b. England. Accomplished melodeon player Tony Hall is considered by many in folk music circles to be the master of his art, though his profile has been downplayed by a disproportionately sporadic recording career. Since his solo debut in 1979, the highly-regarded Field Vole Music, Hall has contributed to albums by Nic Jones (Penguin Eggs) and Maddy Prior and June Tabor (Silly Sisters). However, it was not until 1995 that Mr Universe appeared as his much-delayed second solo outing. Drawing on songs from Elizabethan England, the work of jazz musician Humphrey Lyttelton and the theme to an American film which gave the album its title, the album also encompassed exemplary takes on a number of traditional tunes such as ‘Jack Tar On Shore’ and ‘A Blacksmith Courted Me’.