Brass Monkey

Brass Monkey is a UK folk group formed in 1982. It develops out of the English folk scene of the 1980s and is notable for using a brass section, which is unusual in English folk music.

Formation and early line-up

The group first appears under the name The Martin Carthy Band before taking the name Brass Monkey after the addition of Roger Williams and Martin Brinsford. The original line-up features Martin Carthy on vocals, guitar and mandolin; John Kirkpatrick on vocals, accordion and concertina; Howard Evans on trumpet; Roger Williams on trombone; and Martin Brinsford on harmonica, percussion and saxophone.

Brinsford is born on 17 August 1944 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire. Williams is later replaced by Richard Cheetham, born on 29 January 1957 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire.

Members and musical background

Martin Carthy is already an established musician by the time the group forms, having played with Steeleye Span and The Watersons and also worked as a solo artist. John Kirkpatrick also has links to Steeleye Span and works with Carthy in the Albion Country Band. Before Brass Monkey forms, Carthy, Kirkpatrick and Evans perform together on Carthy's albums Because It's There and Out of the Cut.

Recordings

The group records Brass Monkey and See How it Runs, both mainly made up of traditional songs and tunes. These two albums are later reissued together as The Complete Brass Monkey. After a break in activity, the group reunites in 1997 for a tour and records Sound and Rumour.

Later releases include Going and Staying, which features both Williams and Cheetham, and Flame of Fire, which returns to the original line-up. All five Brass Monkey albums are released on Topic Records.

Later activity

The group breaks up in 1987 because the members' schedules are difficult to reconcile, but later continues after the death of Howard Evans in 2006. It makes a four-piece live debut at a Watersons family show at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2007.

Collaborations

Carthy, Evans and Kirkpatrick also appear as guests on Loudon Wainwright III's album More Love Songs.