Reviews
	For 'Flying An Unknown Flag' reviews, click here. For 'Swarthmoor' reviews, click here. Casa Abierta For someone whose career is predominantly built on sharp, contemporary lyricism, this is a daring move. Sub-titled "10 songs in different tongues" and opening with a gorgeous Spanish language song from Nicaragua, Morton takes us on a tour of traditional and contemporary material from Swahili to Dutch, Welsh, Kurdish, Korean, French and Middle Ages German. **** Colin Irwin MOJO, January 2009. ........................................................... 'Casa Abierta' Pete Morton Further Records 002 Pete is everything we want our singer-songwriters to be. Fiercely creative, proudly independent, skilful, talented, and, further reinforced by the evidence of Casa Abierta, terminally unpredictable. The CD contains 10 songs, each one in a different language. Only one of them, “Another Train”, is actually written by Pete. The version herein has been helpfully translated into Welsh by Les Barker, which just goes to show that they’re either as loopy, or possible as sane, as one another… The other nine songs are roughly précised as follows. The title track is South American Spanish, and then we get Donegal Gaelic, Eastern Persian, Platt Deutsch (Low German), French, Swahili, Dutch, Kurmanji Kurdish and “the first verse of a song that every Korean knows”. Phew! They’re all love songs – some of them in the girl’n’boy sense, others in the Gaughan “Different Kind of Love Song” sense – love of freedom, tolerance (or better still acceptance) and identity. Apart from the French song, which is a truly astonishing account of a bullfight from the bull’s point of view… As well as Les’s input, Pete has taken help from many language teachers, whose “patience and perseverance” is sincerely acknowledged in the insert, along with translations of all but one of the songs, insightful notes on each track and a brief but brilliant mission statement about the philosophy which led to the gestation and delivery of this frankly wonderful album. It shouldn’t work, of course. It should be too disparate, too esoteric, too plain barmy. However, partly due to the obvious enthusiasm of the concept, and in a greater part because of the undeniable quality of the performances of Pete and his exceptional accompanying musicians, Casa Abierta is formidable, wunderbar, etchellente, (I’m sure you’ve gathered what I’m trying to do here, so I won’t go on…). In short, it is a triumph. The swiftest visit to Pete’s website will give you tracklist, who plays what and some much less rambling reviews than this, which will hopefully convince you that you should own this remarkable record. And if you buy, £2 of your money will go to the Gambian Schools Trust. And yes, they’ve also got a website. Alan Rose - Tykes News. www.tykesnews.org.uk ........................................................... Casa Abierta (Further Records 002) For over twenty years, British singer-songwriter, Pete Morton has been travelling with a guitarcase full of great songs.  Full of verve and conviction, he presents himself as a live performer who effortlessly handles, through his songs, every situation. His stories and songs speak from the heart and are ambitious, and that is also the case with this bold CD.  Casa Abierta is the first part of a side project where Morton sings songs in various languages. Whether it be Dutch, French, Swahili, Gaelic, Welsh or Korean that Morton runs his voice over, it works. He sings a number of known songs from different cultures, but also a Welsh version of his masterful song Another Train. The Dutch song  is 'Avond' by Boudewijn de Groot. It is clear that the Dutch language is far from being his mother tongue, but it is also clear what a deep heat and passion he feels for the song, holding your attention until the end. These are beautiful and clever songs that Morton layers with his own colour. The colour is unmistakeably Pete Morton, and after three quarters of the CD heard, you come to the conclusion that regardless of what language Morton sings, it is a complete work and is totally his style. The CD opens with children singing, before moving into Morton's distinctive guitar playing.  He is assisted by, among others, Jo Freya (sax) Roger Wilson (Fiddle and guitar), Chris Parkinson (accordion) and Bazira Ward Davies (vocals). Two Pounds from every CD sold goes to a Gambian schools Trust to help in the education of children in The Gambia. A very nice gesture to put a crown on a beautiful CD! Ron Janssen - NewFolksounds Magazine, NL  www.newfolksounds.nl ........................................................... Pete Morton - Casa Abierta Volume 1 (Further) This latest release from the indefatigable Pete is the first in a projected series, where £2 from the sale of each volume of which will benefit the new Singing Linguistics education charity in the form of a donation to the Gambian Schools Trust. It's also, in one respect, a bit of a departure for Pete, in that it's an album of covers, of songs that "fell into his lap" as he travelled about. But these are covers with a difference: songs in ten different languages, that together add up to a groundbreaking journey around the world. At the same time, they embrace much common ground with the kind of material we normally associate with Pete. The Nicaraguan title track (which translates as Open House) is a simple positive wish for humanity, while the Kurdish Karwan (The Convoy) is a haunting, universal (and hope-filled) expression of a wartime refugee's longing for home and family. Many of the remaining items are love songs of one kind or another: highlights are the beautiful Swahili song Malaika (Angel), the passionate Dilbar (My Love), which Pete learnt phonetically from a CD by Northern Afghani singer Farhad Hijran), and the moving traditional Donegal ballad Tá Mé Mo Shuí (sung in Gaelic). The disc also includes insightful performances of a pair of charming and tender old love songs in Dutch and Low German dialect respectively, a reflective treatment of part of an ancient Korean anthem, and a curious French chanson about a bullfight (from the bull's perspective!). Finally, there's a Welsh version (by Les Barker and Frances Jones) of Pete's own "greatest hit" Another Train. Although I can't comment from the viewpoint of a native speaker of any of the languages, in each and every case Pete's delivery is entirely believable (he evidently received special language coaching). He's also blessed with sympathetically musical instrumental enhancement (courtesy of Roger Wilson, Jo Freya, James Budden, Chris Handcock, Gill Redmond, Chris Parkinson and the extraordinary guitar wizardry of Jon Brindley), and Bazira Ward Davies contributes further vocals. Musical attempts to make the world a better, and more inclusive, place to live really don't come better than this fascinating and heartwarming collection, which is shot through with Pete's trademark integrity and acute humanitarian conscience. David Kidman, November 2008 ........................................................... Casa Abierta - (10 songs in different tongues) - Pete Morton. As I write this I am listening to the news that 300,000 British investors/depositors have had their accounts in Icesave frozen? Small world?  The price of Pete’s new album includes a £2.00 donation to the Gambian Schools Trust. Small world? OK, so I declare that Pete is a friend of mine. And yes I took the photos. Knowing Pete I am very aware of his very deep interest in language and linguistics which gets stronger and more fascinating, as he travels the world to perform. I’ll now stop saying small world. This is one of Pete’s ways to give something back. He sings all the songs, plays his guitar, keyboards and glockenspiel and has a group of the usual suspects backing him, and there are most of the words (those that can for copyright reasons be included) in a very informative booklet and the end result is something truly unexpected. His voice and the range of the songs brings out so much that is latent when singing his own songs. A softer, warmer, richer touch that warms the heart. There is only one of Pete’s songs but sung in Welsh. It is so refreshing that it’s like another ‘song’ (rather than ‘train’). The arrangements are a joy and somehow the fact that I don’t understand the words prevents them from becoming over-familiar. We will play it a lot.  Alan Hassall ........................................................... Casa Abierta - Pete Morton - Further Records. This is an unusual compilation of songs in ten different languages, not one of them English. It is sold in aid of the Gambian Schools Trust and is available from Pete Morton at www.petemorton.com. Pete's singing is, as always, very engaging and he varies the song accompaniments with a heady mix of the great and the good of folk musicians, including Jo Freya, Chris Parkinson and Gill Redmond to name but three. The whole CD is very professionally produced with good sound and a beautifully illustrated booklet. I was delighted to see that he has included a Welsh song (by Les Barker no less) so that I could at least pass an informed comment about his pronunciation in a language with which I am familiar. I acknowledge that Welsh is not an easy language to get your tongue around but Pete makes a valiant attempt at a very difficult set of words. That said, it is easier to understand him with the original words by one's side and fortunately the booklet is very generous in both words and translations. This is a very brave venture. It deserves to sell well. Mary Humphreys - Mardles - March 2009