Dyble Longdon: Star-Crossed Collaborators
When a musician reaches their potential over the course of their career, they inevitably catch the attention of other such like-minded musicians, and so the case is that collaborations are born. With many talented musicians falling into each other's orbits, there have been collaborations that seem unlikely, but just work. The first crossover rap-rock hit 'Walk This Way' by Run-DMC with Aerosmith members Steven Tyler and Joe Perry is a great example. As is the rock supergroup The Power Station featuring Robert Palmer, plus members of Duran Duran and Chic. The Traveling Wilburys probably had the most famous faces in a long-term collaboration with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and George Harrison. Then there are some collaborations which don't sound like collaborations at all, instead sound like they are just meant to be. This is one of them.
Dyble Longdon is a partnership between singer/songwriter Judy Dyble and multi-instrumentalist David Longdon, who have released what is likely to be their only album 'Between A Breath And A Breath' in September this year. Proudly with an album length like the records of old, it's seen a release on both CD and vinyl, as well of course in digital download. In addition to the album, two bonus tracks entitled 'Crossbones' and 'The Daguerreotype' will be released in October and November in support of Judy's favoured charity - The Barley Greyhound Sanctuary. But who are Dyble Longdon exactly?
Judy Dyble performed in one of the earliest line-ups of folk band Fairport Convention in the 1960's, as well as rejoining them for one-off reunions beginning in the 1980's. Following her departure from Fairport Convention, Dyble became one half of Trader Horne with Jackie McAuley, which also saw a brief reunion in the new millennium. Also of note is Dyble's collaboration with Giles, Giles and Fripp, the precursor group to King Crimson. Judy would later collaborate with Robert Fripp again on her solo work, making a long-awaited return to music full-time after a thirty year gap beginning in 1973. Judy Dyble published her autobiography entitled 'An Accidental Musician' in 2016.
David Longdon is best known as being vocalist and co-writer with progressive rock band Big Big Train, whom he joined in 2009 alongside founding members Andy Poole and Greg Spawton. Significantly, drummer Nick D'Virgilio would also join the band at this time, who Longdon would play with in a re-recording of Steve Hackett's song 'Spectral Mornings' in aid of Parkinson's Society U.K. later in 2015. In that same year, Longdon would record vocals on The Charlatans' bonus track 'Walk With Me', issued on their Modern Nature album. Though Big Big Train's touring plans in 2020 have been disrupted due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they are due to release 'Empire' in November, a live album taken from a recording made towards the end of 2019.
Between A Breath And A Breath is an exceptional work that begins with 'Astrologers'. Immediately, the lyrics 'Oh stop it now, new astrologers,' highlights the complimentary blend Judy and David have when they sing together, something that can be experienced throughout this album. Though of course both artists sing, Dyble is undoubtedly the lead vocalist. Even to the uninitiated, Judy's vocal is clearly destined for folk music. However, whilst there are influences of folk across this album, David Longdon certainly brings more of a progressive element. Astrologers eases this in with the electric guitar and keyboard elements, particularly some of those guitar moments remind me of Steve Hackett's work with Genesis in the early 1970's. But there are acoustic components too with piano and guitar. Twelve-string acoustic is played by Dave Gregory whose parts were recorded at home due to the pandemic. Gregory played with Longdon in Big Big Train, as well as being a principle member of XTC. The drum work by Jeff Davenport is complimentary to the acoustic rhythms as they work together, sounding loud below Judy's delicate delivery. Here bass guitar is played by producer and musician Andy Lewis, whose credits include performing with Paul Weller both live and in the studio.
'Obedience' begins with acoustic guitar and voices counting. Dyble and Longdon trade off vocals and sing in harmony, with a bed of gorgeous percussion in favour of a traditional drum kit, naturally this is heightened by the percussive nature of the acoustic guitar. Interestingly when listening to this for the first time, I heard a tone in David Longdon's voice similar to that of Peter Gabriel. Then I found out in the late 90's, Longdon was runner-up to replace Phil Collins as Genesis vocalist, only behind Collins' successor Ray Wilson. Flute whistles between vocal lines and a beautiful string arrangement is mimicked by more vocal harmonies. Violin is provided by Big Big Train's Rachel Hall whose parts were also recorded at home due to the elephant in the room. Rachel previously worked with Judy Dyble on her 'Talking With Strangers' album. Buzzing keyboard can be heard with drums again by Jeff Davenport. Obedience finishes as it began with Judy counting off, 'one thousand, six hundred and forty-three.'
The lyrical content of 'Tidying Away The Pieces' is a personal one that people can relate to, beginning with 'I go through the motions of tidying away the pieces, I will be alright.' This is joined by a fretless bass sound from Dave Sturt who has worked both with Steve Hillage and in the progressive band Gong. 'They talk about the losses of their own and how it hurt them so, and they say that they know what I'm going through,' is my personal favourite lyric - everybody grieves in their own way. David Longdon is more of a backing vocalist in this song, and does the job beautifully. Instrumentally, piano by Longdon dominates the musical landscape, a break from the acoustic guitars of the previous track. A lone trumpet is by Luca Calabrese, taking the spotlight but also continuing to play under the final verse. His parts were recorded in Italy while in lockdown and are a mixture of David Longdon's guideline provided on a demo as well as Calabrese's own imagination. Dyble conveys the perfect emotion with one a capella line bringing the song to a close, 'I will be alright.'
The title track opens by showcasing how perfectly Judy and David's voices go together in a vocal trade-off. 'Between a breath, and a breath, is where the magic lies.' Indeed! David's vocal particularly has more space to shine here. The mellotron-esque sounds heighten that feeling of early 1970's musical exploration. The whole song gives the air of a fairytale which could be beautifully translated into an animated music video, listen especially for the faint tinkle of chimes behind the flute. The piano mirroring Judy's vocal melody is a lovely touch. Backing vocals are like a choir, bass guitar is more audible too by one of the album's array of bass players in Big Big Train's Danny Manners, shunning the electric bass in favour of a large double.
Side 2 begins with the epic piece, 'France', built on the pair's mutual appreciation for the European country. The noticeable addition of accordion by Rikard Sjöblom works well with the other acoustic instruments. I love the tone of the drums here by Nick D'Virgilio, the march soundtracking lead vocals from Longdon, his backward phrases giving way to the grand guitar parts he lays down. Rachel Hall reappears on violin, playing well with Greg Spawton's bassline. This line-up is similar to the one that recorded 'The Ivy Gate', the first collaboration Judy Dyble made with Big Big Train, released in 2017. The middle frequency sound of an old record plays a piano waltz which is joined by Dyble's instrumental vocal, with the band reappearing. Danny Manners adds double bass again, with Longdon's synth giving a brief flare - I would've liked to have heard more of that. My favourite moment of this track is when everything comes back in with full force, like water breaking through a dam. Mixing by Patrick Phillips (who also worked on Kate Bush's '50 Words For Snow' album) is to be credited with excellent work, along with mastering engineer Giovanni Versari for maintaining the all important dynamic of this piece.
Originally going to be the final song on the record, 'Whisper' utilises the marxophone, in a reprise of its usage on Astrologers. The lyrical idea behind Whispers is the opinions of elders becoming wrongly ignored as they begin to fade into the background with age. A melodic bassline from Andy Lewis soundtracks flutes and tuned percussion. In a break from full band accompaniment, piano with vocal humming brings the drums back in and a much needed guitar solo, the perfect place for it. Known as Jude to her friends, David Longdon conceived a choir-like ending to Whispers inspired by The Beatles' 'Hey Jude'.
And here is the true coda to Between A Breath And A Breath. 'Heartwashing' is unique on this album as it features Judy Dyble reciting her words as a poem, rather than singing them as you would expect. Creating a heartbeat using soft drums, with Longdon playing piano and Luca Calabrese once again playing trumpet, David sings his parts instead of reciting the poetry with Judy. Largely an experimental piece, it certainly pays off. The final words read:
'...for what will be the next adventure, should there be such a thing.'
Image Credit: Gregory Spawton
In July 2020, just days after the trailer for the album was released by English Electric Recordings, Judy Dyble sadly passed away, aged 71. She had announced she was undergoing chemotherapy towards the end of 2019 for what turned out to be lung cancer. On the completion of the album, David spoke in a video:
'I'm aware of the fact that people will put these songs through that prism of Judy being ill and knowing she's coming to the end of her life. Well, when she was diagnosed with lung cancer, I did say to Judy: Do we keep going with this record in the way that we intended? Are we gonna make the record we intended to make or do you want to edit any of it, or do you want to add anything to it, if this is potentially going to be her last piece of recorded work? And I knew what she was gonna say. She said no. We make the record we set out to make, and that was it. So this record is that. But in light of what happened to Judy, when you put it through that prism of Judy's passing, it suddenly becomes very, very intense and very profound. I hope you've enjoyed listening to the record. It was, despite Jude's failing health, there was a lot of laugher. Judy would not allow too much serious, she wasn't made that way. There's a lot of fun involved in the making of this record, and it's been made during an extraordinary time for the planet and at an extraordinary time in Jude's life, in the final days of her life. But...she loved the record, we signed the mixes off together, we signed the artwork off and she heard it and she really wanted to know what the world would make of it. So, there you go - it's over to you.' (accessed 15.10.20)
And I think it's absolutely wonderful. I hope you do too. This album is a snapshot in time, a collaboration never to be repeated. In the process of writing this article, David was kind enough to provide some extra insight into the making of Between A Breath And A Breath, particularly with the writing process, and the bonus tracks which are still to come.
1. 'Between A Breath and A Breath' is your new album with Judy Dyble, how did you both decide that this would be the album title?
Out of all our song titles it was really the only one that we thought would work as the title of our album. We liked the imagery that the words invoke and we felt that it might make people curious about its meaning. The only other possible title was from a song called ‘The Daguerreotype,' which ended up not being on the main body of the album. We also thought that the latter might be too tricky for some folks to pronounce properly when the time came to promote it ~ Judy was very aware of the frequent mispronunciation of her surname by some broadcasters.
2. What was the writing process like for this album? Did you both write together, or was it more that you presented pieces of music to Judy to write lyrics for?
Judy would send me her lyrics and the occasional poem and I would write music to them. Most often these lyrics would be in 3/4 ~ waltz time, so I sometimes had to rearrange the words, just for variation. All with the approval of Judy of course. In addition to this, I set Judy the task of writing a lyric about Ada Lovelace. I gave her a book and she came back with the lyrics to ‘Obedience’.
3. Going back to how you and Judy met, what was that first meeting like?
It was in the foyer on a Sunday afternoon at King’s Place, King’s Cross, London. The year was 2015 and Big Big Train (the band that I play in) had just finished three concerts. After the last concert, which Judy attended, we were introduced to each other by a mutual friend called Jo Kendall. Later, Judy told Jo that she would like to sing with me and so we contacted each other and began writing songs, to see what sort of musical things we could create.
4. After meeting, when was it decided that you wanted to do an album together?
I was looking for a collaborator, with whom I could write songs and also produce. The material was strong and Judy was great fun to work with. We just kept writing and gradually got to know each other as people. I liked Judy’s perspective on her life. She was a woman of a certain age with serious ongoing health issues. I encouraged her to write about where she found herself in life. She wrote with great precision and purpose. I think Judy’s lyrics on this album are really good.
5. What was it like to watch Judy record her vocals in the studio?
When we first started, she was very nervous because it was the moment of truth. It’s one thing to write songs but at some point, as a singer, you have to breathe life into these songs. You have to stand and deliver. I had known Judy for some time by the time we went to Real World to record the vocals, so I knew what she was capable of. I believe that a singer must inhabit the song. Their performance adds the human element that connects with the listener. The singer must be present within the vocal performances and not just sing along with the music. I want to believe in the singer as they deliver their performance. I pushed Judy to deliver the vocal performances that I thought she was capable of. It wasn’t easy but once we’d established what it was that we were aiming for, the performances came to life. I think her vocal performances on our album are strong and she is entirely present within them.
6. When tracking your duet vocals, were these done separately, or did you perform them together?
In those first Real World sessions, the emphasis was on capturing Jude’s vocals. Judy had emphysema after years of smoking. She was receiving ongoing treatment, life limiting medication. With these considerations in mind, I decided to make sure that her performances were captured as a priority. Which was just as well?
7. 'Obedience' features a sample of people counting in the introduction and later on in the song, where did that come from?
This is the song that I tasked Judy to write about Ada Lovelace. Ada was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. Her parents acrimoniously separated when Ada was very young. Ada’s mother was a mathematician and she thought that by encouraging the young Ada to focus on mathematics, it would hopefully keep the perceived ‘madness’ of Ada’s father at bay. The young Ada would recite calculations ~ these numbers represent Ada’s mental mathematical activities.
8. 'France,' like any good epic, features a lot of different sections. Were they little pieces of music floating around first, or were they always intended for a bigger track like this one?
I had spent the last decade being in Big Big Train and writing progressive rock music. Dyble Longdon is a collaboration and I think those who buy the album because of my involvement, might expect an extended song piece. As Judy and I got to know each other, we looked at parallel experiences in each of our lives. ‘France’ was something that we had in common. At that time, Brexit was looming large and both Judy and I had had great experiences in France. France is a mighty country and is highly deserving of an epic piece being written about it. ‘The Mirror Ball Waltz’ section was a piece of music that I had written on an accordion, many years ago. It finally found a home. This was the only musical element that was brought in from the past, everything else was written in response to Judy’s words. I wanted the music to be directly inspired by her words.
9. 'Heartwashing' features a spoken-word performance from Judy. Was it always that way, or were there lyrics in addition to the ones you performed?
Yes, ‘Heartwashing’ was delivered to me as a poem. The lyrics are as Judy wrote them. I asked Judy how she felt about speaking the words because she had a lovely speaking voice. She thought it was a good idea and was worth trying. We had three songs on the album that were written in an experimental way (Obedience, Heartwashing and The Daguerreotype) ~ we expected some of these experiments to be more successful than others but we were fortunate and all three turned out well. Two of our experiments making it onto the main body of the album.
10. 'Crossbones' and 'The Daguerreotype' are being released digitally in October and November, could these tracks see a physical release in the future?
I don’t know about a physical release. When I produced the Dyble Longdon album, I wanted to make it to vinyl length. Even going as far as referring to sides one and two on the CD release. This meant approximately 20 mins per side. We knew that some tracks would be left over, which is fine.
11. You've described these tracks as being outliers thematically, how would you describe the overall theme of 'Between A Breath and A Breath’?
Other than ‘Obedience’ which is a song about Ada Lovelace, the rest of the songs on Between A Breath And A Breath are to do with love, loss, bereavement, acceptance and hope. Judy’s lyrics on our album are highly personal.
12. And what are the themes explored on the bonus tracks?
Crossbones is about a cemetery in South London where in medieval times, it was unconsecrated ground for prostitutes. By the 18th century it was a pauper’s burial ground. ‘The Daguerreotype’ is an early photographic technique, which was used to photograph the deceased. Both ‘Crossbones’ and ‘The Daguerreotype’ are not personal subject matter to either Judy or I, they are about us, looking out and observing something else.
13. The artwork by Sarah Ewing is beautiful. Did Judy and yourself give much instruction to Sarah about what you wanted, or did she have more free rein?
Sarah Ewing has painted the artwork for Big Big Train since the ‘Wassail’ e.p and the ‘Folklore’ album. She is used to working as a part of our creative team. Sarah was with me for most of the recording sessions for the album, so she had a lot of involvement with its creative process. She also appears on the album in a couple of songs. When we spoke about the sort of subject matter that was behind the music of Dyble Longdon, Sarah had a good idea about how the artwork might look. She went away and researched a few things and then presented Judy and I with a drawing of the type of thing that she was proposing to paint. Once we were all in agreement, Sarah then began to paint the final artwork that would become the record sleeve.
14. With Big Big Train making a huge contribution to this record, is it likely that one or two of the tracks might be performed in your concerts in the future?
Dyble Longdon was a hybrid creature. It was the combination of Judy and I. With the passing of Jude, by the time of the album's release, it was over by the time that it had begun. The music of Dyble Longdon is contained within its own world. I don’t think that any of it would necessarily be performed by Big Big Train. One never knows but I don’t think that it is likely. I find it difficult to imagine anyone else singing Judy’s parts with me because I think that it is far too soon since Jude’s passing to be thinking about that sort of thing.
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Reference:
Heartwashing Hosted by Big Big Train, can be found here. (accessed 15.10.20)
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For more information on Between A Breath And A Breath including purchasing the album on CD and vinyl, please visit the Big Big Train website here.
For information on Judy Dyble's career and to purchase her autobiography and recordings, please visit her website.
