CD OF THE WEEK: ANDY CUTTING Andy CuttingLane Records

There’s an air of lengthy gestation that infuses Andy Cutting’s first solo outing with an ease so graceful that it lures the listener in, track by glistening track. Cutting has been described as a musician’s musician, and he’s certainly carved a serious reputation as a melodeon player and composer without compare, working with Chris Wood, Kate Rusby, Karen Tweed, June Tabor, John McCusker and other linchpins of the English folk tradition.

This album, recorded over three sessions between 2001 and 2008, includes a rake of originals: tunes hewn like cut glass, or perhaps more aptly, composed like poetry, with the right notes simply in the right order, melodically, harmonically and rhythmically.

Cutting’s ability to unpick a tune such as Terry Mann’s beautifully christened The Resplendent Jig, letting the space between the notes tell their own tale (with inspired double bass for company), sets him apart from the today’s general rush towards high-octane arrangements in the folk firmament.

Then there are Cutting’s own tunes: thoughtful, spacious, unforced, each and every one. Old Light is a low-key calling card whose intent and execution are divine; The Abbess entices the warm, woody, welcoming features of his instrument to the fore; and Atherfield reeks of a restraint that tickles the listener’s eardrums gleefully.

Equally restrained yet freewheeling accompaniment from Michael McGoldrick on flute, and from regular compadres Ian Carr, Joe Rusby and John McCusker lend further spice to a recipe that’s essentially all Cutting’s own. His sleevenotes are a model of brevity and insight, allowing the tiniest peek into his cavernous musical brain and underscoring Cutting’s love of the simplest of life’s pleasures.

This debut is a thing of beauty that unveils its pleasures tentatively: all the more to savour them over the long haul. See andy-cutting. co.uk

Download tracks: Edges/Thin Waltz, Old Light