, says “I’m all about the folk, and Small World Theatre is such a special place to host folk music in. I’m blown away by these guys – each of them is so talented. And the speed of Jordan’s finger work on the pipes!”
Made up of four venues – Theatr Mwldan, Small World Theatre, the Cellar and Flach Cymunedol – the Aberteifi Live collective promotes the arts “to enhance the cultural fabric” of the town. Small World Theatre is active in eco-projects, supporting the mental health of young people through their Amethyst project as well as aerial skills with Syrcas Byd Bach – and called upon across Wales for their giant puppets of Bran Fendigaid and other Welsh folk heroes. In September, they’ll be part of Fishguard’s celebrations of the filming 70 years ago of harbour scenes in Moby Dick, making a giant whale lantern to be lit from within.
Time for part two, then, and a lilting new Pons Aeliuspiece penned by Aikin, evocative of his favourite Tyneside walk. Drawn in further by a set of tunes based on Irish jig Sergeant Cahill’s Favourite, complex harmonies fold smoothly over each other like poured toffee, and it’s impossible to find either the beginnings or ends of the well-tuned phrases.
Partridge notes, “We’ve brought our folk traditions with us from all over the UK – the north-east, the Westcountry and west Highlands, the Peak District,” and now they bring central France to our shores, with a marchoise – a lively, self-penned step dance with medieval chord structures and hypnotic beats. While in The 321, tenor instruments spiral upwards as the bass ones get progressively lower by a semitone at each trancey repetition; legs are kicked to moments of 9/8 rhythm and bouzouki breakouts, the band thanking us for “dusting off [our] boots”.
Intimate reflections on a folk song from New Zealand precedes audience participation in the virtuosic harmonies of Interlude, and nifty footwork is magnetised out of us to the linked, self-authored reels of Fire Under The Bridge, from Pons Aelius’ 2019 album of that title. Finally, banjo and bouzouki duel through an encore of trad Irish tunes dismantled in Molly And Jimmy’s, with counterpoint melodies and frequencies that demand you dance the new waveform out.
After the gig, Tom Kimber tells me: “We started out as mates, who used to bring tunes and things we’d come up with ourselves to jams. Then stuff just sort of happened and our style came together. I grew up in Bath, where there was a good folk scene, and my parents would take us to folk festivals and gigs. Some people in the band have parents who are professional musicians; Alasdair was involved in local pipe bands, like Jordan. In Scotland, you’re taught folk music in school – I’ve always been quite jealous of that.”
“After all these years playing together, we’re able to consider ourselves employed in music, which is a great thing,” says Alasdair Paul. “We find ourselves in beautiful venues like this one, discovering Cardigan, and Wales, and its folk audience and traditions. And so we keep evolving. Nothing beats playing live and making people dance.”
Pons Aelius’ nonstop reeling and whooping is indeed an excellent remedy against what ails us. Let’s hope they’re back again in Wales very soon.
Pons Aelius, Small World Theatre, Cardigan, Fri 24 Apr
words JULIA DELI photos SAM VICARY
