Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – May 26, 2026: Remembering Enoch Kent; A Tribute to Django Reinhardt

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/75523.html

Themes: Part 1 – Remembering Enoch Kent (1931-2026); Part 2 – A Tribute to Django Reinhardt (1910-1953).

Remembering Enoch Kent (1931-2026)

I was deeply saddened by the news that Enoch Kent passed away on April 28 at age 94. Enoch was born in Scotland and was a significant presence on the UK folk scene before moving to Canada in the 1960s. I first met Enoch in the mid-1970s and learned a lot from him over the years – as did so many others.

Enoch began his career in folk music by singing traditional Scottish songs in a band called The Reivers. Her later collaborated with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in founding The Singers Club – also known as The Critics Group – in London before immigrating to Canada. The first time I met Peggy Seeger, I mentioned to her that I knew Enoch and she spoke fondly and admiringly about him.

It was only when Enoch was 70 years old that Enoch began to record albums for the first time since leaving the UK. But he was prolific over the next few years releasing with six excellent albums between 2002 and 2010.

Enoch Kent- I’m a Workin’ Chap

I’m a Workin’ Chap (Second Avenue)

Enoch Kent- The Pawnshop Window

Take a Trip with Me (Borealis)

Garnet Rogers- The Farm Auction

The Outside Track (Snow Goose Songs)

Enoch Kent- My Mother’s Sewing Machine

Songs of Love, Lust & Loathing (Second Avenue)

Enoch Kent- Old Time Songs

Take a Trip with Me (Borealis)

Enoch Kent- Come A’ Ye Tramps and Hawkers

I’m a Rover (Second Avenue)

A Tribute to Django Reinhardt (1910-1953)

Django Reinhardt, the Belgian Roma guitarist died in 1953 at the young age of 43. More than seven decades after his death, Reinhardt remains an incredibly influential musician and a revered figure in the history of jazz, Roma music, and the guitar.

Django Reinhardt & The Quintette Hot Club de France- Hot Lips

Django Reinhardt (Object Enterprises)

Chris Whiteley- Swing 42

Second Look (Pyramid)

Susie Arioli Band featuring Jordan Officer- Nuages

That’s For Me (Justin Time)

Hot Club of Cowtown- Minor Swing

Rendezvous in Rhythm (Gold Strike)

Django Reinhardt & The Quintette Hot Club de France- Swing Guitars

Django Reinhardt Vol. 3, 1936-1937: Swing Guitars (Naxos)

Modern Jazz Quartet- Django

European Concert (Atlantic)

Stephane Grappelli & David Grisman- Shine

Live (Warner Bros.)

Claribol Stompers- Swing 39

Swingattic (Claribol)

Tommy Emmanuel, Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo- Djangology

Accomplice One (The Players Club)

Django Reinhardt- Django’s Blues

Django’s Blues (Gitanes/Verve)

Joe Craven- Hungaria

Django Latino (Crow Art)

Harmonious Wail- Dark Eyes

Gypsy Swing (Naxos)

Stephane Wrembel- Swing de Paris

The Django Experiment VI (Water is Life)

Django Reinhardt- Topsy

Django’s Blues (Gitanes/Verve)

Django Reinhardt & The Quintette Hot Club de France- How High the Moon

In Person (Warner Music Group/X5)

Next week: Songs for International Sex Workers Day.

--Mike Regenstreif

Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations

The nominations were announced today for the Seventh Annual Canadian Folk MusicAwards. The award ceremony takes place Sunday, December 4 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto.

Here are the nominations.

TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Dave Gunning - A Tribute to John Allan Cameron

Finest Kind - For Honour & For Gain

De Temps Antan - Les Habits de Papier

La Volée d’Castors - Le Retour

Genticorum - Nagez Rameurs

CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Twilight Hotel - When the Wolves Go Blind

Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer - Nouvelles fréquentations

Lynn Miles - Fall for Beauty

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

Good Lovelies - Let The Rain Fall

CHILDREN’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Kathy Reid-Naiman - I Love to Hear the Sounds

Benoît Archambault - Les pourquoi

Marky Weinstock - Songs For Dreamers

Colleen Power with Crooked Stovepipe - For Little Ones

Will Stroet - Walk & Roll

TRADITIONAL SINGER OF THE YEAR

Enoch Kent - Take A Trip With Me

Dave Gunning – a tribute to John Allan Cameron

Lizzy Hoyt - Home

Eileen McGann - Pocketful Of Rhymes

Joel Fafard - Cluck Old Hen

CONTEMPORARY SINGER OF THE YEAR

David Myles - Live at the Carleton

Suzie Vinnick - Me 'n' Mabel

Cat Jahnke - The Stories are Taking Their Toll

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

Matthew Barber - Matthew Barber

INSTRUMENTAL SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Jayme Stone - Room of Wonders

Jaron Freeman-Fox - Manic Almanac : Slow Möbius

Anne Lindsay - Hurry On Home

April Verch - That's How We Run

Don Ross - Breakfast for Dogs

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Creaking Tree String Quartet - Sundogs

Qristina & Quinn Bachand - Family

MAZ - Télescope

Eh?! - Eh?!

RAZ-DE-MARÉE/TIDAL WAVE - Marche du St-Laurent

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Finest Kind - For Honour & For Gain

Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer - Nouvelles fréquentations

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Good Lovelies - Let The Rain Fall

Genticorum - Nagez Rameurs

ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR

The Creaking Tree String Quartet - Sundogs

MAZ - Télescope

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - Strictly Whatever

Genticorum - Nagez Rameurs

SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ken Whiteley - Another Day's Journey

Mae Moore - Folklore

David Francey - Late Edition

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

Ruth Moody - The Garden

ENGLISH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Ron Hynes - Stealing Genius

David Francey - Late Edition

Mae Moore - Folklore

Lynn Miles - Fall for Beauty

Bruce Cockburn - Small Source of Comfort

AUTEUR-COMPOSITEUR FRANCOPHONE DE L’ANNÉE

Jean-François Lessard - Jean-François Lessard

Alexandre Poulin - Une lumière allumée

Claude Cormier - Acoustique

Les Surveillantes - La racine carrée du coeur

ABORIGINAL SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Vince Fontaine - Songs For Turtle Island

Robert Davidson & Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson - New Journeys

janet panic - Samples

Don Amero - The Long Way Home

Kristi Lane Sinclair - I Love You

WORLD ARTIST OF THE YEAR - SOLO

Lenka Lichtenberg - Fray

Massiel Yanira - Una Voz

Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson - New Journeys

Zekuhl - I BOLO

Kiran Ahluwalia - aam zameen : common ground

WORLD ARTIST OF THE YEAR – GROUP

Ouzo Power - Greatest Hits (Volume 1)

Nizar Tabcharani & The Backstrings - Bayati Ana

Trio Bembe - Oh My Soul

MAZ - Télescope

Minor Empire - Second Nature

NEW/EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Dave Gunning - a tribute to John Allan Cameron

Andrea Ramolo - The Shadows and the Cracks

Ruth Moody - The Garden

Ashley Condon - Come In From The Cold

Joe Nolan - Goodbye Cinderella

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Dave Gunning w/ Allie Bennett & John Meir - a tribute to John Allan Cameron (Dave Gunning)

Paul Mills - Stealing Genius (Ron Hynes)

Steve Bell, Dave Zeglinski, Murray Pulver - Kindness (Steve Bell)

David Travers-Smith - Soon The Birds (Oh Susanna)

Mark Howard, David Travers-Smith - Bright Morning Stars (The Wailin' Jennys)

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES

New Country Rehab - New Country Rehab

Twilight Hotel - When the Wolves Go Blind

Jaron Freeman-Fox - Manic Almanac : Slow Möbius

Ruth Moody - The Garden

Evalyn Parry - SPIN

Geoff Berner - Victory Party

YOUNG PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

Qristina & Quinn Bachand - Family

Olivia Korkola - Playing in Traffic

Rebecca Lappa - Not in Neverland

Molly Thomason - Beauty Queen

The Doll Sisters - The Road - EP

 --Mike Regenstreif

Enoch Kent – Take a Trip with Me

ENOCH KENT

Take a Trip with Me

Borealis

enochkent.ca

As I noted in Sing Out! in 2008, “Enoch Kent was an established folk singer – a colleague of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in the Singers Club – when he moved to Canada in the 1960s. However, he didn’t record for more than three decades while working in the advertising business and singing occasionally at folk festivals and at Toronto folk clubs like Fiddler’s Green. In retirement, though, Enoch has become a prolific recording artist;” Take a Trip with Me is his sixth album since 2002.

The album title is taken from the first line of the opening track, Woody Guthrie’s “1913 Massacre,” a vivid description of a Christmas party being held for the families of Michigan copper miners at which company thugs screamed “Fire” and then locked the doors so people couldn’t get out leading to the smothering deaths of 73 panicked children on the stairs in front of the locked doors. Enoch’s version of Guthrie’s memorable song is as riveting as any I’ve ever heard.

In fact, Enoch – as on his previous releases – is never less than riveting as he explores a repertoire of traditional folk songs and contemporary compositions – his own and by others – steeped in the timelessness of traditional songs and working class life. As a singer, I’ve always thought of Enoch as being quietly powerful as he draws listeners into the compelling stories that he’s singing.

Among Enoch’s best original pieces are “The Pawnshop Window,” in which he describes many of the items for sale in a Toronto pawnshop and speculates on what the items may mean to the people who brought them to the shop or who may be buying them, and “The Murder of Ginger Goodwin,” the story of a legendary B.C. labour organizer who was murdered in 1918.

Among the other highlights are great versions of two powerful Australian songs. “Travelling Down the Castlereagh,” written by Banjo Patterson (best known for “Waltzing Matilda”) is about a farm worker who wouldn’t work with scabs, while Judy Small’s “Mothers, Daughters, Wives” is about a generation of women who saw their fathers, then husbands, and then sons, go off to successive wars – and then saw their daughters redefine their roles as women during the first wave of the modern feminist movement.

Of the traditional songs, I particularly like Enoch’s version of “Off to Sea Once More,” a ballad about a sailor forced to go to sea again after losing everything to a swindling prostitute, and “A’e Fond Kiss,” a beautiful parting song from the Robert Burns canon.

Although I’ve only highlighted half of the album’s 14 songs, I could, just as easily, have chosen any of the others to call attention to.

Enoch is also a compelling concert performer and will be in Montreal on Saturday, April 9, 8:00 pm, at Petit Campus, 57 Prince Arthur East, as part of the Wintergreen Concert Series. Call 514-524-9225 for tickets or information.

--Mike Regenstreif