This is a refreshingly straightforward album, without quirk or posture mediating between the listener and the music. On the front cover and inner sleeve, Martin is pictured presenting his guitars to the camera. There are acts who use their music to project themselves to their audience, and there are acts who devote themselves to projecting good music to their audience: Martin Kaszak is an exemplar of the latter category.

Classy guitar-playing and strong songs are the hallmarks of Broken Dreams. The album has something of a country-blues feel, with the majority of Martin's sources being American:  Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Blind Boy Fuller, Leadbelly, Rev. Gary Davis. Croce is the biggest hero, with a full three songs on this album - Age, Lover's Cross and his musical setting of Rudyard Kipling's poem Gunga Din (which is quite free of any Indian musical references). But Steve Knightley's The Keeper and Ralph McTell's Birdman also feature, and there are three songs penned by Martin himself, which stand well alongside the works of the more established songwriters.

Cambridge Folk Club's sound engineer Doc Howard Roscoe plays blues harp on Hesitation Blues, and very nicely does he play it too. Having seen Martin and Howard play as a duo, I would have liked to have heard Howard contribute on more of the tracks - his effusive harp and slide guitar definitely add richness and energy to the texture.

My favourite track is Leadbelly's Out On The Western Plain (perhaps ‘collected' by Martin via the cover by another of his heroes, Rory Gallagher), a song which evokes a quintessential American yearning to which many Brits are also drawn - ‘come a cow-cow yicky, come a cow-cow yicky, yicky yea'.

So, Martin Kaszak and his guitars invite you to join them for a party of quality acoustic music. If you like this musical territory as much as Martin evidently does, then you should enjoy this album, as well as Martin's live performances.

Martin Kaszak on My Space

Martin plays the Red House in Longstowe on Saturday 1 November and the Milkmaid Folk Club, Bury St Edmunds on Friday 21 November.

Writer: Rychard Carrington