Leominster's Lion Ballroom is the local venue chosen by the ensemble 1651 for the Herefordshire leg of their national tour, which started in the Purcell Room on London's Southbank two weeks ago.

They are celebrating both their acclaimed CD 'Cast a bell' and the 350th anniversary of the 'English Dancing Master'.

The 'three major luminaries' (Mojo) who make up this unique musical collaboration are as follows:-

Andy Cutting is a diatonic accordion master of international renown. He can also be heard playing with violinist Chris Wood and in Kate Rusby's band.

Tim Harries, until recently of Steeleye Span, is a double bass player who has collaborated with Django Bates, Bill Bruford,Eddi Reader and Brian Eno.

Mark Emerson's violin and viola have graced the concerts and recordings of singer June Tabor for the last 11 years.

He was a member of Pyewackett and has played in shows at the National Theatre and the RSC.

'Folk Roots' described their CD, Cast a bell, as "a remarkable work of exploration, imagination and collective musical intuition." Mojo magazine called it "magnetic", and BBC Online found it to be "astonishingly inventive and breathtakingly skilful... a spiritual journey that often sounds as threatening as it does enticing."

The English Dancing Master's great reservoir of 16th/17th Century dance tunes provides the inspiration and the raw material for 1651's flights of acoustic invention, producing a music that is at turns edgy, exquisite and darkly mesmerising.

Tickets for the Lion Ballroom concert on Saturday, November 24 can be bought in advance in Hereford from Outback in Church Street and in Leominster from Capriole Music, High Street, Leominster.

More information can be found at www.bejo.co.uk, the website of Beautiful Jo Records.