Ben Nicholls - Duets

April 5th 2024

Album Review

****

An artist to duet with!

Ben Nicholls is a bassist that many people who have been to Folk festivals over the last decade or more will have seen whether they realised it or not. He’s a very talented musician who has played with some equally talented professionals, but always as part of someone else’s band. They are the ones that normally have their name on the bill, from Seth Lakeman, Jon Boden, Nadine Shah to Cara Dillion and more. While I know they all give their musicians credit and name them every gig,and we are not suggesting otherwise, now it is nice for Ben to have his name on the front cover.

Many of the people he has performed with appear on his album, ‘Duets’ (though some tracks have more than one additional artist). The opening track ‘Cuckoo’ is with Nadine Shah. While initially expecting this to be a Folk heavy album, this track sounds like a Parisian Blues club in the springtime. As might be expected it is very bass heavy. A great start that certainly piques your interest from the get-go. Ben Nicholls has always been about more than just Folk, so this probably says more about my experiences of having seen him before than anything else.

Review by Jon Cooper

You can read the rest of the review in Issue 2 of the Music Trespass Magazine (MAR/APR 2024) - which can be purchased from Amazon on the following link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CYF52G53?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=d...