June Tabor 2005 Always

June Tabor is not just one of England's foremost folk singers, but one of the greatest interpretive singers in any field. This set contains key tracks from all parts of her career, many live and unreleased songs and collaborations with, among others, Maddy Prior, The Oyser Band and Martin Simpson. It is subtly lavish, 4 CDs in a long box format (6'' x 12'') with a 48 page full color booklet including historical photographs, a biographical essay and comprehensive notes on the songs. There are 67 tracks, 32 of which are previously unreleased - almost 5 hours of music. The whole package is much more than just a career retrospective, it is a fitting tribute to one of the great singers of our time.

"Quercus" means ‘oak’ in Latin and the roots of this particular tree dig deep into British folk music, while leaves and branches reach upward to embrace jazz-inspired lyrical improvising. The trio features the venerable English singer June Tabor whose dark voice has an uncanny ability to underscore the emotional essence of a ballad: “As I get older, I understand more the depths of sorrow and joy that made the song”, she has said. Tabor, who was recently voted BBC Folk Awards Singer Of The Year, is joined in the Quercus project by Welsh jazz pianist and composer Huw Warren, and by English saxophonist Iain Ballamy, well-known to ECM listeners as co-leader of the band Food. This is the first Quercus album but the trio has existed already for seven years, patiently developing its unique idiomatic blend.

Saxophonist with a classical and jazz background, his career started in 1992. From 1994 to 1997, he is a member of the Collectif Mu* and helps founding the Crescent Jazz Club where he shared the stage with experimented guests (Charles Bellonzi, Luigi Trussardi, Clovis Nicolas, Wayne Dockery, Eric Lelann, Steve Grossman, Peter King,Ricardo del Fra…).