Jade – Fly On Strangewings (DJM Records 1970)

Jade was yet another fine British folk rock band that went under the radar. The band only got to release one album, but it’s a minor classic that should be owned by the avid folk rock fan. Jade consisted of composer, vocalist and acoustic guitarist Marian Segal, Rod Edwards on piano and harpsichord, and Dave Waite on acoustic guitar. A bunch of studio musicians contribute also. On the album you’ll find a nice mix of uptempo lively numbers and melancholy ballads. The songs in the latter category also have wonderful string arrangements. The title track is one of these, and is simply a classic. Lovely arrangement and vocal harmonies (male and female) to die for. Excellent stuff! ‘Raven’ and ‘Fly Me To The North’ are other folk ballads of the highest order. The strength of this band was surely the ability to come up with memorable songs with strong melodic themes. As mentioned, there are also several uptempo songs here. The album opens with one of these, namely ‘Amongst Anenomies’. That one is almost more Fairport Convention than Fairport Convention themselves, which is something that could be said of several songs here. The song ‘Bad Magic’, which closes side A, is not folk but rock & roll of the kind you have heard a thousand times before. But I still like it. Nice to hear that even these posh guys and gal could rock out a little too. But originality was not one of the biggest strengths in this band. On the other hand: Everything they did is very solid, and very very English! Not essential then, but certainly a nice album to have and spin from time to time – preferrably with a large cup of tea. But no sugar, thank you my dear!