Rick Kemp (songwriter, Steeleye Span)
"Jennifer Bell is a rare and remarkable talent. I don't have suitable words. She has to be heard, preferably live, to be fully appreciated."
"
JENNIFER BELL is a singer-songwriter from Nottingham who has partnered fiddler WILSON WALKER for a decade. They are joined on their EP, Old Bones and Silver Fishes, by Daniel Kittmer who provides the percussion backing on bodhran and adds harmony vocals. Wilson reminds us that we reviewed their previous album as a duo back in 2018 – has it really been that long?
Jennifer’s compositions have the feel of real traditional songs. The opener, ‘Ho! Sailors’, uses the tune ‘King Of The Fairies’ to describe the perils that await unwary sailors and the performance of the tune alone would be enough to earn the entrance fee. ‘Old Bones’ is a jokey mash-up of elements of ‘Barring Of The Door’ and ‘Two Sisters’ although the self-hammering xylophone is a novel twist.
‘Home And Dry’ gets serious. It can be read as a love song to a drowned lover, perhaps one of the sailors in the opening track. Jennifer’s guitar comes to the fore here. ‘Silver Fishes’ could be a sequel to ‘Home And Dry’ but it is, in fact, a clever warning about the possible extreme results of global warning – "How many tractors can plough the water" she asks. Finally, ‘The Little Nut Tree’ is a gentle telling of what should be a slightly macabre fairy tale. If there isn’t a genuine traditional song based on this story there really should be.
This is a most entertaining record and we unreservedly recommend it.
"
Dave Taylor (on his Reynard Collective Radio Programme May 2025)
"
I don’t know what she was on when she wrote this but I want some of it..." ('
Bear With Me')
"
Jennifer's ...a captivating musical presence in her own right. An attractive singer, with a seductive timbre and easily controlled vibrato, her assured, poised presence and clear diction take their cue both from the poetic precision of her lyrics and the rhythmic impetus of early music. In Jennifer’s hands, the latter aspect imparts a refreshing sense of confident urgency (an element so often absent from the fey, slightly precious aura of much folk-early-music crossover). It helps too that her own accompaniment, on lute or 12-string guitar, is accomplished yet unfussy with no desire to dominate, while Wil's contributions, whether bowed or pizzicato, are both effective and sensitively managed. There's also a measure of sympathetically driven percussion embellishment from Neil Rabjohn on around half of the tracks.
Jennifer’s imagination is given fullest rein on the beautiful Winter's My Lover and Ashes In The Rain, while the lovingly phrased High Degree – set to Thomas Tallis’ Third Mode Melody (the theme used in Vaughan Williams' wonderful Fantasia) – brilliantly encapsulates the mood of seasonal rumination and evokes its central mystery. Interestingly, though, the peculiarly nostalgic "what-if" charm of Oh Boy (ostensibly based very loosely on personal experience!) has (for the time being) ended up as the disc's most lasting earworm.
The warm ambience of Jennifer’s delivery, allied to the gentle intelligence of her songwriting style, is extremely beguiling, making this a disc to savour repeatedly."
Dai Woosnam folk music critic
"
…Nottingham’s answer to Judith Durham…"
And on the CD; ‘
And so to Bedlam’ 2018
"
'The New Mistletoe Bough' is a reworking of the old traditional song which is usually held to be an apocryphal story although everyone knows where it happened. Jennifer gives the tale not one but two macabre twists and that's clever.
Jennifer describes 'Ashes In The Rain' as a miserable song but it is rather lovely in its misery and then we come to my favourite song in the set. I was briefly disappointed to discover that 'Oh Boy' isn't a cover of the Buddy Holly song but is a well-written and witty dialogue loosely based on Jennifer's childhood."
Paul Bracken, musician, on a feature night Wilson Walker and Jennifer Bell did at the Embankment Folk Club Oct 2017
"
...a super gig - you've written some lovely songs. I just loved that song about the Pilgrim Fathers! Furthermore, I could hear your words well - both sung and spoken, unlike 'some of the others'. Will (serious, self-effacing and maybe slightly 'geeky') seems to be the perfect foil for you, in terms of both music and personality, offsetting your mercurial, slightly Bohemian creativity with his solid fiddling, which adds that extra layer of colour and energy to the songs. The instrumentals were a great contrast to the songs." ('
The Pilgrim’s Song (Farewell to Boston)')
A.H. folk singer, by email June 2025
"
I saw your set at Forgotten Lands and loved the whole thing, but particularly the song about the silver fishes. I reckon I have to learn any song with such a jolly little sing along refrain." ('
Silver Fishes')
A.S. by email June 2025
"
I was at the Forgotten Lands festival this weekend and loved your music. I especially loved the song about meeting the bear... I enjoyed the fact that I could hear every word and that it made me smile and even laugh." ('
Bear With Me')
Nicky Cook, Scruffy Bear Media
"
Jenny's music is a delight. Steeped in tradition, but with plenty of modern touches, her music takes you on a folky journey in the parable style that you would expect but with tongue held very firmly in cheek. Some of the melodies are soft and romantic (Seasons), upbeat and ear worm-y (Foxtrot), or even (and my favourite) borderline rock (Bear With Me) so there is plenty for everyone to enjoy. And Jenny's voice is also beautiful - full of light and dark, gentle but strong when needed, and her soft vibrato carrying notes with a lovely tone. "
