Maddy Prior & the Carnival Band”Carols &...

Maddy Prior & the Carnival Band

“Carols & Capers”

Park

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It would be no surprise to find this collection of (mostly) European Christmas music on the list of Queen Elizabeth’s holiday favorites. Elizabeth I, that is. It’s also no surprise that Maddy Prior, the lead singer of veteran Brit-folk revivalist band Steeleye Span, would cast her gaze back a few centuries in setting the tone of her entree into the world of Christmas albums. That tone is expertly realized by her five-member band, which employs such ancient instruments as lute, recorders, fiddles, Medieval bagpipes and curtal (a primitive bassoon) in summoning the sound of days and knights of yore. But even with the presence on some numbers of electric guitars and drums, this is a far cry from the Phil Spector Christmas album. The selections span several eras and regions, from 16th-Century Germany (“A Boy Was Born”) and 17th-Century France (“Monsieur Charpentier’s Christmas Stomp”) to the late 19th-Century United States (“Away in a Manger”). Prior sings with radiant purity throughout and applies a light brogue to the 400-year-old Scottish ballad “Ane Sang of the Birth of Christ” over the spare backing of a solitary lute. The only number that sounds out of character is the “Turkey in the Straw / Whisky Before Breakfast” instrumental medley. (It’s also the only track that seems to necessitate the “. . . & Capers” portion of the title.) Put it on your list for anyone who might be intrigued by the sound of a very old-fashioned Christmas.