Albion is a lavish double-disc two-hour-plus anthology spanning the 20-odd-year career of this important musician and songster who, arguably more than any other artist operating within the looser folk ambit, can lay claim to the title of contemporary chronicler of the history of the English-speaking people. Almost by accident, it seems (and notwithstanding the supreme confidence he's continued to display in and through his own personal artistic vision), Chris has emerged from out of the shadows of various duos, trios, quartets and collectives and recognised (not least through his netting of a significant crop of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards) as a major, and strongly individual, creative force in his own right.
His wholly engaging performance style is exemplified to perfection in the set's 21 tracks, which form an ideal entry point (and catch-up vehicle) to Chris's wider catalogue, since of his eleven CDs all but one (the Wood-Cutting Live At Sidmouth set) are represented, along with a track apiece from Karen Tweed's May Monday and Simon Emmerson's Real World project The Imagined Village and - tucked at the end of disc one - a brilliant, previously unreleased Two Duos Quartet track The Farmer.
Chris's instrumental skills are put in the spotlight (well, relatively speaking) on Knock John's fluid ramble Down The Wagon Way and the sublime extended duet with Andy Cutting Valtz Efter Tor Lohne (a poignant reminder for me that I still need a copy of the Lisa album!), while the very fact that Chris has chosen to include I Feel A Smile Coming On here shows his modesty in the company of other musicians who are "so bloody flash" that Chris knew when to admit he was "in over (his) head"; ditto his unduly self-effacing note to Copernicus!
It's important to remember, though, that Chris's artistry, although intense and wholly engaging, is not of the hit-you-between-the-ears-in-a-flash kind, but that his music demands your undivided attention and subsequently reaps maximum rewards. For which reason it can sometimes appear less immediate in its appeal. But this uniformly excellent anthology makes so persuasive a case that it should convert even resolute non-believers to the Chris Wood cause.
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