Dancing Days (album)

Dancing Days is an album by Chris Leslie, released in 2004.

Compared to Chris Leslie's earlier album The Flow, this is much more of a recognisable instrumental folk-rock effort. Occasionally Chris drifts off into a reverie that sounds like a monastery in Tibet, but this is less obvious than before. He gives a sprightly performance of many morris dance tunes, then adds the oriental effects as a variation at the end of some tracks, punctuated by finger cymbals.

Track listing

1. "Flowers of Edinburgh/ Old Tom of Oxford" (Trad)
2. "Laudnum Bunches (Headington)/ Orange In Bloom (Sherbourne)/ Banks of the Dee (Longborough)" (Trad / Trad/ Trad)
3. "Bower Processional (Lichfield)" (Traditional)
4. "Princess Royal (Adderbury)/ Speed The Plough (Bampton)" (Trad)
5. "Old Marlborough (Fieldtown)" (Traditional)
6. "The Dancer (song)" (Chris Leslie)
7. "Jockey to the Fair (Adderbury)/ Double Jig (Bampton)" (Trad/ Trad)
8. "Lumps of Plum Pudding (Bledington)/ Bean Setting (Headington)/ Bobbing a Joe (Wheatley)" (Trad/ Trad/ Trad)
9. "Sweet Jenny Jones (Adderbury) / Brighton Camp (Adderbury)/ Beaux of London City (Adderbury/ Badby)" (Trad)
10. "Stourton Wake and Jig (Adderbury)" (Trad)
11. "Haste to the Wedding (Adderbury) / Bluebells of Scotland (Adderbury) / Shepherd's Away (Adderbury)" (Trad/ Trad/ Trad)
12. "Bumpus O' Stretton (Ilmington)" (Trad)
13. "Janet Blunt Poem" (song) (words: Janet Blunt/ tune: "Jamaica")
14. "Morning Star (Bledington)/ Getting Upstairs (Headington)/ Wheatley Processional (Wheatley)" (Trad/ Trad/ Trad)
15. "A Secret" (medley *) (Trad)

(* uncredited medley: Shepherd's Hey/ Bluebells of Scotland/ Brighton Camp/ sound of church bells/ Happy the Man (song))

Personnel

• Chris Leslie - violins, percussion, bouzouki, mandolin, native American flute, kalimba, tingshaws, Tibetan singing bowls
• Simon Nicol - acoustic guitar
• Dave Pegg - bass
• Gerry Conway - percussion, congas
• Mat Green - violin
• Ric Sanders - violin
• Mikey Radford - dance
• Ashley Hutchings - bass