Ashley Hutchings & Ernesto De Pascale - My Land Is Your Land

Anglo-Italian co-celebration of cultures

This project has been several years in gestation, and the opening track, A Patch Of Earth, sets the lyrical tone with its compare-and-contrast approach to the two landscapes of Albion Britain and the Tuscan Hills. It also has two lead vocalists, one British and one Italian, which eases us into the sharing-around the leads that occurs throughout the album and introduces the light and shade that we might expect from a cross-cultural musical collaboration.

No Juliet Dreaming has all of Hutchings’ electric folk bases covered, while Working Underground records his journey from the Fairport Convention of 1967 to his embracing of Italian life. As you would expect, cultural cuisines are compared (we don’t emerge with glory), a footie match is woven into song (England vs Italy, Highbury 1934), and Westminster Bridge and the Pont Vecchio also find their place. The Old Masters features a wonderful clear vocal from Jo Hamilton and beautiful violin from Ruth Angell, both from the vastly underrated Rainbow Chasers, adding some delightful contrast.

The whole project is bold in concept and execution, quite unlike anything else and deserving of the kind of intelligent attention that it probably won’t get enough of.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Esoteric | ECLEC 2078

Reviewed by Kingsley Abbott
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